Layman Terms for Closing Documents for Real Estate Purchase of Resale

Retainer Agreement

The Retainer Agreement is a work for hire contract that you have with our law firm that defines and sets out the terms of our relationship.

律師聘用協議：此協議是您方聘用我司作為代表您方處理相關事宜的合同。

Joint Retainer/Acknowledgement of Conflict

This document acknowledges that the lawyer law represents the Purchaser in the real estate transaction, and that the same lawyer has also has been requested by the institutional lender to represent it in register the mortgage. Accordingly, the lawyer cannot treat information as received from either party as confidential from the other with respect to the transaction. (ie, there are no secrets between the Purchaser, lender, and lawyer respecting the transaction.) If a conflict of interest arises between Purchaser and lender, the lawyer cannot act for either party in the transaction.

Note: For a private mortgage, there cannot be a joint retainer by Borrower and Private Lender (unless there is an exemption available under the rules of the law society). There must be separate legal representation for each the Borrower and Private Lender.

這份文件確認同一位律師在物業交易中代表買家及已被機構借出人要求在按揭註冊程序中作其代表。該律師在交易中不能視從其中一方所得的資料為機密性質，而不透露給另一方（亦即買家、借出人和律師之間沒有秘密）。當買家和借出人之間有利益衝突，律師不能代表任何一方。
備註：在私人按揭，借款人和私人借出人不能委任同一個律師（除非在律師會規條中有例外）。買家和私人借出人須有不同法律代表。

Statutory Declaration (One and the Same)

Where the names on the Purchaser's identification do not match each other or that on title (for e.g. name change, married versus maiden name), a statutory declaration stating that the identifications with different names refer to the same person must be executed and commissioned.

當買家不同身分確認文件的名字不符合或名字跟業權契約不符（例如：買家改了名字，婚後和婚前名字），買家須履行法定聲明，列明各文件不同的名字屬於同一人，並就其進行宣誓。

Direction and Declaration Re. Construction Lien Act

In this document, the Borrower warrants to the best of its knowledge that the property does not contain urea formaldehyde and declares generally that mortgage proceeds are not being used to finance a building mortgage, property alterations or construction.

在這份文件中，借款人盡其所知所信保證物業沒有尿素甲醛，並聲明按揭受益不是用作樓宇按揭、改建或加建物業的經費。

Purchaser’s Undertaking & Direction Re. Title

In this document, the Purchaser provides the Seller and the Seller’s lawyer with an undertaking (ie promise) to readjust for any expenses owed by the Purchaser to the Seller for any prepaid expenses made by the Seller (for eg. prepaid property taxes).
This document also sets out how the Purchaser wishes to take title to the property. It will include the Purchaser’s full legal name, birthdate, and address for service. If there is more than one Purchaser, the manner in which they wish to take title must also be specified (i.e. as joint tenants or tenants and common).

在這份文件中，買家給予賣家和賣家律師一個承諾。買家會負責任何買家所負的支出，和賣家預付的支出（如預付了的物業稅項）。
這份文件亦列明買家希望如何獲得業權，當中包括買家的全名，出生日期和送達地址。如果有多於一個買家，文件須列明他們如何分配業權（即聯權共有人或分權共有人）。

Acknowledgment and Direction (Transfer/Charge)

In this document, the Purchaser authorizes the lawyer to transfer ownership of the condo unit to the Purchaser on closing day and to electronically register the Purchaser’s name on the title deed for the condo unit with the Land Registry Office.

在這份文件中，買家授權律師在交易完成的日子將房屋的業權轉予買家，並在土地註冊處以電子形式把買家的名字登記在業權契約。

Acknowledgment and Direction from Purchaser Re. Titleplus

In this document, the Purchaser consents to the procurement of a title insurance policy instead of a lawyer's opinion on title. Title insurance is used by practically all law firms. It is a substitute for a lawyer’s opinion which involves independently searching/contacting various government organizations for claims against the property that might not be captured in standard searches. Such non-standard searches are costlier and more time-consuming than title insurance and may not necessarily be conclusive. The industry created title insurance to effectively and affordably protect title for new owners.

在這份文件中，買家同意索取業權保險單取替律師就title的意見。Title保險單常用於所有律師行。這份保險單是律師意見的替代品。律師的意見是包括一輪資料搜集和向不同政府機構收集有關該物業的過程，當中的資料可能涉及一般搜查未能提供的資料。這些非一般搜索往往比業權保險更昂貴和需時更長，它們亦未必能提供所有資料。因此，行內提出了業權保險，以更高經濟和時間利益的程序保障新業主的業權。

Acknowledgment Re. Standard Charge Terms

This document acknowledge’s that the borrower has received a copy of the Standard Charge Terms (SCT) for the mortgage. The SCT for a mortgage generally include (but may not be limited to):

Lender has right to register mortgage on property title with Land Registry Office
Borrowers title to the property is lawful
Borrower is to maintain the property/repair/pay taxes
Borrower promises to pay mortgage payments and lender can sue for shortfall
Interest is compounded when there is a default – (ie double interest)
Lender can initiate a power of sale after a specified number of days after payment default. After property is sold under a power of sale, if there is still any loan balance outstanding, the lender may sue the borrower to recover any deficit
Lender can have the right to distrain or seize personal assets located on the mortgage property

Above are some common terms in the SCT. However, every lender has their own set of SCT.

這份文件確認借款人收到一份一般押記條款的文本。一般押記條通常包括（但不限於）：

借出人有權利在土地註冊處登記物業業權的押記
借款人的業權是合法的
借款人需保養、維修物業及繳付稅項
借款人承諾付按揭費用，借出人可以就差額提出訴訟
若有任何失責行為，利息以複利計算（即雙重利息）
在欠繳的指定日數後，借出人可以行使出售權。若在行使出售權出售物業後，仍未繳清貸款，借出人可以對借款人提出訴訟追討餘額。
借出人有權利扣押或檢取按揭包含的個人資產

以上是一些常見的一般押記條款，但每個借出人都可以訂下特定的押記條款。

Restrictive Covenants

(Note: not all property contains Restrictive Covenants - this will depend on the results of the title search.)
These are restrictions on your use of the land that may or may not have an expiry date. For eg., prohibition on parking a trailer on driveway/building shed in backyard/backyard line-drying, altering grading of the land or storm water drainage.

（注：非所有物業包含限制性協議。房產是否包含限制性協議取決於該房產的產權調查結果。）
限制性協議：此協議規定了您方使用土地的限制，該限制可能也可能沒有過期日期。例如禁止在車道上停房車或掛車，在後院建小屋，在後院晾曬衣物，平整土地，改造下水結構。

Statement of Adjustment

This statement lists various debits and credits owning to purchaser and/or seller in addition to the Purchase Price based on pre-payments that are made effective closing date. For eg. Purchaser's deposit, property taxes, heater rental, condo fees.

調整聲明：此聲明列出了根據預付款，除去購買價格以外的，需要支付或收到的資金。例如定金，地稅，加熱器租金，公寓費用。

Affidavit as to Land Transfer Tax Act Record Keeping Obligations

As part of the Land Transfer Tax report registered together with the Transfer/Deed (i.e. property ownership) the new owner must retain information that is used to determine taxes.

根據註冊的契稅和土地轉讓稅報告，新業主必須保留有關報稅和可用於決定稅金的信息。

Affidavit as to Prescribed Information for Purposes of Section 5.0.1 Land Transfer Tax Act

As part of the Land Transfer Tax report registered together with the Transfer/Deed (i.e. property ownership) the new owner must declare certain information about the circumstances concerning the purchase.

根據註冊的契稅和土地轉讓稅報告，新業主必須就新購置物業的一些信息做出申報。

Prescribed Information for Purposes of Section 5.0.1 Land Transfer Tax Act

These are responses submitted to the government on the circumstances concerning your purchase.

這是提供給政府的有關您購置物業的信息的存執。

Land Transfer Tax Affidavit

This is the purchaser’s affirmation as to the purchase price and any rebates claimed (as applicable) for the purpose of calculating Land Transfer Tax.

這份文件表示買家確認了購買價格和土地轉讓稅的相關回佣。

*Disclaimer: This article does not contain legal advice and only provides general information. It does not establish a lawyer-client relationship. You should consult with a lawyer before you rely on this information.

免责声明：本文不包含法律建议，仅提供一般信息。它不建立律师-客户关系。在您依赖此信息之前，您应该咨询律师。中文版是英文原版的翻譯，僅供參考。如有差異，以英文原件為準。*