308 Duty Of Registrar To Notify Applicant Of Refusal Of Registration

FORMS

Form of Notice Declining to Register

The following is an example of a notice that may be served by the registrar under s. 308:

PRACTICE

Notice to Multiple Applicants

Multiple applications involving different applicants may be submitted in a single submission package in myLTSA. In serving notice on multiple applicants, the registrar distinguishes between two cases:

1. where the application is the subject of the refusal to proceed, and
2. where the application is not the subject of the refusal to proceed, but is in the same submission package.

The notice declining to register for the application that is not the subject of the refusal to proceed will denote “For your Information Only”, as this applicant is not required to resolve the requirements noted in the notice declining to register.

Courtesy Notice

In certain circumstances the registrar must defer examination of a pending application because some step or action that is not under the control of the applicant needs to occur before examination can proceed. In such cases, the registrar issues a “Courtesy Notice” to the applicant so that they are aware examination of their application is being temporarily held until the step or action occurs. A courtesy notice is not issued under the provisions of s. 308.

When a Courtesy Notice is issued to an applicant, their application package status will display as “Pending (on hold)” in their myLTSA account and the publicly visible title that the application relates to will display as “Pending”, until the application is registered, defected, cancelled, or withdrawn.

Courtesy Notice Is Issued Where Prior Pending Application Prevents Registration

A Courtesy Notice is issued in the event a prior pending application prevents the registration of a subsequent pending application. The courtesy notice provides notice that the final registration of the subsequent pending application will be considered once the prior pending application has been finalized.

Courtesy Notice Is Not Issued Where Prior Pending Application Does Not Prevent Registration

A Courtesy Notice is not issued if a prior pending application does not affect the subsequent pending application. For example: The release of a registered mortgage in favour of A is pending but defective. While the release is still pending, the registrar receives an application to register a mortgage in favour of B. B’s mortgage does not fail if the registrar rejects the application to release A’s mortgage.

CROSS REFERENCES AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Service of Notice

See Part 22 of the Act regarding the requirements for service of notice.

Withdrawal of Applications

See s. 167 of the Act regarding the withdrawal of applications.

Secondary Sources

See Di Castri, Registration of Title to Land, vol. 1, para. 117.

CASE LAW

Effect of Registrar’s Refusal

Where there is an agreement between parties that one party is to have a registrable easement over the other’s land, the other party is bound to give something which the registrar would accept as registrable. Where the registrar refuses the instrument, the applicant need not commence an appeal of the registrar’s action before bringing an action against the other party. The registrar’s refusal does not establish a case for rectification; it establishes that the agreement is not registrable as an easement (British Columbia Forest Products Limited v. Nordal, 1954 CanLII 545 (BC SC)).

Court Requires Reasons for Refusal

With respect to the court’s requirement that the registrar provide reasons for refusing to register a transmission before the court will consider an application for a vesting order, see the annotation for Re Estate of Delesalle, 2007 BCSC 1527 under s. 34 of the Land Title Act in chapter 3 Land Title Act Part 3 (ss. 20 to 38)—Registration and Its Effect).