North Bay Real Estate Lawyer: Buying or Selling in Northern Ontario

Buying or selling a home, cottage or piece of land around North Bay often involves more than a city lot. You may be dealing with a rural road, a waterfront property, a fence that has been in the wrong place for years, or land in unorganized territory. The property itself can raise extra questions, and how they apply depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

This article explains what a real estate lawyer actually does on a closing, how registration works for Nipissing, where your money sits, and which rural and waterfront issues are worth raising early. It is general information, not advice on your file.

What the lawyer does on a North Bay closing

Real estate closings in Ontario are lawyer-driven because of how registration works. Only a lawyer can sign for completeness an electronic registration document that requires compliance-with-law statements. Non-lawyers may sign such documents for release only. That is why a paralegal, notary or title company cannot register a transfer or mortgage on their own.

On Ontario's electronic land registration system, most transfer of title documents require two different lawyers to sign for completeness. One lawyer may sign alone in limited cases, such as estate-trustee-to-beneficiary transfers or certain related-party transfers. Teraview users need a unique access key and must meet identity, financial resources and good character/accountability criteria, and users without authorization have search-only access.

• Reviewing the agreement of purchase and sale and explaining it in plain language.
• Searching title and reviewing the title search report. A lawyer may delegate routine work but cannot delegate reviewing the title search report or documents before signing, signing a requisition letter or title opinion, or signing the reporting letter to the client.
• Preparing and registering the transfer and any mortgage.
• Handling closing funds through the lawyer's trust account.
• Reporting to you after closing.

One lawyer or two?

A lawyer shall not act for both the transferor and the transferee in a transfer of title. A firm of two or more lawyers may act for both only if different lawyers in the firm represent each party. In practice, buyer and seller usually have separate representation, so ask any firm how it handles this.

Registration in Nipissing and the money side

The Nipissing Land Registry Office is LRO 36, at 111-447 McKeown Avenue, North Bay. Registration falls under the Land Titles Act or the Registry Act. Ontario's land registry services are online only, so your lawyer registers electronically rather than you attending an office.

Money moves through trust. Law Society of Ontario By-Law 9 governs lawyers' trust funds in real estate deals, including mortgage proceeds and closing funds. For electronic trust transfers on closing, By-Law 9 requires a Form 9A before the transfer and a Form 9C signed by a person with signing authority.

Taxes also affect your closing costs. Ontario's provincial land transfer tax on agreements after November 14, 2016 is 0.5% to $55,000, 1.0% from $55,000 to $250,000, 1.5% from $250,000 to $400,000 and 2.0% above $400,000, with 2.5% above $2,000,000 for land with one or two single family residences. The Non-Resident Speculation Tax is 25% and is in addition to the general land transfer tax. If you are buying from a non-resident, you should get a CRA certificate of compliance before releasing funds, because you may become liable for the seller's unpaid tax.

Rural, waterfront and unorganized-township issues

Around North Bay, many properties sit outside a town's usual services. A few points are worth raising with your lawyer early.

• Unorganized territory: Provincial Land Tax applies there under the Provincial Land Tax Act, 2006 and O. Reg. 224/09, which sets per-acre rates. Ask whether the property is in unorganized territory and what the tax history is.
• Fences: the Line Fences Act process lets adjoining owners ask the municipality for fence-viewers when no fence exists or one needs repair. It decides how fencing work is divided but does not decide where the boundary is.
• Boundaries: a Boundaries Act application needs a new survey prepared by an Ontario Land Surveyor. Adjoining owners get notice from the Director of Titles and objections are generally due within 30 days.
• Hidden defects: a seller must disclose latent defects, meaning defects that make a property unfit for habitation, dangerous or potentially dangerous. A seller does not have to disclose visible defects but must not conceal them.

Questions about wells, septic systems, shoreline ownership and road allowances depend heavily on the specific property. They are worth raising with your lawyer and your inspector before you waive conditions. Under the principle of buyer beware, you are expected to do your own inspections and due diligence before waiving conditions.

What to do next

• Send your lawyer the signed agreement of purchase and sale as soon as it is accepted.
• Tell them if the property is rural, waterfront, on a private road or in unorganized territory.
• Ask whether a survey exists and whether fences match the boundaries.
• Arrange your own inspections before conditions are waived.
• Confirm in advance how your closing funds should be sent to trust.
• If you are selling, keep records for reporting the sale to CRA. All sales of real property, including a principal residence, must be reported, even with no gain.

Frequently asked questions