The. The Newsletter of LAND UPDATE. Land Title Fees Changing

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1 Register The The Newsletter of West Coast Title Search Ltd. NUMBER 93 / 15 REGISTRY SERVICES PROCESS SERVING SEPTEMBER 2015 In This Issue Court Update Court and Couriers...3 Current Turnaround Times...3 Form 33 CPL...3 Requisition to Reset a Hearing...3 Land Update Also Known As / AKA For Power of Attorney...1 Cancellation of Discriminating Covenants...2 Land Title Fees Changing...1 New Versions of Electronic Forms...2 Victoria Update LTO Front Counter Relocated...4 Vital Stats Update Wills Searches...4 West Coast Update Staff Anniversaries...4 Upcoming 2015 Statutory Holidays...5 LAND Land Title Fees Changing The Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia will be changing its fees effective November 1, The new regulated fee structure reduces the number of LTSA fee categories and groups similar transactions and services into common fee categories. Fees for the most common land title applications have been slightly reduced. Applications represented by the Indefeasible Title category and Charges category will now be $71.58 (+ $1.50 Online, if applicable). Fees for other statutory services have been significantly increased. Significant Increase For Document/Plan Copies In order to move to a consistent charge for the retrieval of LTSA records, a common retrieval fee of $15.18 per record (+ $1.50 Online, if applicable) will now apply to the retrieval of a paper copy of a document or plan as well as an imaged copy. In addition to the retrieval fee, if the document is copied from the microfiche tapes or a paper copy of a plan is obtained from the LTO, there will also be a fee of $1.18 per page ($ GST). Common Fees For Land Title Applications Rather than having a separate fee structure for Certificates of Pending Litigation, Caveats and Judgments, these charges will now have the same fee of $71.58(+ $1.50 Online, if applicable) as all other charges. General Filings, such as Strata Forms V and X, that were previously Nil, will now be $28.63(+$1.50 Online, if applicable). A Claim of Lien will now be Nil. A preview of all the new LTSA fees effective November 1, 2015 may be viewed on the LTSA website at Also Known As/AKA For Power of Attorney A Power of Attorney document may be submitted that has also known as names for the Donor/Adult. If an AKA is used, the name variations must be shown in the body of the Power of Attorney as well as under the signature line of the Donor/Adult. It is not permitted to have alternate names for the Attorney named in the Power of Attorney. NOTE: Land documents that will be registered on title may not show alternate names because a registered owner can only have one legal name.

2 Cancellation of Discriminating Covenants The Director of Land Titles issued a Practice Note on August 7, 2015 dealing with the cancellation of discriminating covenants. Section 222 of the Land Title Act, enacted in 1978, specifies covenants that, directly or indirectly, restrict the sale, ownership, occupation or use of land based on sex, race, creed, colour, nationality, ancestry or place of origin of a person are void and of no effect. On being made aware of a discriminating covenant, the Registrar will amend the register and records to reflect that the discriminating covenants are no longer valid. If the instrument contains other covenants that are not discriminating, the Registrar will make an endorsement on the title and on the original document indicating that the discriminating covenant has been cancelled pursuant to s.222. Where the entire instrument has been affected by s.222, the Registrar will cancel the covenant from all affected titles and make an endorsement on the document indicating its cancellation. If the original document is imaged, the document will be amended and rescanned into the records under its original registration number. If the original document is stored on microfilm (registered prior to 1960), the original document cannot be amended for technology-related reasons and the original version of the document will continue to be accessible on microfile. There is no fee for requests from Owners to the Registrar to cancel discriminating covenants. If you would like a copy of Practice Note 01-15, contact Client Services at or or to info@wcts.com New Versions of Electronic Forms On June 8, 2015, the Director of Land Titles released new versions of nine electronic form templates. After a two month transition period, the older versions were retired effective August 10, Older versions of the retired electronic forms will still be accepted provided the true copy was executed before August 10, On July 31, 2015 newer versions of the Form A, Form B, Form C - Charge and Form C - Release were issued. It is acceptable to use the June 8 th version of these forms until they are officially retired but it is recommended that the most current version of the electronic forms be downloaded and used. Current Versions of EFS Forms Form Version Effective Date Form 17 Fee Simple v11 Sept Form 17 Charge, Notation or Filing Form 17 Cancellation of Charge, Notation or Filing v12 June v13 June Form A* - Freehold Transfer v22 (v21) July 31, 2015 (June 8, 2015) Form B* Mortgage v22 (v21) July 31, 2015 (June 8, 2015) Form C* Charge v21(v20) July 31, 2015 (June 8, 2015) Form C* Release v22 (v21) July 31, 2015 (June 8, 2015) Claim of Lien v19 Mar Form Declaration v19 Mar LTO Application to Deposit Plan v12 June LTO Survey Plan Certification v10 June Property Transfer Tax Form v24 Feb Strata Property Act Filing Form v9 Sept Local Government Filing Form v5 June Current versions of the electronic forms can be downloaded from the LTSA s website at or from the Download Form Templates screen under Administration in the brown bar at the top of the Land Title & Survey page on myltsa. Help Guides To support the changes to the form templates and electronic filing, an updated version of Director s Requirements for Electronic Filing (DR 01-11), Director s Requirements for Electronic Land Title Forms (DR 03-11), Form 17 Help Guide and Local Government Act Filing Form Help Guide were also issued and are available on the LTSA website. Page 2

3 COURT Form 33 CPL There are two Form 33 Certificates of Pending Litigation that can be filed in the Land Title Office: Form 33 under the Family Law Act and Form 33 under the Family Relations Act. Both certificates are pursuant to section 215(6) of the Land Title Act and both are subject to Rule 22-8 of the Supreme Court Family Rules. Form 33 (Family Law Act ) A proceeding commenced under the Family Law Act must use the Form 33 (Family Law Act) that states I certify that this proceeding claims for an order under the Family Law Act respecting the division of property. Under the Family Law Act, spouses are either married people or people who have lived together in a marriage-like relationship for at least 2 years. If the parties are not married, a Form 33 under the Family Law Act can still be filed in the Land Title office. Current Turnaround Times Form 33 (Family Relations Act ) A proceeding respecting property division started under the Family Relations Act, or continued under the Family Relations Act, must use the Form 33 (Family Relations Act) that states I certify that this proceeding claims a dissolution of marriage or judicial separation or a declaration that a marriage is null or void, or a declaratory judgment under Part 5 of the Family Relations Act that spouses have no reasonable prospect of reconciliation with each other. Under the Family Relations Act, only married spouses can divide property. If the parties are not married, a Form 33 under the Family Relations Act cannot be filed in the Land Title Office. A Form 31 under the Land Title Act must be used. Counterclaim CPLs It is common for a Counterclaim CPL to be filed by the defendant spouse in a Family action. Court does not require the originating Court documents to file the Counterclaim or to sign the CPL form. However, if the CPL based on the Counterclaim is to be filed in the LTO, a Court stamped copies of both the originating court documents and the Counterclaim must be filed in support of the Form 33. The dates for checking Supreme Court Orders for New Westminster (as of September 28, 2015) and Vancouver (as of September 25, 2015) are as follows: Type of Order New Westminster Vancouver Consent/Desk Orders September 28, 2015 September 21, 2015 Defaults 2-5 business days September 21, 2015 Desk Order Divorces June 5, 2015 August 18, 2015 Divorce resubmissions September 25, 2015 Not posted Probate applications July 2, 2015 July 7, 2015 Probate resubmissions September 2, 2015 Not posted Spoken To/Heard Orders September 28, 2015 September 21, 2015 E-filed Divorces May 15, 2015 August 16, 2015 Note: E-filed Requisitions, other than those filed at Trial Scheduling, can take more than 2 days to be returned. The Register Court and Couriers Documents for Rush Filing If time is a consideration and you have documents that must be filed urgently, please contact us. If we cannot e-file your documents, we may be able to offer you a more efficient and costeffective way to get your documents to us. Note: If documents must be originally signed by the lawyer (eg: Affidavit), they must be couriered to us. Downtown Vancouver Offices and Vancouver Court Registries For filing at Vancouver Court Registries, local couriers are usually the best option. They can pick up at your downtown office and deliver to us fairly quickly. New Westminster and Local Provincial Court Registries Due to time constraints and distance, for urgent filings in New Westminster, or a local Provincial Court, the best option will likely be to send your documents to us via to info@wcts.com or via our website Our Court staff will then print your documents, countersign them on your behalf and manually file them. For an Application Record, if it will fit into a 1 binder, send everything, including the index and cover page, and we will reconstruct the binder for you so that it can be manually filed. Requisition to Reset a Hearing Requisitions that are e-filed are usually processed by Court Registry staff after other court filings. When filing requisitions to reset a hearing, it is best to file these requisitions manually to ensure that they are processed in time to file the Application Record. If the requisition has not been filed and entered into the Court s system, the hearing will not be set on the list and the binder will not be accepted. Page 3

4 VICTORIA LTO Front Counter Relocated On August 10, 2015, the Victoria Land Title Office moved its front counter from the first floor to the second floor at 1321 Blanshard Street in order to reduce ongoing operating costs. Staff Anniversaries West Coast is very pleased to announce that 5 staff members have significant anniversary milestones in On behalf of Wayne Crookes, Owner/President and all the staff, we would like to congratulate Edwin Erroa, Shelley Porter, Dianne Langdon, Gertrudes Tabisula and Maureen Lawrence for their many years of dedicated service and say: Thank You For a Job Well Done! Both the mailing and street address for the Victoria Land Title Office are now: 10 th Victoria Land Title Office Suite Blanshard Street Victoria, British Columbia V8W 9J3 VITAL STATS Edwin 10 years on January 5, 2015 Will Searches As per Vital Statistics branch, Will Search requests must include the date and place of death as well as the date and place of birth. If this mandatory information is not provided, it may result in an automatic NIL search. Will Search results are always couriered to the applicant s address. Agents are not allowed to pick up results at the Vital Statistics office. Unless otherwise requested, if West Coast is submitting the request on your behalf, we will put our West Coast Victoria address on the application and then forward the results to you as indicated on your work order. Currently, the turnaround time for Will Search requests is approximately one month (20 working days). Priority requests (additional $33 disbursement) take about 3 days. Edwin Erroa, Vancouver Messenger and Wayne Crookes Wayne Crookes and Shelley Porter, General Manager 35 th Shelley 35 years on March 29, 2015 Page 4

5 15 th Upcoming 2015 Statutory Holidays Moira Millar, Victoria Office Manager and Dianne Langdon, Court/Land 20 th Gertrudes 20 years on July 3, 2015 Dianne 15 years on May 1, 2015 Gertrudes Tabisula, Vancouver Messenger and Wayne Crookes 10 th October 12 Monday Thanksgiving Day November 11 Wednesday Remembrance Day December 25 Christmas Day Register The The Register is the newsletter of West Coast Title Search Ltd. It is available free of charge and we encourage you to use the information to assist you with your work. West Coast Title Search Ltd. Website: Friday December 28 Monday for Boxing Day January 1, 2016 New Year s Day Friday 99 Sixth Street New Westminster, BC V3L 5H Fax Toll Free: Howe Street - Suite 100 Vancouver, BC V6Z 2L Fax Toll Free: Maureen Lawrence, New Westminster Land and Wayne Crookes Page 5 Maureen 10 years on August Your comments & suggestions are encouraged & appreciated 1207 Douglas St - Suite 512 Victoria, BC V8W 2E Fax: Toll Free: Caution - While every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this newsletter, neither West Coast Title Search Ltd. nor the authors are providing legal or other professional advice through this publication, and it should never be relied upon without reference to the relevant legislation, case law, administrative guidelines and other primary sources.