Joint Tenancy and Tenancy in Common Fraud in Jamaica: How Co-Ownership Disputes Enable Property Crimes

• Joint tenants hold property together with a right of survivorship; tenants in common hold distinct shares.
• A joint tenant cannot unilaterally sell the whole property; fraudsters have done so using forged instruments.
• Severance of joint tenancy can be used to defeat a co-owner’s survivorship rights without their knowledge.
• Tenants in common disputes involving disputed shares have been used to cloud title and extract payments.
• The NLA records the nature of co-ownership on the certificate of title; owners should verify this regularly.

When two or more persons own property together in Jamaica, the title will record the nature of that co-ownership. Joint tenants hold the property as a single unit, each with an equal and undivided interest, subject to the right of survivorship — meaning that when one joint tenant dies, their interest automatically passes to the surviving joint tenant or tenants rather than forming part of their estate. Tenants in common, by contrast, hold distinct and separately alienable shares, which pass under the owner’s will or intestacy on death. The distinction matters enormously in practice, and fraud has been perpetrated by exploiting both arrangements. A dishonest joint tenant has purported to sell the entire property using forged instruments, while a dishonest surviving co-owner has concealed the survivorship of a joint tenancy to claim the deceased’s share as part of an estate.

Fraudulent Severance and Unilateral Dealings

A joint tenancy can be severed — converted into a tenancy in common — by unilateral act, without the consent of the other joint tenant. This can be done legitimately, but the process has been exploited fraudulently. A co-owner who wishes to defeat their co-owner’s right of survivorship — for example, to ensure that their share passes to their own children rather than to the surviving spouse — may lodge a severance without informing the other co-owner. Where this severance is accompanied by a will that purports to leave the severed share to a third party, the surviving co-owner may discover only after the death of their partner that they no longer hold the whole property by survivorship. Equally, fraudsters have purported to mortgage or sell an entire jointly owned property using instruments forged with the other co-owner’s signature, exploiting the fact that the transaction may be registered before the innocent co-owner becomes aware of it.

Protection for Co-Owners in Jamaica

Co-owners of property in Jamaica should regularly verify the current state of their title at the NLA, including confirming the nature of the co-ownership recorded. Where one co-owner wishes to sever a joint tenancy, they should do so transparently and ensure that both parties understand the implications. Any dealing with co-owned property — sale, mortgage, or lease — should require the written consent and signature of all co-owners, and attorneys handling such transactions should verify the identity of all parties in person. Co-owners who discover that a fraudulent severance or dealing has been registered without their consent should seek urgent legal advice and consider lodging a caveat against further dealings while the matter is investigated. The Partition Act provides a mechanism for co-owners who cannot agree on the management of jointly held property to apply to the court for a division or sale.

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