Caution (land titles)

A buyer or lender checking the title to land that a business occupies may find a caution on the parcel register. It tells them that someone else claims an interest and that a dealing may need that person’s consent. See how to check title and liens when buying from an insolvency for the wider search. This entry covers Ontario and Alberta only; check the rules where you are.

How it works under the Ontario Act

Section 128(2) also lets the land registrar permit a registered owner to register a caution in special circumstances shown by affidavit, and section 128(3) bars a caution by a person interested under a lease or agreement for a lease of which notice has been entered on the register. After registering a caution, the cautioner serves a copy and notice on the registered owner and others with an interest (section 129(2)). A caution registered on or after June 16, 1999 ceases to have effect 60 days from its registration and cannot be renewed (section 128(4)). A person who registers one without reasonable cause is liable to compensate anyone who suffers damage (section 132).

Alberta

Alberta’s Land Titles Act uses a different word. Section 130 lets a person claiming to be interested, on a ground listed in that section, in land for which a certificate of title has been issued, or in a mortgage or encumbrance relating to it, cause a caveat in the prescribed form to be filed with the Registrar against the registration of any person as transferee or owner of, or any instrument affecting, the estate or interest, unless the certificate of title is expressed to be subject to the claim of the caveator.