The Firm can track its real estate practice back to the days of Oliver Fitzwilliam & Co. which started off as a “Conveyancers and Solicitors” practice in 1919. Today, the Firm’s real estate and land development practice stands out as one of the largest and most diverse real estate and conveyancing practices in Trinidad and Tobago. It is involved in all aspects of industrial, commercial and residential property transactions and its clients include major banks and other financial institutions, insurance companies, property developers, residential communities and other organizations across the business sector.
The practice area covers all forms of conveyancing work including title verification, conveyances, transfers, assignments, leases, mortgages, up-stampings, bills of sale and other registrations. Apart from the traditional conveyancing fare, the Firm frequently advises on large complex property development transactions both residential and commercial in nature. There is particular expertise in condominium development and the Firm has been involved in negotiating, developing, implementing and managing multiple condominium and mixed use schemes in Trinidad and Tobago.
The Firm has also played an active role in reforming real property legislation in Trinidad and Tobago, and has made contributions as part of several committees, set up to advise on the registration of Land Deeds, the re-organization and administration of registration of land titles and for the monitoring of the technological changes in the Office of the Registrar General by the automation, digitization and remote accessibility of the public land title records.
The real estate and land development practice also regularly lends its expertise to other practice areas within the Firm. Support is provided in banking and finance transactions for the purposes of verifying the viability of real property as lending collateral, to onshore oil and gas transactions for the purposes of identifying the owners of private petroleum rights and to litigation in proceedings involving complex title or other real property issues.
Tara Allum, Partner l Suella Saunders, Partner