The term “Protocol Closings” means that a real estate transaction is going to be completed by using the Western Conveyancing Protocol (“WCP”).
The WCP is an arrangement between the Law Societies of western Canada which allows certain real estate transactions to “close” on the Closing Date, even though the actual registration of the documents has not taken place at the Land Title Office.
A real estate transaction that closes by way of a Protocol Closing allows the Buyer to have possession of the property, the Seller to receive their Sale Proceeds and for the Realtors to receive their Commissions, even though the actual Transfer of Land and Mortgage have not been registered. Title Insurance Closting of the process.
In a normal real estate transaction, everyone has to wait for registration of the documents. Because of the long delays we are currently (December 9, 2006) experiencing at the Land Title Office (22 business days, about 30 calendar days) a method had to be found to “bridge” the time gap between when the conveyancing documents were ready and sent for registration and the date upon which they were actually registered.
The WCP is a response from the Law Societies of Western Canada that states that if certain procedures are followed, then the insurance that all lawyers carry can be used if there is some problem with the ultimate registration.
One of the criteria to use a Protocol Closing is that the Buyer has used a Protocol Lender. For a “pdf.” list (July 2006) of Protocol Lenders, Click Here.
PROTOCOL CLOSING IS NOT AVAILABLE in the following circumstances:
- Sale of a Condominium by a Developer
- Commercial Transactions
- Agricultural Properties
- Leasehold Transactions
- Construction Loans
- Completion Mortgages