Legal Brief for June, 2013

A Behind The Scenes Look At Real Estate Purchases
(or - what your lawyer is actually doing for you!)

Usually the only time a purchaser sees his or her lawyer during the course of a purchase transaction is when they meet at the lawyer's office to review and sign the necessary documents.  The purchaser finds (hopefully!) that everything looks organized and in order.  After a review of the various papers and discussing any questions, the purchaser signs all the documents and leaves to carry on with the process of packing and getting ready to move.  Oftentimes the degree of activity going on behind the scenes is not always readily apparent to the purchaser.  In this month's Brief we will review some of the standard steps that are undertaken by a lawyer acting on a typical purchase and mortgage transaction in Edmonton.

1. Open a file and prepare an initial information letter to the purchaser advising them of various important steps required to complete the purchase.

2. Obtain a copy of the existing Certificate of Title from the Land Titles Office to review the current state of the title to the property and identify any issues that may need to be addressed.  If the current owner has an outstanding mortgage, arrangements need to be confirmed with the seller's lawyer to ensure that the mortgage is paid out from the sale proceeds and discharged from the Title.

3. Obtain copies of any documents registered against the Title, such as utility rights of way or easements, and review them in order to assess whether they should remain on the Title or not.

4. Obtain a copy of the subdivision plan for the property, in order to do a visual confirmation of the property being purchased.

5. Obtain and review a copy of the property tax account for the property, in order to determine if there are any arrears of taxes owing, and if so to ensure they are paid by the seller's lawyer.

6. If the property is a single family dwelling, obtain a lot grading status report, in order to determine if final lot grading has previously been completed or not.

7. If their are appliances or other chattels included in the purchase, to obtain a Personal Property Registry search on the sellers in order to ensure that there are no liens registered against the applicances and chattels.

8. Prepare the necessary documents related to the purchase of the property.

9. Receive and review the mortgage instructions from the mortgage lender.

10. Prepare the required mortgage documents.

11. Obtain a policy of title insurance if required by the mortgage lender.

12. Receive and review the transfer documents from the seller's lawyer, including the Statement of Adjustments, and Real Property Report and Compliance Certificate for a single family dwelling or an Estoppel Certificate for a condominium, and identify if any issues need to be discussed or resolved with the seller's lawyer.

13. Submit a request for funds to the purchaser's mortgage lender.

14. Receive and review confirmation of property insurance on the property.

15. Initiate the transfer of title into the purchaser's name, and confirm registration of the new title and of the mortgage.

16. Send the closing funds to the seller's lawyer.

17. Prepare a post-closing report to both the purchaser and the mortgage lender.

As you can see from this listing, there are a considerable number of steps that your lawyer is responsible for completing.  Purchasing a property in today's complex legal environment is definitely not a simple matter!