Land Titles Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. L-4
| Citation: | Land Titles Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. L-4 | |
| Enabled Regulations: | 4 Regulations | |
| URL: | http://www.canlii.org/ab/laws/sta/l-4/20050617/whole.html | |
| Version downloaded by CanLII on 2005-06-17 | ||
Warning: This document predates the last update of the collection. It might have been modified or omitted since this last update.
LAND TITLES ACT
Chapter L‑4
Table of Contents
1 Definitions
Land Titles Office
2 Land Titles Office
Officers
3 Inspector and Assistant Inspector of Land Titles
4 Officials
5 Deputy Registrars
6 Officials under control of Minister
7 Oath of office
8 Seal of office
9 Administration of oaths
10 Officials acting as agents, etc.
11 Business on premises
12 Office hours
13 Keeping of records
14 Daily record
15 Register
16 Record of names
17 Search
18 Photostatic negative of certificate of title
19 Duplicate records
20 Substitute instrument or caveat
21 Court order re lost instrument
22 District boundaries
23 Copies of instruments and caveats
Registration
24 Registration of grant
25 Memorandum on instrument
26 Land in one certificate
27 Instruments in favour of corporations
28 Statutory declaration required
29 Letters patent
30 Land in national parks
31 Statutory proceedings
32 Registration of estate
33 Registration of title to land already granted
34 Registration of owner arising out of tax recovery proceedings
35 Application for registration
36 Delivery of certificate of title when applicant is original grantee
37 Reference to judge
38 Examination by judge
39 Adverse claims
40 Publication of application
41 Direction for registration
42 Granting certificate on transfer
43 Proof of age
44 Post office address, signature, etc.
45 Names and addresses on documents
46 Transfer of ownership
47 Registration of trusts
48 Registration of restrictive covenant
49 Unit operation
50 Formalities in instrument
51 Land identification number
52 Undivided fractional interest in minerals
53 Necessity of registration
54 Effect of registration
55 Expropriation
56 Priority of registration
Effect of Registration
57 Implied covenants
58 Implied covenants in transfer
59 Negation and modification of implied covenants
60 Obligation affecting land
61 Implied conditions
62 Certificate as evidence of title
63 Omission to send notice
Transfers
64 Transfers
65 Registration of transfer affecting joint tenancy
66 Transfer of Crown land
67 Memorandum of easements on certificate
68 Grant of easement, etc. by owner to himself or herself
69 Utility right of way
70 Rights of way on closed roads
71 Party wall agreement
72 Encroachment agreement
73 Cancellation of certain encumbrances
74 Registration of judgment quieting title, etc.
Transfers
75 New certificates re consolidations, etc.
76 Registration of instrument, etc. re Municipal Government Act
77 Illustration of plan of survey
78 Requirements re plan
79 Requirements for registration
80 Survey re transfer
81 Registration of plan of survey
82 Plan of survey re public works, etc.
83 Plan of survey re transfer, etc.
84 Plan of survey re subdivision
85 Signatures of encumbrancees
86 Strata space
87 Statutory plan
88 Registration of descriptive plans
89 Change in natural boundary
90 Actual area of land
91 Application to vary plan
92 Correction of registered plan
93 Change of legal description
94 Sale of subdivided land
Leases
95 Requirements of lease
96 Covenants implied in lease
97 Implied powers of lessor
98 Re‑entry
99 Short form of lease
100 Surrender of lease
101 Cancellation of expired lease
Mortgages and Encumbrances
102 Mortgages and encumbrances
103 Mortgage as security
104 Priority of mortgage
105 Mortgages affected by conditional sales agreement
106 Discharge of mortgage or encumbrance
107 Postponements
108 Memorandum in case of extinction of annuity, etc.
109 Priority of transfers of mortgages
110 Liability of transferee
111 Rights of transferee
112 Short form of mortgage
113 Standard form mortgage
114 Use of standard form mortgage
Powers of Attorney
115 Power of attorney
Transmission
116 Transmission of title on death
117 Transmission of estate or interest under will or in intestacy
118 Tenure of person registered in place of deceased owner
119 Transfer by personal representative to himself or herself
120 Conditions of registration of transfer, etc.
121 Joint tenancy
Enforcement
122 Registration of instruments
123 Lapse of instrument
124 Transfer or postponement of writ
125 Discharge of writ
Changes of Name
126 Change of name of married person or adult interdependent partner
127 Changes of name
Assignment for Benefit of Creditors
128 Assignment for benefit of creditors
Amending Agreements
129 Registration of amending agreement
Caveats
130 Filing of caveat
131 Requirements of caveat
132 Address for service
133 Caveat based on unregistered mortgage
134 Duties of Registrar on receipt of caveat
135 Effect of caveat
136 Transfer of caveat
137 Withdrawal of caveat
138 Lapse of caveat
139 Caveat to protect restrictive covenant
140 Extension of time for proceeding on caveat
141 Application to discharge caveat
142 Order for security
143 Refusal to remove caveat
144 Compensation in case of caveat filed wrongfully
145 Number of caveats
146 Order re caveat
147 Priority of caveat
148 Registration of certificate of lis pendens
149 Compensation re certificate of lis pendens
150 Memorandum on withdrawal, etc., of caveat
151 Caveat for Crown or person under disability
152 Cancellation of certificate of lis pendens
Liens under the Builders’ Lien Act
153 Builders’ liens
Assignments of Contracts of Sale
154 Assignment of contract
Attestation of Instruments
155 Attestation within Alberta
156 Attestation outside Alberta
157 Ineligibility to act as witness
158 Execution by interested commissioner for oaths or notary public
159 Exceptions to sections 155 and 156
160 Effect of failure to comply with attestation requirements
161 Execution of documents by corporation
162 Power of the court
163 Application of Dower Act
Assurance Fees
164 Registration and assurance fees
165 Inspectors of transfers
166 Accounting for money received
167 Assurance fees
168 Actions against Registrar
169 Right of action of spouse
170 Protection of bona fide purchasers and mortgagees
171 Registrar as defendant
172 Final judgment against Registrar in cases where co‑defendant liable
173 Assignment of judgment to Provincial Treasurer
174 Notice of action to Registrar
175 Payment of judgment out of General Revenue Fund
176 Actions against Registrar in Registrar’s name of office
177 Costs of action
178 Limitation of action against Registrar
179 Error in mines and minerals
180 Settlement of claim out of General Revenue Fund
181 Liability of General Revenue Fund
182 Recovery of money paid out of General Revenue Fund
Remedial Proceedings
Ejectment
183 Protection against ejectment
Appeals and References to Judge
184 Appeal to judge from acts of Registrar
185 Reference by Registrar to judge
186 Reservations in original grant from the Crown
187 Correction of instrument
188 Entry of correction
189 Examination and orders by judge
190 Power of judge to cancel, correct, etc., duplicate certificate
191 Registration of judgment, order or certificate
192 Notice to interested parties
193 Inquiry
Appeal
194 Appeal from judge’s decision
195 Reference by judge to Court of Appeal
196 Payment of costs
197 Enforcement of orders of court
198 Tariff of costs
General Provisions
199 Use of name of owner by beneficiary in action respecting land, etc.
200 Use of instrument as evidence of transfer, etc.
201 Reproduction of instrument or caveat
202 Minerals owned by Crown
203 Protection of person accepting transfer, etc.
204 Suit for specific performance
205 Transfers to trustees and joint owners
206 Notice of court order
207 Jurisdiction of courts
208 Land description in court order
209 Effect of death, etc., on proceedings under Act
210 Effect of irregularity in proceedings
211 Protection of officers, etc.
212 False statements
213 Regulations
214 Furnishing books, forms, etc.
215 Address for service of notice
216 Notice to Crown
Schedule 1 - Short Covenants in Lease
Schedule 2 - Short Covenants in Mortgage
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows:
Definitions
1 In this Act,
(a) “affidavit” means an affirmation when made by a person entitled to affirm;
(b) “certificate of title” means the record of the title to land that is maintained by the Registrar;
(c) “court” means any court authorized to adjudicate in Alberta in civil matters in which the title to real estate is in question;
(d) “dependent adult” means
(i) a dependent adult as defined by the Dependent Adults Act, or
(ii) a person in respect of whom a certificate of incapacity has been issued under the Dependent Adults Act;
(e) “encumbrance” means any charge on land created or effected for any purpose whatever, inclusive of mortgage, mechanics’ or builders’ liens, when authorized by statute, and executions against land, unless expressly distinguished;
(f) “encumbrancee” means the owner of an encumbrance;
(g) “encumbrancer” means the owner of any land or of any estate or interest in land subject to any encumbrance;
(h) “endorsed” and “endorsement” apply to anything entered, printed, stamped or written on an instrument or caveat or on any paper attached to it by the Registrar;
(i) “filing” means the entering in the record of any instrument or caveat;
(j) “grant” means a grant of Crown land, whether in fee or for years, and whether direct from Her Majesty or pursuant to any statute;
(k) “instrument” means
(i) a grant, certificate of title, conveyance, assurance, deed, map, plan, will, probate or exemplification of will, letters of administration, or an exemplification of letters of administration, mortgage or encumbrance,
(ii) a judgment or order of a court,
(iii) an application under section 75, or
(iv) any other document in writing relating to or affecting the transfer of or dealing with land or evidencing title to land;
(l) “judge” means an official authorized in Alberta to adjudicate in civil matters in which the title to real estate is in question;
(m) “land” means land, messuages, tenements and hereditaments, corporeal and incorporeal, of every nature and description, and every estate or interest therein, whether the estate or interest is legal or equitable, together with paths, passages, ways, watercourses, liberties, privileges and easements appertaining thereto and trees and timber thereon, and mines, minerals and quarries thereon or thereunder lying or being, unless any of them are specially excepted;
(n) “memorandum” means the endorsement on the certificate of title of the particulars of an instrument or caveat presented for registration;
(o) “mortgage” means a charge on land created merely for securing a debt or loan;
(p) “mortgagee” means the owner of a mortgage;
(q) “mortgagor” means the owner or transferor of land, or of any estate or interest in land charged as security for a debt or a loan;
(r) “owner” means a person entitled to any freehold or other estate or interest in land, at law or in equity, in possession, in futurity or expectancy;
(s) “possession” when applied to persons claiming title to land means also alternatively the reception of the rents and profits of the land;
(t) “register” means the register of titles to land kept in accordance with this Act;
(u) “Registrar” means a Registrar of Titles and includes a Deputy Registrar, an Assistant Deputy Registrar, the Inspector of Land Titles Offices and the Assistant Inspector of Land Titles Offices;
(v) “registration” means
(i) the bringing of land under the provisions of this Act,
(ii) the entering on the certificate of title of a memorandum authorized by this Act or any other Act of any instrument or caveat, and
(iii) the entering in the proper register of any instrument or caveat authorized to be registered, of which a memorandum is not required to be entered on a certificate of title;
(w) “transfer” means the passing of any estate or interest in land under this Act, whether for valuable consideration or otherwise, as well as the instrument of transfer in the prescribed form;
(x) “transferee” means the person to whom any interest or estate in land is transferred, whether for value or otherwise;
(y) “transferor” means the person by whom any interest or estate in land is transferred, whether for value or otherwise;
(z) “transmission” applies to change of ownership consequent on death, mental incapacity, sale under execution, order of court, or other act of law, sale for arrears of taxes or on a settlement or any legal succession in case of intestacy.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s1;1983 c37 s33;1985 c48
s2(2);
1988 c27 s2;1996 c32 s5(28);1999 c10 s2
Land Titles Office
Land Titles Office
2 An office known as a “Land Titles Office” shall be located at one or more locations as determined by the Minister responsible for this Act.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s4;1985 c48 s2(3);1996 c32 s5(3)
Officers
Inspector and Assistant Inspector of Land Titles
3 The Minister responsible for this Act may appoint
(a) an Inspector of Land Titles Offices who shall, at the direction of that Minister, inspect the books and records of the Land Titles Offices, perform the duties of a Registrar and carry out other functions assigned to the Inspector, and
(b) an Assistant Inspector of Land Titles Offices who shall assist the Inspector of Land Titles Offices in the performance of the Inspector’s duties and act in the place of the Inspector during the Inspector’s absence or when there is no Inspector of Land Titles Offices.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s5;1994 cG‑8.5 s40
Officials
4 In accordance with the Public Service Act, there may be appointed
(a) an officer to be known as the “Registrar of Titles”,
(b) one or more Deputy Registrars,
(c) one or more Assistant Deputy Registrars, and
(d) any other employees,
as required for the purpose of administering the Land Titles Office.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s6;1988 c27 s4;2000 c14 s2
Deputy Registrars
5(1) The Deputy Registrar may, in the event of illness or absence of the Registrar, perform all the duties required by the Act to be done by the Registrar.
(2) In the case of death, resignation or removal from office of the Registrar, the Deputy Registrar shall do and perform all the duties of a Registrar until another Registrar is appointed.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s8
Officials under control of Minister
6 The Inspector of Land Titles Offices, the Assistant Inspector of Land Titles Offices, the Registrars, Deputy Registrars and other necessary officers are under the control of the Minister responsible for this Act.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s9;1994 cG‑8.5 s40
Oath of office
7 The Inspector of Land Titles Offices, the Assistant Inspector of Land Titles Offices and every Registrar, Deputy Registrar and Assistant Deputy Registrar before entering on the execution of that office shall take the official oath prescribed by the Oaths of Office Act.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s10
Seal of office
8 The Registrar shall have a seal of office.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s11;1988 c27 s5;2000 c14 s3
Administration of oaths
9 The Inspector of Land Titles Offices, the Assistant Inspector of Land Titles Offices or any Registrar or Deputy Registrar or Assistant Deputy Registrar may administer any oath or take any affirmation or declaration instead of an oath respecting titles to land from anyone entitled by law to affirm or declare.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s12;1985 c48 s2(4)
Officials acting as agents, etc.
10 The Inspector of Land Titles Offices, the Assistant Inspector of Land Titles Offices and any Registrar, Deputy Registrar, Assistant Deputy Registrar or clerk in any Land Titles Office shall not directly or indirectly act as the agent of any person investing money and taking securities on land within Alberta, advise, for any fee or reward or otherwise, on titles to land or practise as a conveyancer.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s13;1996 c32 s5(4)
Business on premises
11 The Inspector of Land Titles Offices, the Assistant Inspector of Land Titles Offices and any Registrar, Deputy Registrar, Assistant Deputy Registrar or clerk in any Land Titles Office shall not carry on or transact within the Land Titles Office any business or occupation whatever other than that official’s duties as Inspector, Assistant Inspector, Registrar, Deputy Registrar, Assistant Deputy Registrar or clerk.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s14
Office hours
12 Every Land Titles Office shall be kept open during the hours and on the days fixed by the Minister.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s15;1985 c48 s2(5);1994 cG‑8.5 s40
Keeping of records
13 Where records are required to be kept under this Act, the Registrar may keep those records
(a) in written form,
(b) by any graphic, photographic, magnetic or electronic means, or
(c) by any other means or combination of means,
as the Registrar considers appropriate.
1988 c27 s6
Daily record
14(1) The Registrar shall keep a record that shall contain particulars of every instrument and caveat accepted by the Registrar for filing or registration.
(2) The Registrar shall cause each instrument or caveat received by the Registrar for filing or registration to be examined and if it is found to be complete and in the proper form and fit for filing or registration, the Registrar shall endorse on the instrument or caveat the serial number assigned to it and the date on which the serial number is assigned.
(3) For purposes of priority between mortgagees, transferees and others, the serial number assigned to the instrument or caveat shall determine the priority of the instrument or caveat filed or registered.
(4) Notwithstanding subsections (2) and (3), instead of assigning a serial number to an instrument or caveat, the Registrar may identify the instrument or caveat by a means other than a serial number so long as that other means of identification allows for the determination of priority between mortgagees, transferees and others.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s16;1985 c48 s2(6);1988
c27 s7;
1994 cC‑10.5 s134;1996 c32 s5(5);1999 c10 s3
Register
15 The Registrar shall keep each certificate of title and shall record on it the particulars of all instruments, caveats, dealings and other matters by this Act required to be registered or entered on the certificate of title and affecting the land included in it and the certificates of title so kept constitute the “register”.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s17;1985 c48 s2(7);1988 c27 s8
Record of names
16 The Registrar shall maintain a record that will enable the Registrar to provide a list of land owned by persons who have the same name as a person specified in a request made to the Registrar for a search under section 17.
1988 c27 s9
Search
17 On receiving a request for a search and the payment of the prescribed fee and on the fulfilment of any conditions, criteria or qualifications prescribed by regulation, the Registrar shall furnish a search of the information contained in the register.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s18;1988 c27 s10;1999 c10 s4
Photostatic negative of certificate of title
18(1) When a certificate of title in the register is torn, damaged, frayed, mutilated or is otherwise rendered unfit, in the opinion of the Registrar, for continued use, the Registrar may cause a photostatic negative to be made of the face of the certificate of title and a photostatic negative to be made of the reverse side of the certificate of title.
(2) The Registrar shall endorse and sign a memorandum on the reverse side of each photostatic negative stating the date on which the negative was made.
(3) The Registrar may remove the certificate of title from the register and shall replace it with the 2 photostatic negatives.
(4) The 2 negatives are deemed for all purposes of this Act to be the certificate of title and after the date on which they were made the Registrar shall record on them the particulars of each instrument, dealing or other matter required to be registered or entered in the register by this Act and affecting the land included in the certificate of title.
(5) The 2 negatives are admissible in evidence in all cases and for all purposes for which the certificate of title would have been admissible, notwithstanding that the certificate of title has not been destroyed.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s19;1988 c27 s11
Duplicate records
19(1) The Registrar shall, by any method the Registrar considers appropriate, keep a duplicate record of the following:
(a) a certificate of title when it is removed from the register;
(b) a new certificate of title when it is issued;
(c) a certificate of title after a memorandum is endorsed on it;
(d) an instrument or caveat accepted for filing or registration, after the memorandum of the filing or registration has been entered on the certificate of title.
(2) Where a duplicate record has been made of an instrument or caveat, the original instrument or caveat may be destroyed after any period of time that may be prescribed by regulation.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s20;1988 c27 s12
Substitute instrument or caveat
20(1) Where the Registrar is satisfied that an instrument or caveat has been destroyed, is lost or cannot be found, the Registrar may refer to
(a) the records kept under section 19, and
(b) the other records kept in the Land Titles Office,
and create a substitute for or a copy of the instrument or caveat based on the information contained in those records.
(2) Where a substitute for or a copy of the instrument or caveat is made under subsection (1), it has, without further proof, the same force and effect as the original instrument or caveat.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s21;1988 c27 s13
Court order re lost instrument
21(1) When the Registrar
(a) is required to produce an instrument or caveat, and
(b) certifies that the Registrar is unable to produce the instrument or caveat by reason that it has been destroyed, is lost or cannot be found and another record of the instrument or caveat has not been made,
a person having an interest in the land affected by the instrument or caveat may apply by an originating notice to the court for an order dealing with the instrument or caveat in any manner that the court considers appropriate.
(2) The originating notice referred to in subsection (1) shall be served on those persons and in any manner that the court directs.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s22;1988 c27 s14
District boundaries
22 On receipt of a copy of the order forming the district or of any other order or notice altering the content of the district from the drainage council or irrigation council, as the case may be, the Registrar shall note on each certificate of title to a parcel of land shown in the order or notice the fact that the parcel forms part of the district or, as the case may be, shall remove the note to that effect.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s23;1999 cI‑11.7 s214
Copies of instruments and caveats
23(1) A Registrar shall, on request and payment of the prescribed fee, furnish a reproduction of any instrument or caveat.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), if a reproduction of an instrument or caveat cannot be made, the Registrar may furnish a document setting out the information contained in the instrument or caveat that is available to the Registrar.
1985 c48 s2(8);1988 c27 s16
Registration
Registration of grant
24(1) A grant is deemed to be registered under this Act when it has been marked by the Registrar with the serial number assigned to it and a memorandum of its registration has been entered in the record.
(2) A caveat or an instrument, other than a grant, is deemed to be registered when a memorandum of it has been entered on the existing certificate of title.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s25;1985 c48 s2(9);1988 c27 s17;1996 c32 s5(28)
Memorandum on instrument
25 Every memorandum entered on a certificate of title shall state the nature of the instrument or caveat to which it relates, the serial number of the instrument or caveat, the date on which the serial number was assigned and any other particulars that the Registrar considers to be appropriate.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s27;1988 c27 s19
Land in one certificate
26(1) A certificate of title shall not include the following:
(a) more than one section of land;
(b) parcels of land that are described by reference to different registered plans;
(c) land described in parts, where one part is described by reference to a registered plan and another part is described by any other kind of description.
(2) Unless the Registrar otherwise permits, a certificate of title shall include only land that consists of a contiguous area.
(3) The Registrar may cancel a certificate of title that does not comply with subsection (1) or (2), or both of them, and issue in substitution for it new certificates of title to the land that was included in the cancelled certificate of title.
RSA 1980 cL‑5 s29;1988 c27 s20
Instruments in favour of corporations
27(1) The Registrar may reject any instrument or caveat under which an interest in land is claimed or dealt with on behalf of a corporation unless the Registrar is satisfied that the corporation is
(a) registered under the Companies Act,
(b) registered, incorporated or continued under the Business Corporations Act or the Cooperatives Act,
(c) a loan corporation or trust corporation,
(d) licensed under the Insurance Act,
(e) registered under the Societies Act,
(f) registered under the Co‑operative Associations Act or the Rural Utilities Act,
(g) incorporated under the Credit Union Act,
(h) incorporated under the Agricultural Societies Act,
(i) incorporated in Alberta by or pursuant to a public or private Act,
(j) incorporated or continued under the Bank Act (Canada) or the Railway Act (Canada), RSC 1985 cR-3, or
&