Lawyers say the law was complex and the government’s guidance on interpreting the law was insufficient
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The province is extending the timeframe for individuals to submit information to a registry designed to track “hidden ownership” of real estate in British Columbia. The deadline, originally at the end of this month, is now the end of November 2022.
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the Land owner transparency law It took effect in December, giving new property buyers and existing property owners one year to disclose holders of interests in corporations, trusts and partnerships.
The goal was a publicly searchable database of information on who, directly or indirectly, owns real estate in hopes of curbing the rise in home prices driven by shell companies, nominees, and trusts that hide the identities of individuals. owners and potentially money laundering.
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The extension to next year, in part, recognizes the administrative strain caused by COVID-19. However, it was also triggered by points made by many lawyers and others.
“It’s a lot easier to say you’re doing something than actually doing it,” said Ron Usher, an attorney representing BC notaries public who work on real estate transactions and was on the panel that led to a review of real estate regulations.
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“It is a very complex law, and it will take time and staff to explain it to the public and then enforce it,” Usher said.
An October 25 letter from the BC branch of the Canadian Bar Association to the Ministry of Finance said the original deadline was “unrealistic for several reasons.”
Although there was awareness among the lawyers, notices were never sent to the owners “alerting them to the deadline of November 30, 2021,” the letter said.
Since trust agreements do not require owners to appear on property titles, there was the challenge of figuring out who to report the filing deadline to.
The letter, more clearly, also stated that “there has been a significant lack of guidance for legal professionals through authoritative policy statements by the ministry regarding the interpretation and application of the law.” He cautioned that a year after the law was enacted, people in the legal profession often have different opinions about the correct interpretation of the law.
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As noted by a lawyer, the Ministry of Finance provides dozens of newsletters and publications that interpret the Tax on Patrimonial Transmissions , but little information on the much more complex issues of interpreting “indirect control” of real estate and transactions by foreign buyers.
“Legislative complexity coupled with inadequate guidance means that legal professionals are spending more time handling each (transparency) issue, which, in turn, leads to delays in client applications and the inability to provide representation. proper legal status, ”the letter says.
The group of lawyers advocated an extended term because the Act is very complex, but has a “scope of penalties” and there is a significant potential for misrepresentation due to misinterpretation.
Reference-vancouversun.com