Pennsylvania Act 1943-43 — THIRD CLASS COUNTIES - ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN REGISTRY SURVEY BUREAU

Act text

THIRD CLASS COUNTIES - ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN REGISTRY SURVEY BUREAU
                  Act of Apr. 22, 1943, P.L. 68, No. 43               Cl. 16
                                  AN ACT

     Authorizing the county commissioners, of each county of the
        third class, to establish and maintain a Registry Survey
        Bureau; prescribing the powers and duties of such bureau,
        requiring the registration with such bureau by landowners of
        certain information relative to the location, ownership and
        transfer of title of real property located in such county;
        imposing certain additional duties upon the county surveyor,
        the sheriff and the recorder of deeds in such county; and
        providing penalties.

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

        Section 1.  For the purpose of procuring accurate information
     in reference to the ownership of real estate, the board of
     county commissioners of any county of the third class, may
     provide by resolution for a Registry Survey Bureau, which shall
     be operated as a separate bureau under the supervision of the
     county surveyor, in quarters to be made available by the county
     commissioners, and which shall provide for the registry of all
     real estate in said county in the manner hereinafter prescribed:
        The county commissioners are hereby authorized to appropriate
     such sums as may be necessary for the establishment and
     maintenance of such bureau, and to employ such engineers,
     surveyors, draughtsmen, clerks or other assistants as may be
     necessary to enable such bureau to perform efficiently and
     properly the functions prescribed by this act.
        Section 2.  The Registry Survey Bureau of any county of the
     third class established as aforesaid, shall cause to be made all
     such necessary books, maps and plans as will show the situation
     and dimensions of each property therein, which books, maps or
     plans shall be so prepared as to show the house number, if any,
     the name of the owner or owners thereof, with blank spaces for
     the owner of each lot, with provision for the names of future
     owners and dates of future transfer of title. The bureau shall
     provide for and maintain a separate record for the area covered
     by each city, borough, incorporated town or township in the
     county. For the above purposes the employes of the bureau shall
     have free access, without charge, to any of the public records
     wherein the necessary information may be obtainable therefor.
     The bureau may also cause search to be made in any other place
     for any muniments or evidence of title not reported to it as
     hereinafter provided and requisite for the completion of such
     books, maps or plans.
        Section 3.  The said books, maps and plans shall be carefully
     preserved in the office of the bureau, and shall be so kept, by
     additions from time to time, or otherwise, as to show the
     ownership of every lot or piece of real estate or subdivision
     thereof within the county limits, with the succeeding
     transmissions of title from the date of the commencement of such
     plans; but nothing therein, or in this act, shall invalidate any
     county or municipal or tax claim, by reason of the fact that the
     same is not assessed or levied against the registered owner.
        Section 4.  Certified copies, under the seal of the bureau,
     of any of the entries in said books or upon said maps or plans,
     shall be received in evidence in the same manner as the books,
     maps and plans themselves might be admissible for such purposes,
     and may be also furnished to any person desiring the same, for
     such fee or compensation for the use of the county as may be
     fixed by resolution.
        Section 5.  All owners of unregistered real estate within the
     county limits, within one month from the date of the approval of
     the resolution establishing a Registry Survey Bureau, and every
     subsequent purchaser, and every devisee or person acquiring
     title by partition or otherwise, to any real estate therein
     within one month after acquiring such title, shall furnish to
     the said bureau at its office, descriptions of their respective
     properties upon blanks furnished by the bureau, and at the same
     time present their conveyance, to be stamped by said bureau as
     evidence of the registration thereof. The board of county
     commissioners may provide by resolution for the collection of a
     fee not in excess of seventy-five cents (75¢) for each
     registration.
        Any person or persons neglecting or refusing to comply with
     the provisions of this section for a period of thirty days after
     public notice of the requirements thereof, shall be liable to a
     penalty of ten dollars ($10), to be recovered with costs of suit
     in the name and for the use of the county, as penalties for the
     violation of county resolutions are recoverable.
        Section 6.  The sheriff, of any county in which such bureau
     is established, shall present for registry the deeds of all
     properties within the county limits sold by him at judicial
     sales, whether by execution or in partition or otherwise, and
     the recorder of deeds of such county shall not admit for record
     any deed of any property in such county bearing date subsequent
     to the approval of the resolution establishing such bureau,
     unless the same shall first have been duly stamped as herein
     provided.
        Section 7.  The provisions of this act shall become effective
     immediately upon final enactment.