What is Title? Title is commonly referred to as the “Deed” to the property, and it establishes the ownership of the property.

The title for property purchases in Ontario is recorded in the Ontario Land Registry and is the exclusive registration system of the Province.

Good Title ensures that you are the true owner of the property and that it is correctly described in the Parcel Registry, which displays all official registration documents in the Ontario Land Registry.

It is also important to ensure that there are no claims, constructions liens other registrations that you may not know about prior to purchasing or selling your home, that could affect the closing of the deal or your ownership rights (e.g. Mortgagors, contractors, tenants and/or a spouse of the person selling the home may all have rights to the property that need to be resolved before the sale can proceed).

Good title is required in order for you to be able to sell your home on the closing date.

In ensuring good title, you lawyer typically will:

  • check and ensure that the Seller of the property has the right to sell the property, and that no one else has a claim to it or a lien on it;
  • consider survey-related issues, such as whether there are any encroachments or intrusions on your property by neighbouring properties, or if neighbours are in fact using a part of your property (e.g. the neighbour built a deck or fence on your property);
  • contact the local municipality to make sure that there are no compliance work orders against the property,  otherwise you may be forced to comply with if they are not completed before you deal has closed;
  • determine if any other organizations have easements or interests in your property that could restrict your use of it (e.g. Ultility companies that have easement rights to install hydro/gas/cable/etc, or any leases which give Tenants rights that may affect ownership);
  • contact local utilities and the municipality to find out if there are liens against the property because of unpaid utility or tax bills
  • If there are problems that affect title to your property, your lawyer could take steps to fix the matter (often working with the vendor’s lawyer). If the problem cannot be corrected, your lawyer will explain to you the risks of taking title without resolving the problem.

Source: Teranet.ca, Ontario.ca