appear suddenly on title. Its important to pull the registrations that are relevant. For example, a restrictive covenant on title should be read in its entirety. Utility of right of way, easements, and encumbrances should also be looked at in detail. This might affect your decision to buy the home. The truth is most agents only pull the title but don't pull any registrations on the title and read them. We had an agent once in our brokerage that sold a home with an encroachment agreement registered on title but didn't pull the agreement to understand the conditions. Turns out the encroachment had an advisory notice from the city of Calgary. The large shed on a concrete foundation was encroaching into the back alley. The city reserves the right to make you take it down with 30 days' notice. The buyers were very upset that their agent didn't tell them of this important piece of information. Financial registrations can also tell a story helping buyers to know if there is a motivation for selling. Sometimes you'll see "writs" on title from CRA meaning they owe Canada Revenue Agency some money. Another is "Lis Pendens" which is a latin term meaning "pending lawsuit". I've seen lis pendens under the matrimonial property act registered, clearly a separation is happening. This information can help buyers be strategic in how they negotiate.
CHECKING FOR PERMITS
It's very important for every buyer to know if correct permits were pulled. Its usually not a concern for verifying the builder pulled permits but for any other improvements made this is an important step. In Edmonton and Calgary there are thousands of homes that do not have permits pulled for the basement development. There was a time when people didn't want to pay the city for them, then have the city charge more for property taxes for the improvement, so people just did the work and said nothing. This all changed in the mid 2000s when insurance companies started asking for permits and in some cases refusing
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