Buyers Package - Overview of Forms

Contract Of Purchase and Sale

This is the standard first page you will find on the Contract of Purchase and Sale. It contains a general description of terms you will find later in the contract.

DEPOSIT - Not to be confused with your down payment, a deposit is essentially an offer of good faith to the seller that you are serious about purchasing their home – even though you still want to get a home inspection and your mortgage financing in place, before signing on the dotted line.
COMPLETION - The completion date is the day that the buyer assumes title at Land Title Office. This is the day that closing costs and monies are due.
ADJUSTMENT - The adjustment date is the day that the buyer assumes and is responsible for all taxes, utilities, rates, and assessments. This date is typically the same day as the possession day.
POSSESSION - The possession date is the day that the buyer will have possession of the property.
In the contract you will also have to specify a time that you will take possession, and whether you will have vacant possession or if existing tenancies will remain.
TITLE-What is a title in Real Estate ?
Title is a legal term meaning registered owner of real property. When your lawyer is preparing to transfer the title to your property, you will likely be asked who will actually own it. You may choose to list one name alone, fellow investors (a parent, for example) or, particularly in a marriage, both spouses. The issue of whose name is on the title is frequently important when one individual is putting up most or all of the money for the purchase. Title can also be held by other than individuals, such as partnerships and corporations.
BUYERS COSTS
RESIDENCY - International Sellers and Buyers must disclose their Residency
AGENCY DISCLOSURE - This is the section where you acknowledge who your chosen representation is. In this section, both the seller’s and buyer’s agents will be listed.
If you are choosing to be unrepresented or have an agent perform dual agency, you will have to initial off on it and also refer to the updated Real Estate Council form acknowledging the risks of this.

The Other Pages 1-6 in this contract cover the following:

Clauses

To help you sell, buy or lease real estate, REALTORS®, brokerages and real estate boards need to collect, use and disclose some of your personal information. This form provides you with information about, and obtains your consent to, such information handling practices.

BC privacy laws require that anyone collecting another person's personal information must have a reasonable purpose for doing so. This purpose must be disclosed and explicit consent must be obtained before collecting, using and sharing another person's personal information. Personal information means any identifiable information about a person, and may include his/her name, address, phone number or financial information. When it comes to real estate, personal information may also include information about someone's property (such as listing and selling price, lease rate, listing term, etc.).

D.O.R.T.S.

The Disclosure of Representation in Trading Services is a new document as part of the June 15, 2018, changes to the Real Estate Services Act in British Columbia and a partial replacement of the previous Working with a Realtor form.
The basic idea behind Disclosure of Representation in Trading Services (DORTS) is to inform a client of a Realtor—both sellers and buyers—what their rights are in the relationship, and the duties and responsibilities the Realtor owes to their client.

FINTRAC

Due to the real estate sector's size, its services, and the high monetary values involved, real estate is at risk of being targeted for money laundering - as are banks and financial sectors where large transactions are common. One important way a real estate brokerage can reduce this risk is by regularly conducting an assessment to identify the factors that could expose them to this kind of crime.

Under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA), the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada Risk (FINTRAC) requires each real estate brokerage to conduct an assessment and documentation of risks related to money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as mitigation measures to deal with those risks, and review it at least every two years or sooner, if risk factors change.

While there are specific legal requirements of brokerages around managing the risk of money laundering, REALTORS® also have an important role to play in combatting money laundering.

The Centre assists in the detection, prevention and deterrence of money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities. FINTRAC's financial intelligence and compliance functions are a unique contribution to the safety of Canadians and the protection of the integrity of Canada's financial system.

FINTRAC acts at arm's length and is independent from the police services, law enforcement agencies and other entities to which it is authorized to disclose financial intelligence. It reports to the Minister of Finance, who is in turn accountable to Parliament for the activities of the Centre.