What is the Ontario Land Titles Assurance Fund and when can I use it?

The Land Titles Assurance Fund (LTAF) is a provincially maintained fund that compensates property owners and other parties who suffer a financial loss because of fraud, forgery, or errors in the Ontario land titles registration system. It is a statutory remedy available under the Land Titles Act.

The fund can potentially compensate you if, for example, someone used a forged identity or forged documents to transfer your property or register a fraudulent mortgage against your home, and you suffered a loss as a registered owner that you cannot recover from the fraudster. It can also apply to errors in the land registrar's records that caused you to lose your interest in land.

However, the LTAF is not unlimited and not available in all situations. You must generally be an innocent party who suffered a loss you could not otherwise recover. Claims are assessed by the Director of Titles, and compensation is not automatic — the Province may investigate and can resist claims it believes are not covered. Processing can also be slow. For these reasons, title insurance is typically preferred as the first line of defence for fraud and other title risks, because insurers tend to be faster at resolving claims and do not require you to establish fault in the registry system.