Lawyers play an important role in real estate matters and are uniquely positioned to help protect homebuyers and the integrity of Ontario's land registry system.
The Government of Ontario has recognized this by ensuring that a lawyer is involved with the registration of most transfers of title to real property.
The Law Society supports this important public protection role through its work with the real estate bar, the government and real estate industry stakeholders and through a number of related initiatives.
Recent initiatives:
- Guidelines on Powers of Attorney in Real Estate Transactions
- What the Law Society is doing to protect the public
- Law Society Practice Portal: Real Estate
- Due diligence process for mortgage and loan transactions for lenders and lawyers
- 'Two Lawyer' requirement for the transfers of title to real property
- Rule 2.04.1
- Frequently Asked Questions and Practice Tips
- Requirements for access to the electronic land registration system and registration requirements for Transfers and Powers of Attorney
The Ontario Government, as part of its real estate fraud action plan, has restricted access for registration purposes to the electronic registration system. To obtain authorization for access for registration purposes, Teraview account holders are required to submit an application with supporting documents and sign a registration agreement. More information is available on the government website.
The government has also implemented new registration requirements for transfers of title and new registration requirements for powers of attorney and any documents registered under the authority of a power of attorney. See Government Bulletin 2009-01 for more information.
- New Mortgage Brokerage, Lenders and Administrators Act
- Insurance changes - All lawyers who practice real estate require fraud insurance coverage. More information is available on the LAWPRO website.
- Law Society Real Estate Practice Resources
- The Real Estate Issues Working Group
The Working Group on Real Estate Issues was formed in 2005 to focus on issues arising in real estate practice that relate to the Law Society's regulatory responsibilities and public protection mandate. The aim of the group is to manage real estate matters in a comprehensive way through the united efforts of real estate practitioners, the organized bar (CDLPA and the OBA) and the Law Society. The working group was formalized as a working group of the Law Society's Professional Development and Competence Committee in 2007.
Mortgage fraud, standards of practice and facilitating the public's access to lawyers knowledgeable about real estate law are examples of the issues being addressed. The Working Group has been instrumental in a number of initiatives including the development of the due diligence process for mortgage and loan transactions, the development of the Residential Real Estate Transactions Practice Guidelines and consultations with the profession on regulatory and government initiatives.
- Protecting the public in real estate matters - backgrounder on recent initiatives