LAND
REGISTRY SEARCHES
and
WRITS OF EXECUTIONS SEARCHES
A
Title Search is the first thing you should do when
considering to buy a piece of property. A Title Search can uncover
hidden truths about the property. Title Search results can show
liens or mortgages registered on title of the property in question.
Who
orders Title Searches?
Real
Estate Investors
Tax
Sale Investors
Lawyers
and Paralegals
Banks
and Financial institutions
Mortgage
Investors
Private
Investigators
Private
Individuals researching a particular property
Why
should you do a Title Search?
To
confirm the ownership of a property or land
To
check if there are any outstanding mortgages
To
check if there are any liens registered on title
To
research previous owners
To
do due diligence before buying a property
Finding
hidden assets in case of litigation or divorce
What
can you get with a Title Search?
Name
of the property owner
List
of mortgages registered on title
List
of liens
Tax
lien information
Writ
of Execution
Current
and previous sales, transfers, etc...
Any
other documents registered on title
We can also
search the registry to check if an individual owns real estate in
Ontario. This is useful for finding hidden assets in case of litigation
or divorce.
We also search
title for litigation research, process serving, skip tracing and
searches of an investigative nature.
There
are two types of searches in Ontario:
1.
Electronic Searches.
Any property that is registered in the electronic database would
be available for electronic searching. Most properties in large
cities are available for electronic searching. This is the easiest
and quickest method of obtaining a title search.
2. Manual Searches.
There are still many properties that are not available for electronic
searching. Many properties in small townships in Northern Ontario
may not be available. However, the list is always changing.
When a manual search is processed, an agent must physically go to
a local Land Registry office to perform the manual search. This
is the most expensive and time consuming method for title searching.
Unfortunately, this would be the only way of performing a title
search for an unlisted property.
In
most cases, we can perform a title search if you have one of the
following in the order of preference:
1.
You have a PIN number (Property Identification Number)
This would be the quickest, most accurate and least expensive search.
This type of search is ready within 3 business hours.
Please do not confuse the tax roll number with PIN number.
Here is a sample of a PIN number: 61360-0169 (LT)
2. You have the
exact municipal address.
Not all properties in the electronic database are linked to the
municipal address.
If your property is listed under the municipal address, your search
will be quick and inexpensive. You only need to pay our search fee
and disbursements*.
If your property is not linked to the municipal address, we would
not be able to perform an electronic search. We may try alternative
methods, but they do result in time delay and additional costs.
3. You have the Owner Name and the City.
If you know the exact spelling of the owner's name and the city,
we can get the search results within a few hours.
4. You have the Legal Description.
Searches by legal description are not always successful. If results
cannot be obtained immediately, your search will be delayed and
incur additional costs.
Approximate
cost of Title Searches:
If
the property is available for electronic searching, the costs would
be as follows:
Title search fee - $35.00
Document retrieval fee - $10.00
Disbursements in Toronto - $20.00
Disbursements outside Toronto - $30.00
Disbursements per page - $4.00
Total cost depends entirely on your requirements.
Taxes
are extra where applicable.
Most
electronic searches range between $60 and $85 in total.
The total price depends on the number of documents and pages
you request.
Most
manual searches range between $100 and $200 due to the
cost of disbursements.
We
always recommend that you specify your maximum budget if you request
all documents.
When
in doubt, please call our customer service department at the numbers
listed below.
WRITS
OF EXECUTIONS SEARCHES
This search determines whether a person, corporation or other legal
entity has a Writ of Execution filed against them which affects
all lands owned by such person, corporation or other legal entity
within the jurisdiction of the Sheriff's office and/or the land
titles office wherein such writs are filed.
If
you are buying real estate, you must do a Writ of Execution search
for the current owner of the property. This is the only way to insure
that there are no outstanding judgments that may affect the land.
