Guides, legal insights, and homeowner resources from the iClosed Real Estate Law Desk — designed to make every step of your Ontario closing feel less complicated.
FeaturedA final report, or reporting letter, is the letter your lawyer sends after closing to report on what was done. On a purchase it normally confirms the registrations and encloses your statement of adjustments and, when issued, your title insurance policy. On a sale it reports on the payout and the discharge. Keep it.
After selling, cancel or transfer the utilities and home insurance, confirm your mortgage discharge was actually registered and not just paid, settle any rental accounts with the supplier directly, keep your closing documents, forward your mail, report the sale to the CRA if it applies, and watch for your lawyer’s reporting letter.
On closing date the lawyers complete the sale under the closing arrangements they have agreed, usually escrow terms in a Document Registration Agreement. The buyer’s funds arrive, the transfer is registered, your mortgage is paid out, commission and adjustments are settled, and your net proceeds and the keys are released.
Your signing appointment is a short meeting with your lawyer’s office before closing, where you sign the sale documents. These usually include an Acknowledgement and Direction authorising the electronic transfer, a direction on your proceeds, and authorisation to pay out your mortgage. Bring identification and banking details. Remote signing is often available.
A void cheque shows the branch, institution and account numbers used for direct deposits or, with separate authorization, pre-authorized debits. The cheque itself does not authorize a withdrawal. Do not sign it, and share it only through a verified secure channel. A bank-generated account-information form is a common alternative.
When you sell, each piece of rented equipment — a hot water tank, furnace, air conditioner or HVAC system — has to be dealt with. Buying out the contract and having the buyer assume it are the two common routes, but what is actually available depends on the rental contract, the supplier’s consent and your agreement of purchase and sale.
When you sell, property tax is normally apportioned so you carry it for the days you owned the home and the buyer carries the rest. It is reflected as an adjustment on the statement of adjustments, based on the municipal information available at closing. If you prepaid past closing the buyer credits you; if you underpaid you credit the buyer.
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