Title Searching - A New Perspective

• Author: Tina Kamakaris/Jane Kamakaris/Louis Kamakaris
• Pages: 687-708

687

Chapter 38 Title Searching — A New Perspective

CHAPTER 38

is chapter covers steps in searching titles under the Registry and Land Titles systems, including

searching under the Planning Act and searching writs of execution.

TITLE SEARCHING

Title searching is examining the past and present history of the ownership of a given property.

It usually involves making notes and obtaining electronic printouts of land registry records that

aect the property you are searching. A complete title search usually consists of four compon-

ents, as applicable:

1. A title search.

2. A corporate status search.

3. An execution search.

4. An abutting lands search pursuant to the Planning Act.

When conducting a title search, you usually act for the purchaser in a purchase and sale trans-

action or for the chargee in a charge (or mortgage) transaction. In purchase and sale transactions,

the purpose of searching title is to ensure the purchaser receives a good and valid title to the

property being purchased. e purpose is the same in charge transactions since a good and valid

title ensures the chargee’s loan is secure. A lawyer or other person who reads your search should

be able to determine the exact state of aairs of the title to the property in question, with a lawyer

being able to readily give an opinion on title.

How land was originally divided All land in Ontario was originally under the Registry

system. Southern Ontario developed earlier and did so by rst dividing the land into counties.

ese counties were divided into townships that were further divided into concessions and lots

on the concessions. In certain areas of the province, however, mainly in northern Ontario, the

Land Titles system is and always has been the only system available pursuant to the Regulations

of the Land Titles Act. Northern Ontario’s districts are equivalent to southern Ontario’s counties.

Automation and conversion to Land Titles Automation is the computerization of

the original paper records of properties, enabling such work as land registrations and title searches

to be conducted online. Nearly all Ontario properties have been automated and converted from

the Registry system to the Land Titles system which is the system that guarantees good title.

Legal TIP

When a client purchases

a title insurance policy

(in purchase as well as

in charge transactions),

the lawyer is required to

give an opinion on title

to the title insurance

company.

TITLE SEARCHING —

A NEW PERSPECTIVE

Copyright © 2022 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.

688 Legal Office Procedures

AUTOMATED TITLES IN REGISTRY SYSTEM

Non-converts ese are among a small percentage of properties that, although automated,

have not been converted to Land Titles and continue to be governed by the Registry Act. e

Province of Ontario has automated 40 years’ worth of outstanding documents of these proper-

ties into a computerized format. e abstract index contains a Property Identication Number

(PIN) followed by an “R” to indicate that these properties are still under the Registry system.

ese properties contain a serious aw on title, such as a Planning Act violation, which prevented

the conversion process of these lands from Registry to Land Titles, and ownership of the proper-

ties cannot be guaranteed; as a result, these properties remain subject to a 40-year title search.

AUTOMATED TITLES IN LAND TITLES SYSTEM

Land Titles Conversion Qualified (LTCQ) ese are Registry system properties that have

been converted to the Land Titles system, subject to the qualiers set out in the LTCQ parcel

register. See Precedent 38.3 for an example of a parcel register of an LTCQ title. LTCQ properties

are exempt from Planning Act and corporate status searches up to the date of conversion, but after

the date of conversion, these searches are required. e LTCQ qualiers, which usually include

adverse possession, encroachments, and misdescriptions of boundaries, require searches whether

before or after the date of conversion because such qualiers existed at the time of conversion.

Land Titles Absolute Plus (LT Plus) ese titles have been upgraded from an LTCQ to

LT Plus. An LT Plus title is said to be the best of all titles because the upgrade resolved any pre-

existing title disputes or adverse possession claims. Corporate status and Planning Act searches

need not extend behind the date of conversion into LTCQ.

Land Titles Absolute (LT Absolute) ese are all the original paper records of the Land

Titles system that have been simply automated. See PIN 24916-0001 (LT), Precedent 38.9, for

an example of an LT Absolute title. ese lands are subject to the usual execution search against

the registered owner of the land and remain subject to the usual corporate status search and abut-

ting lands search.

TITLE SEARCHING — REGISTRY SYSTEM

A title search was historically done at a land registry oce. You can nd the land registry oce

of your property through ServiceOntario by the city or town where your property is located. A

title search for a property registered in the Registry system that may not have been converted to

the Land Titles system entails examining each registered document aecting a property because

the Registry system does not guarantee a clear chain of title. Searches for Registry system proper-

ties can be conducted through the government’s OnLand website, which allows you to search

historical records for a property.

1. he 40-year rule is rule refers to how far back you must go to establish what is referred

to as a good root of title. e 40-year rule was rmly established by the Fire v Longtin, [1995]

4 SCR 3 case where the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the decision of the Ontario Court

of Appeal that a title search need only go back as far as 40 years in order to establish a good

root of title. is means going back 40 years in time from the date of closing of your current

transaction to at least one conveyance, i.e. a transfer/deed; this is your commencement point.

en, proceed forward from your commencement point to the most current entry on your

title. Note that it may be necessary at times to search behind the automated record, that is, look

at the paper record that existed prior to automation, to nd your point of commencement.

Legal TIP

Registry system

automated titles do

not shorten your title or

abutting lands searches.

Copyright © 2022 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.