A Vehicle Caveat is a legal (lawfully binding) restriction or claim placed on a vehicle to prevent its sale and/or transfer of ownership without the consent or approval of all the parties identified as current owners in the official government records or until certain terms and conditions are met.

Transfer of ownership of a vehicle that is “Under Caveat” can be a challenging task, as the process may be lengthy and complex, and will have to involve different entities such as financiers, spouses, or business partners, and lawyers or commissioners of oath, as well as the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and the courts/judiciary.

It is critically important to first confirm if the vehicle is under caveat or not if you are seeking to purchase and have ownership of the vehicle transferred to you. You will know if a vehicle is under caveat through an official motor vehicle ownership seach. Once you perform a motor vehicle ownership search, on the Copy of Records (CoR) printout sent from mVerified to your email, you will be able to see the row; "Vehicle Under Caveat" with either “NO” or “YES” as its value. This information will also be on the SMS you recieve from mVerified Kenya.

If the value is “YES”, this simply means the vehicle is Under Caveat.

If the value is “NO”, it means the vehicle is Not Under Caveat.

• To place a caveat on a motor vehicle in Kenya, you need to know and follow these steps;
• 1. Ensure that you have legitimate legal grounds to place a caveat on the vehicle.
  Common reasons that can be used as lawful justification for a caveat include:
  
  • • Financial Justification;
    When a vehicle is used as collateral to secure a debt or loan that is to be issued, with the financier requiring a legal restriction on the asset to prevent it from being disposed or used for any other transaction without their knowledge and approval.
  • • Ownership Claims Justification;
    When there are valid ownership claims or disputes, such as in a marriage or business partnership where more than one party requires legal recognition as a part owner due to their legitimate ownership rights.
    For a spouse wanting to place a caveat on a vehicle, she/he must show proof of the marriage by producing a copy of their marriage certificate. Spouses can use grounds such as an ongoing divorce case or legal marital dispute, in addition to circumstances such as death, or incapacitations through severe mental or physical illnesses of their partner, to prevent loss of marital property through a caveat.
  • • Legal Proceedings Justification;
    When there is an ongoing court case or investigation by an authorized government agency involving the vehicle in which a decision or ruling that may affect the eventual ownership of the car is still pending.
    Government investigative agencies, such as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) et cetera commonly use this justification for placing a caveat on a vehicle, and will normally get a court order that will allow them to place a vehicle under caveat for a period of at least fourteen (14) days, officially granting them the legally allowed time period to carry out and complete investigations. This will usually be in the event of the registered owner being a suspect in a case involving unlawful civil or criminal acts such as corruption or fraud or embezzlement.
  • • Administrative justifications;
    This can be in the event where the registered owner who is an individual is facing bankruptcy, or when a company/business that is being placed under an administrator for restructuring or under receivership which will automatically lead to termination of the company. An administrator can also be a lawyer exercising “power of attorney”, that is, an appointed legal representative like an advocate acting on behalf of the owner.
• 2. Caveat can be placed on any type of vehicle;
  Caveat can be placed on any type of vehicle as per the categorizations of vehicles in the Copy of Records under the title “Type of Vehicle”, as explained in this article; a comprehensive guide on the details you get when you perform a motor vehicle ownership search.
  
• 3. Placing a caveat on motor vehicles in Kenya is free;
  The NTSA does not charge anything for placing a caveat on a motor vehicle. The only costs may include the legal fees that you may incur in obtaining the required court order.
• 4. The process of placing a caveat on a vehicle takes one working day to be completed. Once all the required documents are presented to the NTSA, it will take one working day (24 hours) for the caveat to be registered against the vehicle.

To place a caveat on a vehicle, the documents you require are;

• 1. Letter from the current registered owner
  The Owner only needs to show proof of self (via copy of their National ID or Passport) and proof of vehicle ownership (via copy of the Logbook).
• 2. A Court Order and Request Letter
  A court order supersedes the letter from the current owner, that is, it will be allowed by the NTSA without a letter from the current registered owner. This can occur in the event where the current registered owner is deceased and his/her spouse requires to place a caveat on the vehicle being a matrimonial property. In some cases, the owner may also not be willing to comply due to a legal dispute and so not write a letter for placing a caveat on the vehicle. In these instances amongst others, a court order accompanied by a request letter by the party seeking to register a cavehicle on a vehicle are acceptable.
• 3. Copies of the documents used in obtaining the court order
  In most cases, the NTSA will require to see copies of documents such as the logbook, marriage or death certificates, company or business registration certificates. So even after the conclusion of the legal proceedings with a favourable ruling, keep all the records safe.

In summary, the steps to follow to place a caveat on a motor vehicle in Kenya are;

• 1. Gather Required Documents
  The required documents include;
  A Request Letter; From the current registered vehicle owner or the one seeking to place caveat on the vehicle.
  A Court Order; Covering all the approved justifications for placing a caveat on the specific vehicle.
  Remember to carry copies of other related documents that you used to obtain the court order when visiting the NTSA offices.
• 2. Submit the Documents to NTSA Headquarters at 316 Upperhill Chambers, Upper Hill, Nairobi, Kenya. Submissions are received on working days, between 8:00 A.M and 4:30 P.M.
• 3. Wait for the Processing of the Caveat Order
  NTSA will take one working day (24 hours) to process the order and place the caveat on the vehicle.
• 4. Sending of Confirmation
  Once the caveat is registered, you will receive confirmation from the NTSA. It is important at this stage to perform a motor vehicle ownership search via mVerified Kenya to see the results others will get after the caveat is placed on the vehicle.