Your real estate agent will give the keys to the buyer. Once I receive the money from the buyer, I will contact your real estate agent to authorize them to release the keys to the buyer.
Condo Documents
Ordering Condo Documents
If you are selling a property, the buyer may make an offer subject to reviewing “Condo Documents”. The Condo Documents requested for review are listed in the Residential Purchase and Sale Contract. They include a copy of the Condo Bylaws, the Reserve Fund Study, financial statements, and minutes of Condo Board Meetings. The Condo Documents are ordered from the Property Management Company. You are responsible for ordering the Condo Documents from the Property Management Company and providing the Condo Documents to the Buyer within the condition period. There will be a fee payable to the Property Management Company for the Condo Documents. Your Realtor may assist you with this process. Under the standard Residential Purchase and Sale contract, the seller is required to provide the buyer with an Estoppel Certificate on closing.
Usually, the seller’s lawyer is responsible for ordering the Estoppel Certificate. Where we are assisting with your property sale, our office will request the Estoppel Certificate from the property management company, and it must be provided to our office within 10 days of making the request. There is a fee payable for the Estoppel Certificate and this fee is not included in our Flat Legal Fee.)
Is an Estoppel Certificate required?
Under the standard Residential Purchase and Sale contract, the seller is required to provide the buyer with an Estoppel Certificate on closing.
Usually, the seller’s lawyer is responsible for ordering the Estoppel Certificate. Where we are assisting with your property sale, our office will request the Estoppel Certificate from the property management company and it must be provided to our office within 10 days of making the request. There is a fee payable for the Estoppel Certificate and this fee is not included in our Flat Legal Fee.
An Estoppel Certificate is required to complete your Closing because it confirms that there are no outstanding condominium fees or special assessments. If you are obtaining a mortgage, your mortgage lender will require the Estoppel Certificate.
What is an Estoppel Certificate?
An Estoppel Certificate is a signed statement from your Condominium Corporation which provides the following information:
- Current condominium contributions (condominium fees)
- Payment schedule for fees (monthly or yearly)
- If there are outstanding contributions
- If interest is owing on unpaid contributions.
Under the standard Residential Purchase and Sale contract, the seller must provide the buyer with an Estoppel Certificate on closing.
Who orders the Estoppel Certificate? When is it ordered? Who pays for it?
The Estoppel Certificate is ordered by the lawyer representing the seller. If we are assisting you with your property sale, our office will request the Estoppel Certificate from the property management company. The Estoppel Certificate is provided to our office within 10 days of making the request.
There is a fee for the Estoppel Certificate which is determined by the property management company and regulated by the condominium property law. Rush fees may be applicable.
The cost of the Estoppel Certificate is the seller’s responsibility. Please note that there is a separate fee for the Estoppel Certificate, which is not included in our Flat Legal Fee. You can find detailed information about the fee in the “Closing Statement” document that you will sign during your Lawyer Signing Meeting. Additionally, you will receive a Client Report from our office once your transaction is closed, which will include the details of the fee.
In some cases, where the contract does not require the seller to provide an estoppel certificate (such as a foreclosure), the buyer’s lawyer will order the estoppel certificate and the buyer will be responsible for the cost of the estoppel certificate. An estoppel certificate is required to close the transaction.
There is a special assessment. Do I have to pay it?
Under the standard Residential Purchase and Sale contract, the total of any special assessment passed by resolution on or before the Closing Date, is to be paid by the Seller regardless of when the amount is due. For example, if there is an assessment payable in installments and the installments are due after the Closing Date, the seller is responsible for payment of the total amount due including the installments payable after closing.
Any amounts due will be paid by the Seller’s lawyer on closing from the sale proceeds.
Disbursement of Sale Proceeds
What else do you pay from the sale proceeds?
From the sale proceeds, I will handle payments such as your mortgage, line of credit, unpaid taxes and penalties, condo fee arrears, real estate commission, and my legal fees.
Do you pay my Realtor?
Yes, we pay the commission that is owing to the Realtor(s) from the sale proceeds. The listing brokerage will provide us the commission statement which reflect the amount agreed to in your listing agreement. We will pay the amount due as show on the statement. We will provide you with a copy of the statement. We do not negotiate the commission amount.
Do you pay my mortgage?
The proceeds of your sale are used to pay any amount owing on a mortgage or other loan secured against your property title. We will obtain a payout statement from your lender which specifies the amount due, including any prepayment charges. We do not negotiate any amounts due. In the event there are not sufficient proceeds from the sale to pay the amount due, you will be required to pay the shortfall prior to the sale closing. This amount is paid to our office, and in turn we pay the total amount due to the lender.
How do you know what I owe on my mortgage?
To determine the amount owing on your mortgage, we obtain a “Mortgage Payout Statement” from your lender. This statement outlines the outstanding principal balance, any interest owing, and any prepayment charges. We will provide you with a copy of the statement. The statement is received from the lender between 7 to 0 days prior to the Closing Date.
What is a pre-payment charge?
A prepayment charge, also known as a prepayment penalty or a discharge fee, is a fee charged by your mortgage lender if you pay off your mortgage before the specified term ends. Our office will request a mortgage payout statement from your lender which will set out any prepayment charge. We will provide you with a copy of the statement but please know we often don’t receive the statement more than 1-2 days prior to the Closing Date. You should know as well that the prepayment charge will change depending on current rates so if you requested an estimate of your prepayment charge at the time you listed your property, the prepayment charge at the time of sale and payout may be different. If you have any questions about the prepayment charge, please contact your mortgage lender.
The sale is complete, but my mortgage is still outstanding.
We will pay your mortgage within 1-3 business days from your Closing Date. The funds are usually sent to your lender either by courier or through direct deposit, depending on their preferred method. Most lenders are located in Ontario. After we make the payment, there may be additional processing time on the lender’s side. This can involve posting the payment to your mortgage account and updating any online systems or statements. These steps are handled by your lender, and the timing may vary depending on their internal processes. In rare cases, there could be circumstances where a payment may have been lost or encountered issues during processing. If you suspect any discrepancies or have not received confirmation of the payment being applied to your mortgage, please notify us or your lender immediately. We will investigate the matter and take appropriate steps to resolve any potential concerns.
We don’t have a joint account.
Where a property is owned jointly, the proceeds must be paid to the owners jointly as one sum. Generally, we do not split the proceeds for example, 50% to one joint owner and 50% to the other.
In some cases, where you do not have a joint account, depending on the discretion of the lawyer, we may pay the sale proceeds to one party only. This is typically where a parent and child own a property together and one of the parties was initially on title for the purposes of financing only.
In the event of a separation, we can only disburse the proceeds according to the terms of a separation agreement or a court order and in the absence of such, we will hold the funds in trust until the separation agreement or court order is provided.
We are separating/divorcing. Will you hold funds in Trust?
The sale proceeds will be disbursed according to the terms of your separation agreement, the instructions of the lawyers acting for you in your separation or divorce, or according to a court order. The proceeds will be held in our trust account until such time as the above is provided. We cannot accept instructions from you directly regarding the disbursement of funds.
When will I get my money from the Sale?
The net sale proceeds will be provided within 1 -3 business days following your Closing Date (assuming the buyer closes on time).
Depending on the terms of your bank account and bank policy, your bank may hold the sale proceeds and the funds may not be immediately releasable to you. This is despite the fact that funds are paid from a lawyer’s trust account.
