PROTOCOL CLOSINGS:
The term "Protocol
Closings" means that a real estate transaction is going to be completed
by using the Western Conveyancing Protocol ("WCP").
The WCP is an arrangement between the Law Societies of western Canada
which allows certain real estate transactions to "close" on the Closing
Date, even though the actual registration of the documents has not taken
place at the Land Title Office.
A real estate transaction that closes by way of a Protocol Closing
allows the Buyer to have possession of the property, the Seller to
receive their Sale Proceeds and for the Realtors to receive their
Commissions, even though the actual Transfer of Land and Mortgage have
not been registered.
Protocol Closing Diagram of the
process.
In a normal real estate transaction, everyone has to wait for
registration of the documents. Because of the long delays we are
currently (December 9, 2006) experiencing at the Land Title Office (22
business days, about 30 calendar days) a method had to be found to
"bridge" the time gap between when the conveyancing documents were ready
and sent for registration and the date upon which they were actually
registered. The
WCP is a response from the Law Societies of western Canada that states
that if certain procedures are followed, then the insurance that all
lawyers carry can be used if there is some problem with the ultimate
registration.
One of the criteria to use a Protocol Closing is that the Buyer has used
a Protocol Lender. For a "pdf." list (July 2006) of Protocol Lenders,
Click Here. To access the most
current list of Protocol Lenders,
Click Here to go to the Law Society of
Alberta website list.
PROTOCOL CLOSING IS NOT AVAILABLE in the following circumstances:
- Sale of a Condominium by a Developer
- Commercial Transactions
- Agricultural Properties
- Leasehold Transactions
- Construction Loans
- Completion Mortgages
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