Step by Step Guide to finalize your Purchase with Landmark Law

In order to commence our services promptly and facilitate a smooth transaction, please provide the following by the stated timelines. Delays in receiving the information may result in closing issues and additional charges may apply. Thank you for your cooperation!

Please refer to our Cost Calculator [Click Here] for the fee quotes or view it immediately below from the embedded cost calculator:

Please immediately provide Landmark Law with:
[If anything need to be submitted by email to Landmark Law, please email winnie@landmarklaw.ca]
Click Here to send us an Email!!!

i. Email Signed Purchase and Sale Agreement with any Amendments.

ii. Email Two valid ID's for each title holder
(e.g. Canadian Driver's License, Credit Card, Passport/PR; Health Card not accepted.).
Please make sure to submit a clear "front-side" and "back-side" scan or photocopy of your two pieces of identification.

iii. Remit $300 Retainer payable to "Landmark Law Professional Corporation, in Trust" or e-transfer to winnie@landmarklaw.ca
If by e-transfer, please provide Landmark Law with the e-transfer secret password.

iv. Complete the Landmark Law's Standard/Joint Retainer
PDF Retainer to complete by hand and scanned back: PDF Standard/Joint Retainer [Click Here]

v. Complete Form 1A - Landmark Law's Verification of Identity Form
[Option to either complete online or by PDF]
[To change language between English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, you may select them respectively from the drop down menu on the top right corner of the Form.]

Online Form to complete online: Online Form 1A [Click Here] or immediately above from the embedded Form
PDF Form to complete by hand and scanned back: PDF Form 1A [Click Here]


vi. Complete Form 3A – Landmark Law’s Purchase of Resale Residential Property Questionnaire
[Option to either complete online or by PDF]
[To change language between English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, you may select them respectively from the drop down menu on the top right corner of the Form.]

Online Form to complete online: Online Form 3A [Click Here] or immediately above from the embedded Form
PDF Form to complete by hand and scanned back: PDF Form 3A [Click Here]

Note: If there are any missing or incomplete information please submit them as soon as they are available to Landmark Law.

Please provide or confirm the following to/with Landmark Law as soon as possible and no later than 1 month before the Closing Date of your purchase:

i. Signed mortgage documents with the lender (i.e., bank) and obtain the lender's "Address for Service" (their service address)

ii. Arrange for fire/home insurance and inform the insurance broker of the full legal entity name of your lender (designate them as the first loss payee) and their "Address for Service".
Please provide Landmark Law with a copy of the insurance policy
[For freehold purchases only: if there is no mortgage, fire/home insurance is not mandatory but recommended]

iii. Contact utility companies to open utility accounts
Due to privacy policies and per our client kit, clients must contact the utility providers directly to open/close their accounts.

iv. If there is a hot water tank rental, please contact the rental company to assume the rental contract on the closing day onward.***

Please arrange these at your earliest convenience (well in advance of before closing) to ensure smooth transition and in case the provider requires any follow up materials.

For your convenience, below are some telephone numbers for Greater Toronto Area. Your agent may be able to confirm exact service provider in the area and some providers may allow you to open/close accounts on their website.

***Please note that if there is a hot water tank, furnace or other equipment rental included in the agreement of purchase and sale, please inform us as soon as possible so that we can notify the other side solicitor. The purchaser will have to sign a form to take over the rental.

v. Inform Landmark Law of any travel plans you may have before the Closing Date of your purchase

vi. Order Status Certificate from the Condominium Corporation and provide it to Landmark Law if your purchase involves a condominium or a real property that is registered with a Condominium Plan.

vii. Make sure to book the moving elevator if your purchase is a condominium with elevators.

viii. Review the following information on Title Insurance:

Title insurance is used as standard real estate industry practice and is typically required by the mortgage lender. Our firm will be ordering this on your behalf to complete the transaction as set out in our cost calculator.

It is a substitute for 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.  Typically, responses from municipalities were qualified to exclude errors and omissions and therefore may not have been very reliable in any event. If you have no title insurance and the municipality makes an error in its response, you would still have been left with the cost of correcting the noncompliance.

The industry created title insurance to effectively and affordably protect title for new owners. Subject to certain exclusions, the insurance will cover the cost of remediation. Title insurance typically protects against losses arising from issues such as:

• Another party claiming an interest in your property
• Title defects caused by forged documents, false impersonations or other frauds
• Contravention of zoning bylaws
• Outstanding work orders
• Existing liens against the property
• Encroachments onto or from adjoining properties
• Errors in surveys and public documents

Please refer to the following information regarding title insurance:

Title Insurance Article [Click Here]

Furthermore, these YouTube videos below explain what Title Insurance is and why it is important:

ix. If your Mortgage Commitment from the lender has liability account pay-downs or credit limit reductions:
For liability account pay-downs - Please continuously provide updated statements and screenshots of your liability accounts for the accurate amount of pay-down up till the day of closing

For liability account credit limit reductions - Please provide statements, confirmations and screenshots of your liability account's updated credit limit.


x. If your Mortgage Commitment from the lender has liability account payouts and closure of the same:
Please note as Solicitors we are unable to accept such undertaking given that liability account closure is not in the lawyer's control. Consequently, Landmark Law will not take on such real estate transactions. You will have to contact your lender or broker to advise them of the situation and request for the necessary amendments (i.e., removing any condition requiring solicitor's undertaking to effect liability account closures). Once amended, please provide the amended copy for our processing.

i. Prepare and remit closing funds, if any to Landmark Law

ii. Schedule your remote signing appointment with Landmark Law
[Book the remote appointment date to be roughly a week before your Closing Date]

Book your Appointment: Booking Scheduler [Click Here] or immediately above from the embedded booking calendar


iii. Signing Appointment Preparations:
[Landmark Law will email you the documents to print]

1. Please bring originals of your previously e-mailed identification (2 valid IDs per person) to the video meeting for our inspection.
   
2. For the video meeting, you are only required to print one (1) copy of the attached documents for signing purposes. Please set your printer to enable the pages to “shrink to fit” to enable legal sized government documents to print out on letter size paper. Double-sided printing is fine.
   
3. Please keep "Mortgage Documents" and "Purchase Documents" in separate piles for ease of reference during the meeting.
   
4. Please hand write the unique identifier code in the lower left hand corner of all pages of the closing documents.
   
   Your unique identifier code is:
   The capitalized first two letters of your last name followed by the numeric month and date of your purchase closing.
   
   For example: If the closing date for my purchase is October 15th and my last name is "Chen". Then my unique identifier code will be "CH1015".
   
   
5. Please let Landmark Law know the location (e.g. city, etc. - which City) you will be at for the remote meeting and signing.
   
   We have to update the jurat for your signing appointment (the subscribed memo near the end of signing documents, generally beside your signature, that
   shows the date and location of your sworn oath or affirmation).
   
   
6. After you signed the documents during the video meeting, please scan over your signed documents.
   

iv. Review the following information on Steps Involved in Remote Signing:

In anticipation of our meeting, please refer to the following information/steps to keep you informed of what is expected and the setup for the meeting:

Before the meeting:

1. Please print all the relevant documents that require review and signing.
2. Please prepare two pieces of ID [i.e. Driver's License, Passport, Credit Card; Health Card is not acceptable].
3. Please plan ahead and prepare to attend the meeting at a secure and totally private space with adequate and good soundproofing.
4. It is recommended that you prepare earphones/earbuds/headphones/headsets for use throughout the remote meeting - for clearer audio and somewhat added security.

During the meeting:

1. First, we will ask for your consent to video recording for compliance purposes.
2. We will ask you to present the two pieces of ID you prepared before the meeting by showing us the front and backside of these IDs. Please present them within the frame of the camera view for it to be captured.
3. After this, we will ask you to present to us slowly a 360 degree view of the location you are at for the meeting and for signing by ensuring that it is of a totally private nature.
4. Then you will be asked to present each page, one after another, of the relevant documents that require review and signing by holding them up to the camera to be captured. Please present them within the frame of the camera view for them to be captured.
5. It is important to note that throughout the meeting we are not able to pause and allow interruptions from any 3rd parties, as this meeting is private.
6. After these initial prep work before and during the meeting (Steps 1-5), our lawyers will proceed to go over all the relevant documents with you and answer any questions you may have.
7. Lastly, when you proceed to sign the documents, we will ask you to adjust your laptop camera or phone camera and that it be positioned in a way that allows the capture of each document when you are signing it.

i. On Closing Date - Wait for Updates from Landmark Law to collect your Keys - CONGRATULATIONS!!!

ii. For Condominium Purchases, remember to visit the property management's office to complete new owner forms.

iii. Landmark Law will inform and request the city's property tax department to update the new owners information for future tax bills.

iv. Landmark Law's Final Report will be provided to you in 4 - 6 weeks time.

v. If you were happy with our service, we would appreciate a 5-Star Google Review and "like" on Facebook/LandmarkLawPC. Thank you again for choosing and believing in Landmark Law!

Questions

Summary Flowchart:
Purchase of Resale Residential Property Client Kit