“interest in land” means any of the following:… (c)a right to occupy land under a lease that has a term of more than 10 years; …By reviewing the LOTA, the Land Owner Transparency Regulations, the policy guidance from the Registry and the provincial government, leases must have the following elements to trigger a potential filing obligation under LOTA:
- Must be in the name of a reporting body*;
- Must be registered on legal title, or being registered on title;
- Must be for a term longer than ten years (a lease for ten years or less is not included);
- Can include commercial leases, modification to commercial leases, and commercial subleases registered on legal title (collectively referred to as a “Lease” for the purposes of this article). Residential lease between individuals are not captured under LOTA.
- If a Lease is NOT registered on title, then there are no LOTA filing obligations. This is because without a Lease being registered on title, there is no interest in land;
- If a Lease was registered on title prior to November 30, 2020, and on November 30, 2020, there was more than ten years left on the term of the Lease, a transparency report is required to be filed with the Registry by November 30, 2022;
- If a Lease was registered on title after November 30, 2020, or is currently being registered on title, and is in the name of a reporting body, and is for more than ten years, a transparency declaration and a transparency report are required at the time of filing.
- Relevant corporation: All private corporations and limited liability corporations, unless exempt by the Act or by regulation.
- Relevant trust: All express (intentional) trusts (including bare trusts), unless exempted by the Act or by regulation.
- Relevant partnership: All partnerships, unless exempted by regulation.
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Joel Hagyard Managing Partner | Real Estate Langley |
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Pamela Lindsay Partner | Real Estate Vancouver |