Land Title Services
When you or your business requires land title information, the qualified and knowledgeable staff at Accu-Search Registries Inc. provides superior land title searches in Edmonton, Calgary, Alberta and across Canada.
A land title simply shows the ownership of lands to a registered holder, and provides important information about a piece of property such as a legal description of the parcel, a parcel identifier (PID) and any legal charges against the title.
We search the land titles database, municipal sources, and many other non-government databases for the following:
- Legal descriptions, tax searches and certificates
- Surface and mineral title searches
- Regular, certified and historical titles
- Obtaining copies of land title documents, surveys and plans
- Services available in Alberta, and most other provinces
We search for land titles using the legal land description or land title number. This information can be found on one of several documents you may have in your private or business records, including:
- Taxation assessment
- Mortgage
- Previous land title
If you can’t find the land title number or information in your papers, we can search for it using the municipal address of the property. One piece of land may have more than one title, so it’s always a good idea to get a land title search completed before performing any sort of real estate transaction or transfer of ownership concerning land.
A land title is required to:
- Formalize the transference of land ownership
- Authorize a record of land ownership
- Make land negotiations and resolve land disputes
You may be the sole owner of a parcel of land or a co-owner (or tenant) with one or more other persons. The different types of titles for private and commercial purposes include:
- Freehold title: the land owner and beneficiaries own the property outright
- Joint tenancy: individuals each own a certain percentage of a parcel of land; upon one person’s death, his or her percentage goes to the other owners
- Tenancy-in-common: shared ownership where a person’s share goes to heirs, not the other owners, at death
- Company-based ownership: legal ownership of property by a company instead of an individual or group of individuals
- Trust-based ownership: a trust set up in estate planning becomes the title owner and offsets property tax liabilities
Why You Might Need a Land Title
You need a land title to document and outline the rights you and/or others hold in a piece of property. If a property title does not list your name, another party may legally own the property. Land titles are most commonly used to confirm ownership of the property, but also helps land owners and prospective buyers locate more information about the property, such as tax liens or natural resources rights.
If you want to identify potential problems before you buy a parcel of land in Edmonton, Calgary, Alberta and across Canada, doing land title searches include documentation of outstanding liens or other issues that can hold up the sale. What a title search can show you also includes information about:
- Property taxes
- Property work agreements
- Deed documentation
- Unresolved ownership claims
- Documentation of conditions and restrictions
- Documentation of usage rights
- Encroachment and easement agreements
Most Title Searches Done While You Wait
We are often able to perform searches while you wait, but there are some searches that will need more time. To learn more about this process of obtaining a land title in Edmonton or Calgary, contact us today.