RESOURCES

One question that is asked by pretty much every Purchaser in relation to their purchase transaction is what time they will get keys to the Property on the day their transaction is scheduled to close.

There is no fixed time as to when keys may be released to a Purchaser. Keys or the code to the lockbox on the Property which may contain same cannot be released to the Purchaser unless the Purchaser is the legal owner of the Property, exception being if the Parties agree to close in escrow (more on that below).

In order for the Purchaser to become the legal owner of the Property, registration for the ownership of the Property must be conveyed from the Vendor (also known as the Transferor) to the Purchaser (also known as the Transferee). This registration only takes place once the closing funds have been transferred from the trust account of the Purchasers’ solicitor into the trust account for the Vendors’ solicitor. Upon receipt of the adequate funds into their trust account, along with the Purchasers’ closing documents, the Vendors’ solicitor releases the Transfer (also known as the Deed) to be registered by the Purchasers’ solicitor.

As most mortgage lenders do not advance proceeds of a mortgage to the Purchasers’ solicitor until the day of closing, funds cannot be paid to the Vendors’ solicitor in advance.

The registration deadline in Ontario for the Land Registry online system is 5:00 PM EST. As such, if there is a delay in receipt of funds, the registration may not take place on the day of closing. However, the standard OREA Agreement of Purchase and Sale used for most residential and some commercial real-estate transactions allows for the Parties to complete the transaction until 6:00 PM EST.

As such, if the Purchasers’ solicitor is able to provide the adequate funds to the Vendors’ solicitor in trust prior to the 6:00 PM EST deadline, the Parties can agree to close in escrow, whereby funds from the sale proceeds may be released to the Vendor and keys may be released to the Purchaser on the scheduled closing day, with the registration of the Transfer to take place on the next business day.

Please feel free to contact one of our lawyers should you have questions about this topic. Also, be on the lookout for a future blog post which shall discuss what happens if the Vendor is still present at the Property despite the Purchaser becoming the registered legal owner on title!

Join our newsletter and don’t miss out on a blog post!

Taimoor Qureshi is an Associate Lawyer with Kormans LLP.  You can reach Taimoor at tqureshi@kormans.ca All blog entries are for your reading pleasure only and are not posted to provide legal advice. For your matter, we encourage you to consult with a lawyer to review and discuss your specific facts and circumstances. All blog entries are for your reading pleasure only and are not posted to provide legal advice. For your matter, we encourage you to consult with a lawyer to review and discuss your specific facts and circumstances. The information and comments herein are for the general information of the reader and are not intended as advice or opinion to be relied upon in relation to any particular circumstances. For particular application of the law to specific situations, the reader should seek professional advice. Kormans LLP cannot be responsible for the content of other sites. We expressly disclaim all liability with respect to actions taken or actions not taken based on content received from a third party website linked, directly or indirectly, to that of Kormans LLP.  The link to another site is not to be construed in any way as an endorsement of the host, the site or the information contained therein, nor is such link to be inferred as an association or affiliation with the host.