Real Estate fraud is on the rise - are you adequately protected?

Real estate title fraud is on the rise in Ontario. The past several months, there have been countless news reports of homes being sold or mortgaged by fraudsters without the home owners’ knowledge.

However, did you know that most residential home owner title insurance policies provide coverage for title insurance fraud? More specifically, the policy provides coverage against losses arising from forgery or impersonation after the date of the policy of a document by which someone else claims an interest in or fraudulently places a mortgage on the home owner’s title to the property. There is a one time fee for the policy and it covers you for as long as you remain the owner of the property.

So, are you adequately protected? If you purchased a home in recent years, your lawyer would have likely purchased a title insurance policy on your behalf at that time. But, if you purchased your property before it was common practice to obtain title insurance, or your property was transferred to you by a relative in a non-arms length transaction or you inherited the property, you may not have obtained title insurance at the time that the property was transferred to you.

If you do not have title insurance and would like to arrange for an existing home owner policy, we can assist. Contact us at info@werhunlaw.com for more information.

Werhun Law is a law firm located in Etobicoke serving the Greater Toronto Area. Werhun Law provides services primarily in residential and commercial real estate, mortgages, commercial leasing, and wills and estates. If you have any questions or are in need of legal services you can contact us at info@werhunlaw.com.

The information in this post is for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create a solicitor-client relationship.

Source of funds verification requirements

Did you know that lawyers are now required to verify the source of client funds on real estate transactions? In 2022, the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) introduced new by-law amendments aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing. As a result, lawyers who are retained to provide legal services that involve financial transactions (ie. real estate deals) must now obtain information from the client about the source of funds being received, paid or transferred (subject to a few exceptions).

As a result of the new requirements, when buyers provide their lawyers with the balance due on closing, we are now required to ask a number of questions about the source of the funds and the financial institutions through which the funds were processed (see the LSO sample form in the second photo for a list of the information required). This form must be retained in the file and would have to be produced by the lawyer in case of an audit by the LSO.

Source of Funds Information Form

So how does this impact you? Buyers must be mindful of the fact that, in most cases, their lawyer is also acting for the lender. As part of the joint retainer, the lawyer has an obligation to disclose to the lender any information that may be of a concern to the lender. This typically includes if a portion of the down payment has been gifted or loaned by a third party. Therefore, it is imperative that any such information that will be disclosed to the lawyer is also disclosed by the buyer to the lender at the outset when arranging the mortgage to avoid any issues which can potentially affect financing down the line. This is particularly important when you consider that you do not meet with your lawyer and provide them with the balance of the funds until only a few days before closing.

If you are a realtor and the Agreement of Purchase and Sale is conditional on financing - make sure that your client is aware of the new requirements at the outset when securing financing and prior to waiving the condition. For mortgage brokers - you already have to inquire about the source of the down payment, but make sure that the information obtained from the client and that is provided to the lender when submitting the mortgage application is complete and accurate, and that the client understands that it must correlate to the source of funds information that the client will ultimately provide to their lawyer before closing.

Werhun Law is a law firm located in Etobicoke serving the Greater Toronto Area. Werhun Law provides services primarily in residential and commercial real estate, mortgages, and wills and estates. If you have any questions or are in need of legal services you can contact us at info@werhunlaw.com.

The information in this post is for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create a solicitor-client relationship.

Vacant Home Tax

We are receiving a lot of inquiries regarding the new Vacant Home Tax, which is now in effect in Toronto.

The annual tax will be levied on vacant Toronto residential properties, payable beginning in 2023 and all Toronto residential property owners must submit a declaration of their property’s occupancy status in 2022 by February 2, 2023.

A property is considered vacant if it was not used as the principal place of residence by the owner(s) or any permitted occupant(s), or was unoccupied for a total of six months or more during the previous calendar year. Properties may also be deemed vacant if the owner fails to make the declaration of occupancy status as required. Although there are some exemptions, these are limited.

For a full list of the exemptions, visit the City of Toronto website at: https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/vacant-home-tax/.

A similar Vacant Unit Tax was implemented in Ottawa. More information on this can be found at: https://ottawa.ca/en/living-ottawa/taxes/property-taxes/vacant-unit-tax#section-64fabd82-7adc-4298-a6d2-02505ea37a04

At Werhun Law, we can assist you with your condominium purchase and in ensuring that you have the information that you need to make a thoughtful and well-informed purchase which suits your particular requirements and plans for the property.

Werhun Law is a law firm located in Etobicoke serving the Greater Toronto Area. Werhun Law provides services primarily in residential and commercial real estate, mortgages, commercial leasing, and wills and estates. If you have any questions or are in need of legal services you can contact us at info@werhunlaw.com.

The information in this post is for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create a solicitor-client relationship.