(1)  Subject to this section, the Recorder shall not register any dealing except as provided in this Act and unless the dealing is in accordance with this Act.

(2)  Where a dealing that is not in accordance with this Act is lodged for registration, the Recorder shall –

(a) require it to be amended as provided in subsection (4) ;

(b) amend it as provided in subsection (6) ; or

(c) refuse to register it.

(3)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Recorder may, in the Recorder’s discretion, register a dealing notwithstanding any error in or omission from the dealing and where a dealing is so registered the error or omission does not invalidate its registration.

(4)  If, in the opinion of the Recorder, a dealing which is lodged with the Recorder for registration is erroneous, incomplete, or defective in any particular, the Recorder may by notice in writing require the person by whom the dealing was lodged, or the person’s agent, to re-execute, complete, or correct the dealing or procure the re-execution, completion, or correction of the dealing in such manner as may be specified in the notice.

(5)  If a person to whom a notice under subsection (4) is forwarded fails, within the prescribed period, to re-execute, complete, or correct the dealing, or to procure the re-execution, completion, or correction of the dealing in accordance with the notice, the Recorder shall, after such delay (if any) as the Recorder thinks proper, deal with the dealing as if the Recorder had not required any amendment.

(6)  The Recorder may, of the Recorder’s own motion, correct a patent error in a dealing lodged for registration by notation, and after an error is so corrected the dealing has the same validity and effect as if the error so corrected had not been made.

(7)  The Recorder may refuse to register a dealing which in the Recorder’s opinion cannot be registered because another dealing is required to be registered before it, and that other dealing has not been lodged, or is not in order, for registration.

(8)  Where the Recorder refuses to register a dealing, the Recorder shall notify the person by whom the dealing was lodged or the person’s agent of the Recorder’s refusal, and may retain one-half of the fees paid on the lodging of the dealing.

(9)  Where the Recorder refuses to register a dealing, the Recorder may also refuse to register a dealing which appears to the Recorder to be intended to be registered subsequent to the first-mentioned dealing, or which, in the Recorder’s opinion, could only be registered after the registration of the first-mentioned dealing.

(10)  All fees retained by the Recorder in accordance with subsection (8) shall be paid into the Public Account.

(11)  The Recorder is not to register a dealing that purports to be executed under or in pursuance of a power of attorney unless the Recorder is satisfied that –

(a) the power of attorney is registered under the Powers of Attorney Act 2000 ; or

(b) in the case of a foreign power of attorney within the meaning of the Powers of Attorney Act 2000 , the foreign power of attorney is registered under, or taken to be registered in Tasmania for the purposes of, that Act.

(11A)  If satisfied as specified in subsection (11) , the Recorder is entitled to assume that the execution of the dealing is within the powers conferred on the attorney by the relevant power of attorney or foreign power of attorney.

(12)  If the Recorder is of the opinion that by reason of amendments made or to be made in a dealing the dealing will be inconvenient for subsequent use, the Recorder may require the person by whom it was lodged, or the person’s agent, to lodge within 30 days from the date of the requisition a fresh dealing to the same effect as the original dealing has, or would have, after amendment.

(13)  A dealing lodged pursuant to subsection (12) has effect as if it had been lodged in place of the original dealing, and if validly made in fact is not invalid merely because it could not have been validly made at the date of lodgement of the original dealing.

(14)  A requirement or refusal made by the Recorder under this section in respect of a dealing shall be notified in writing to the person by whom the dealing was lodged or his agent.

(15)  Where a legal practitioner is acting as or for the agent referred to in subsection (14) the notification shall be sent to that legal practitioner.

(16)  For the purposes of this section –

registration includes all methods of recording in the office of the Recorder;

the prescribed period means –

(a) in the case of a caveat, or a writ referred to in section 61 , a period of 21 days; and

(b) in any other case, a period of 90 days –

after the date of the notice under subsection (4) .