The British Columbia real estate law guide
This lens is part of my series which will show you the most important aspects of specific real estate laws in British Columbia, Canada. To give credit where it's due, here's a list of sources for these articles:
Duhaime Law
I hope you'll find this lens useful. - Jay Banks, your realtor in Vancouver
Property Law Act
notes and basic information
- The Property Law Act requires that the vendor of land must deliver a registrable title; i.e., an instrument that can be registered under the Land Title Act. The same rule applies to leases of a period greater than three years, unless the contrary is agreed upon.
- There's a legal presumption that where land is sold to 2 or more people, "they are tenants in common unless a contrary intention appears in the instrument." This includes purchases by a husband and wife team.
- A person can transfer land to himself or herself. This may sound a bit odd, but it is a very useful tool in severing a joint tenancy.
- The Property Law Act covers the transfer of the responsibilities under an existing mortgage from the seller to a buyer. In most situations, the seller will use the proceeds to pay off the mortgage and thus give title to the purchaser free of any mortgage. The purchaser will then allow his or her own mortgage to be registered against the property. The Act is for those situations where the seller's mortgage survives the sale.
- The Property Law Act requires all mortgagees (i.e. banks etc.) to provide, on request from their mortgagor, and free of charge, a financial statement which provides detail on the status of the mortgage including the amount payable and details on principal or interest due.
- The Property Law Act makes it clear that Canadian citizenship is not required to buy or sell land in British Columbia. This may be different, however, where the purchaser is a company. The Company Act says that an unregistered extraprovincial company is not allowed to buy or acquire land in BC. Note also that the Land Titles Act requires that a statement of citizenship be filed for every purchaser, identifying themselves as citizens, landed immigrants or foreigners.
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