Overriding interests (land titles)

A buyer of a business that owns land may rely on the Torrens system, where the register is meant to show who owns the land and what charges are on it. Overriding interests are the exceptions to that picture. The label is general, so look for the statute’s own list rather than the phrase. See how to check title and liens.

Ontario and British Columbia

Under Ontario’s Land Titles Act, s. 44(1), all registered land, unless the contrary is expressed on the register, is subject to the listed liabilities, rights and interests that are subsisting, and they are not deemed encumbrances. The list includes a lease or agreement for a lease where there is actual occupation under it and the period yet to run is within the section’s limit, rights conferred upon, reserved to or vested in the Crown by or under a statute of Canada or Ontario, and a title or lien acquired by possession or improvements by the owner or person interested in adjoining land; under s. 44(3), that last item does not apply where notice of the application for first registration was served on the adjoining owner and no objection was filed in the time allowed. In British Columbia’s Land Title Act, s. 23(2), an indefeasible title is conclusive evidence of the owner’s fee simple against the Crown and all other persons, subject to a list that includes a right of expropriation or to an escheat under an Act.

What to ask

• Who occupies the land, and under what lease or agreement?
• Does the statute’s list apply to this parcel?
• What does the parcel register itself show?