Oh Oh - Deed Registration got tougher for Tax Sale Players

[Dave2]

In this game if you are the winning bidder the process of winning is not complete until the property deed is registered in your name.   Post sale redemption of a property is a real risk and is doubly concerning because you have come so close but were cheated at the last minute.   That is why the deed registration is a time sensitive activity and it is so important
to get this properly and speedily done.

Starting at the beginning; registration of a tax sale deed is not a normal deed registration and the so called automated system has to be manually overridden by the county registrar.  You have to know what you are doing and you may have noticed if you have won anything lately that more and more townships are involving their lawyer.  The problem is now in a supposed move to improve efficiency since late last year the lawyer does not deal with the local county registrar which in my home county of Northumberland is located in Cobourg.  

Instead when they submit an application for a tax sale deed registration they are now allocated to any registrar in the province.   The problem is if the township lawyer draws an isolated part of the province with few tax sales the registrar there is not familiar with the process.    Historically in a county like Northumberland this was not a problem because there are 8 -10 tax sales a year so the local registrar was/is familiar with the process.   In a small rural county like moose pasture Ontario the tax sales are much less frequent and often then the selected registrar will engage their lawyer.  To register the deed now two lawyers are involved and they have to select a time when both are available.  Suffice to say that lawyers involved have a different view then you and I about the urgency of this process.      

Personally I have encountered this (yes I do occasionally win one) and it is one of the most frustrating situations you will face.   Try to expedite the process when the lawyers are not in a rush.      The one case that you may avoid this seems to be If Ontario Tax Sales is involved on behalf of the township.   Dave and Jeff seem to have found a solution to this problem as my experience is they do it fast and very professionally.  

Just another cross we have to bear. I am not the only person who has encountered this problem.  See Bee's posts.        

  

[Frank]

Dave is well studied in this situation, and knows whereof he speaks.   I have also personally experienced this situation (no thanks to Curtis).  The solution to this and other similar post-sale redemptions is for the Province to over-rule the courts by way of legislation that specifically bars post-sale redemptions....which would end the nail-biting.

Not sure that this will ever happens as the Province doesn't care that we are out of pocket on the whole ordeal, their end game is to provide the Municipalities with a sure fire method of collecting taxes one way or the other.  

Perhaps we can get Dougie to invoke the 'not-withstanding' clause on our behalf.  In my mind that would be worth more than buck-a-beer.  

[Dave2]

Dave is well studied in this situation, and knows whereof he speaks.   I have also personally experienced this situation (no thanks to Curtis).  The solution to this and other similar post-sale redemptions is for the Province to over-rule the courts by way of legislation that specifically bars post-sale redemptions....which would end the nail-biting.

Not sure that this will ever happens as the Province doesn't care that we are out of pocket on the whole ordeal, their end game is to provide the Municipalities with a sure fire method of collecting taxes one way or the other.  

Frank:

Unfortunately I don't think legislation will change because the province makes too much money from the current system they created where they grab all excess proceeds unlike the old days when the local municipality got them.   For a current example look at the tax sale results for 20 Bursthall Street in Marmora and Lake which I stupidly missed because I mistakenly investigated one in the opposite direction that turned out to have large CRA liens and figured Bursthall would redeem for sure. (I don't have infinite time and money to investigate all tax sale opportunities and of course I looked at the wrong one).    

The winning bid for this Marmora property was almost $129,000 against outstanding taxes of $25,000.   In the old days the local treasurer had an incentive to expedite deed registration because this unexpected windfall helped balance the budget .   Today the province takes the excess proceeds of over $100,000 and the local municipality only gets their $25,000 in tax revenues.   In the old days as a result the treasurer had an incentive to keep deed registration moving unlike now where the registrar (who works for the province)
from an out of county location who registers someone elses property in another township.  The province doesn't care because they will pay the cost anyways.  

I used to be able to expedite things by reminding people of that fact. Of course no one wants to deal with us vultures anyways so we lose in the end.  It gets done but has definitely slowed down.  Because the township only gets their taxes they also seem to be giving people a second chance as we are facing more cases where property has been up for tax sale before but was canceled to try and give the defaulting taxpayer a reasonable chance to pay.

 One of these days I will get smart like old timers like you who seem to figure out what redeems and what will not redeem and also does not have Revenue Canada's fingers in the pie.        

[ChrisCentral]

Good read. Thanks for sharing.