What you don't find before closing, you own after it.

A residential purchase has a title search, a few standard requisitions, and a closing date four to six weeks out. A commercial acquisition has title review, off-title enquiries to a dozen government departments, zoning confirmation, environmental due diligence, tenant estoppel certificates, survey review, a requisition period, HST structuring, and a closing date 60 to 90 days out. The volume of work between signature and registration is what separates one transaction from another.

Title defects surface. A mortgage that was paid off years ago but never discharged from title. An easement that was never registered but has been in use for decades. A Planning Act contravention that renders the transfer void under section 50 until it is remediated. Open building permits that the vendor forgot existed. Unpaid municipal taxes that carry priority over every other claim on the property. Each one has to be found, assessed, and resolved before the closing date arrives.

The off-title searches tell you what the title search cannot. Whether the property sits in a flood plain regulated by a conservation authority. Whether there are outstanding fire code or electrical safety orders. Whether the zoning permits the use the buyer intends. Whether underground storage tanks were ever installed on the site. These answers come from municipal departments that respond in two to six weeks. If the searches are not ordered early, the answers arrive late. Late answers delay closings. Delayed closings cost money.

We handle residential and commercial real estate transactions. Purchases, sales, and refinances for homeowners and families through our Simplyclose division. Commercial acquisitions, dispositions, investment property transactions, and leasing through Mariotti Law Group.

On every file, we search title through Teraview, review every registered instrument on the parcel, conduct execution and insolvency searches on the vendor, order and review off-title enquiries, confirm Planning Act compliance through abutting lands searches and planning law statements, and coordinate with the lender on mortgage instructions and security documentation. We review the agreement of purchase and sale for conditions that protect the buyer and obligations that bind the seller. We submit requisitions on title defects and follow them through to resolution or undertaking. On closing day, we register the transfer and charge electronically, report to the client, and complete the post-closing undertakings.

For commercial transactions, the work expands. Tenant lease review and estoppel certificate collection. Environmental due diligence and RSC requirements under Ontario Regulation 153/04. Zoning compliance confirmation. Survey review. HST structuring under section 221(2) of the Excise Tax Act, including verification of the purchaser's GST registration and coordination of the self-assessment. Vendor take-back mortgage documentation where applicable. Assignment of contracts and transfer of operating permits.

For investment properties, we verify the rent roll against the leases and the bank deposits. We confirm that every unit has proper building permits and that the current use complies with the zoning by-law. We review the property for Residential Tenancies Act compliance, including lawful rent calculations, above-guideline increase history, and any pending Landlord and Tenant Board applications. Properties built after November 15, 2018 are exempt from rent control. Properties built before that date are not. The distinction changes the investment thesis.

The Planning Act is both a planning statute and a title statute. Section 50 prohibits any dealing with land where the owner retains abutting property unless a statutory exception applies. A contravening transfer does not create any interest in land. It is void. This is not a technical deficiency that title insurance covers. It is a transaction that did not happen. The Act is a significant source of malpractice claims for real estate lawyers and a significant source of title problems for buyers who hired the wrong one.

HST on commercial real estate is where vendors get caught. When the purchaser is HST-registered, the vendor is relieved of collecting and the purchaser self-assesses. But if the purchaser's registration is defective or later revoked, the vendor is assessed. In one Tax Court decision, a vendor was assessed over $400,000 because the purchaser's GST registration was retroactively revoked after closing. Clear agreement drafting, registration verification, and indemnification clauses are the only protection.

Environmental contamination does not appear on title. It appears in the soil. Under the Environmental Protection Act, liability for remediation is joint, several, and not based on fault. A purchaser who buys contaminated land inherits the cleanup obligation regardless of who caused the contamination. Title insurance does not cover environmental liability. A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment before closing is the only way to know what is in the ground before you own it.