see; but the cost of the counterpart
(i.e. the duplicate executed by the lessee) is usually borne by the
lessor.

Assignment of leaseholds.

Upon the sale and conveyance of a leasehold property substantially the
same procedure is observed as above indicated in the case of a freehold.
A few additional points, however, may be specially mentioned. Under an
open contract the vendor cannot be called upon to show the title to the
freehold reversion (Vendor and Purchaser Act 1874; Conveyancing Act
1881). Accordingly, the abstract of title begins with the lease, however
old; but the subsequent title need not be carried back for more than
forty years before the sale. The purchaser, apart from stipulation, must
assume, unless the contrary appears, that the lease was duly granted,
and upon production of the receipt for the last payment due for rent
before completion, that all the covenants and provisions of the lease
have been duly performed and observed up to the date of actual
completion. The appropriate word of conveyance is "assign," and a
conveyance of leaseholds is generally called an assignment. The vendor's
covenants for title implied by his assigning "as beneficial owner"
include, in addition to the covenants implied by those words in a
conveyance of freehold, a covenant limited in manner above mentioned,
that the lease is valid, and that the rent and the provisions of the
lease have been paid and observed up to the time of conveyance
(Conveyancing Act 1881). Where the vendor, as is the common case,
remains liable after the assignment for the rent and the performance of
the covenants, the purchaser must covenant to pay the rent, and perform
and observe the covenants and provisions of the lease, and keep the
vendor indemnified in those respects.

Mortgages.

A mortgage is prepared by the solicitor of the mortgagee, and the
mortgagor bears the whole expenses of the transaction. It is seldom that
there is any preliminary agreement, because (1) a contract to lend money
is not specifically enforceable; and (2) inasmuch as the primary object
of a mortgagee is to have his money well secured, he is not, generally,
willing to submit to restrictions as to title or evidence of title which
might give rise to difficulty or expense in the event of a sale of the
mortgaged property. An intending mortgagor is accordingly required to
show a title easily marketable, and to verify it at his own cost. A
mortgage follows the same