Practice area

Refinancing a mortgage in British Columbia

A refinance looks simpler than a purchase because nothing changes hands except money. In practice it turns on two documents arriving on time: your new lender's instructions and the payout statement from your old one. This page sets out how the two are made to meet, and what has to be cleared off title before they can.

Typically · you
Subject removal
The date your conditions come off and the deal becomes firm. Financing, inspection and strata document review all have to be done by now. Your contract sets this date, not us.
If it slips
The contract can collapse. If you are not ready, the extension has to be agreed in writing before the deadline passes rather than after.
Your contract sets these dates. Everything between them is our work: the searches, the lender's instructions, the signing, the registration.
Start your file
Set by law
Rescission period ends
The home buyer rescission period set by the Property Law Act, which runs from acceptance and lets a buyer back out of a residential purchase on payment of a fee. It applies whether or not anyone mentions it.
If it slips
This one does not slip. It runs from acceptance on a fixed basis and cannot be extended by agreement.
Your contract sets these dates. Everything between them is our work: the searches, the lender's instructions, the signing, the registration.
Start your file
Typically · you
Your file opens with us
We receive your contract, verify your identity, and check the completion, possession and adjustment dates against each other. The earlier this happens the more room there is to fix anything.
If it slips
Everything downstream compresses. A file that opens late is the most common reason a completion runs tight.
Your contract sets these dates. Everything between them is our work: the searches, the lender's instructions, the signing, the registration.
Start your file
Typically · us
Title search and strata documents ordered
We search title for what is registered against the property, and on a strata we order the Form B and the associated records. This is where anything unexpected surfaces.
If it slips
A charge nobody knew about, found late, is a much bigger problem than the same charge found early.
Your contract sets these dates. Everything between them is our work: the searches, the lender's instructions, the signing, the registration.
Start your file
Typically · your lender
Lender instructions received
Your lender sends us their mortgage instructions and we prepare the documents. They arrive on the lender's schedule rather than ours, so we chase them instead of waiting.
If it slips
This is the single most common cause of a late completion. We will tell you as soon as a date looks at risk rather than on the morning it fails.
Your contract sets these dates. Everything between them is our work: the searches, the lender's instructions, the signing, the registration.
Start your file
Typically · you
Document signing
You sign the transfer, the mortgage and the statement of adjustments, at our office, at yours, or remotely anywhere in the province. Bring identification.
If it slips
Signing has to happen with enough room to get documents where they need to be. Tell us early if you will be away.
Your contract sets these dates. Everything between them is our work: the searches, the lender's instructions, the signing, the registration.
Start your file
Typically · you
Funds to our trust account
Your balance of funds arrives by bank draft or wire. Never by email instruction, and never in response to a message that changes our banking details.
If it slips
Without cleared funds we cannot complete. This is a hard stop rather than a soft one.
Your contract sets these dates. Everything between them is our work: the searches, the lender's instructions, the signing, the registration.
Start your file
Typically · us
Completion
We register the transfer and the mortgage at the Land Title Office, the money is released to the seller's lawyer, and the property becomes yours.
If it slips
Registration and the release of funds happen in a set order. A late advance can push completion to the next business day, and your contract governs what that means for you.
Your contract sets these dates. Everything between them is our work: the searches, the lender's instructions, the signing, the registration.
Start your file
Typically · your realtor
Possession
The day you can physically move in and collect the keys. Frequently the day after completion rather than the same day.
If it slips
Possession is set by your contract. Confirm the key handover arrangement with your agent rather than assuming it.
Your contract sets these dates. Everything between them is our work: the searches, the lender's instructions, the signing, the registration.
Start your file

Set by lawStandard practice, typically

Select a milestone for what happens there, and what it costs if it slips.

General information based on standard practice in British Columbia. Your contract governs your actual dates. This is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor-client relationship.

A row of cedar shingled townhomes in warm late afternoon light, with young trees along a new sidewalk.

Who this is for

Refinancing

You are switching lenders, taking equity out of your home, consolidating debt against it, or replacing a mortgage that is maturing. Your lender has told you to appoint a lawyer or notary, and you can choose who that is. This also covers discharging a mortgage outright when you have paid it off and want the charge removed from title.

The work

What we do

01Take your new lender's instructions and read them against what you were told you were signing up for: the amount, the term, the rate type, and any condition the lender has attached to advancing.
02Search title and identify every registered charge, then work out which have to be discharged, which can be postponed behind the new mortgage, and which the lender is content to leave in place.
03Request a payout statement from each existing lender, note the date it is good to, and follow up rather than waiting.
04Deal with any second charge or secured line of credit: request the postponement or the discharge your new lender's instructions require, because a lender expecting first position will not advance without it.
05Check whether anyone on title is not on the loan. Everyone registered as an owner signs the mortgage, whether or not they are borrowing.
06Prepare the mortgage and the associated lender documents, and confirm your fire insurance shows the new lender in the form the instructions demand.
07Meet you to sign, at our office, at yours, or remotely, and go through what you are signing before you sign it.
08On funding, register the new mortgage, pay out the old one, confirm the discharge is actually registered rather than assuming it, and send you any balance.

Your part

What we need from you

Gathering these early is the single biggest thing you can do to keep a file on schedule.

Two pieces of government-issued identificationOne has to carry your photograph, for every person on title. We verify identity before we can register anything.
Your mortgage commitment, and your broker's contact detailsThe commitment tells us what conditions the lender has attached. Knowing who to chase at the lender is the difference between a delay and a phone call.
Every existing lender, with account numbersIncluding a secured line of credit you have not drawn on. If it is registered against title it has to be discharged or postponed, and payout statements are not quick.
Confirmation that any line of credit is frozenA payout statement on a line of credit goes stale the moment you draw on it again. Cards attached to a secured line have to stop being used before payout, or the amount we send is short and the discharge does not happen.
Fire insurance naming the new lenderNo lender advances without it, and the policy has to show the new lender rather than the old one. Getting your broker to reissue it takes longer than people expect.
Everyone registered on title, available to signA parent who went on title to help you qualify years ago still has to sign. If someone is out of the country, tell us early so we can arrange it properly.
Where you want any balance sentWe confirm these details with you directly, never by email. If you receive an email appearing to change them, phone us on a number you already have.

Risk

Watch for

The things that actually derail this kind of file, rather than the ones that sound alarming.

Payout statement timing, and the date it is good to

A payout statement is calculated to a specific date and includes interest to that date. If funding slips past it, the amount is no longer correct and a fresh statement has to be requested, which starts the wait again. This is the thing that moves refinance dates more than anything else.

The prepayment charge you find out about on the statement

Breaking a fixed term early usually carries a prepayment charge, and it is set by your existing lender's formula rather than by anything in the new deal. The payout statement is where it becomes real, which is often later than people would like. Ask your existing lender for the figure before you commit rather than after.

A second charge that has to be postponed or discharged

Second mortgages, secured lines of credit and property tax deferment agreements all sit on title and all affect priority. A new lender instructed to take first position cannot advance until the other charge holder signs a postponement or discharges. Some of them are slow, and none of them treat it as urgent.

Title that does not match the approval

The lender approved named borrowers. Title shows registered owners. Where those two lists differ, because someone died, separated, or was added years ago and forgotten, the refinance stops until it is resolved, and resolving it can mean a transfer and a property transfer tax question of its own.

Questions

Common questions

Do I have to use the lawyer my bank suggests?

No. The lender instructs a lawyer or notary, but you choose who that is, and you can tell the lender your choice. Some lenders offer a title insurance service for simple switches instead of a full legal file. Which one you are being offered is worth asking about, because they are not the same thing.

My spouse is not on the mortgage. Do they still have to sign?

If they are registered on title, yes. Everyone who owns the property signs the mortgage, whether or not they are borrowing. Separately, where the property is the family home and only one of you is on title, the lender may ask the other to get independent legal advice before signing anything. We will tell you which situation you are in early rather than at the signing.

How long does a refinance take?

It is set by two things arriving: your lender's instructions and the payout statement from your existing lender. Neither is on our schedule, which is why we request both as soon as the file opens and follow them rather than waiting. Tell us your target date at the start and we will tell you straight away whether it looks realistic.

What happens to my line of credit when I refinance?

If it is secured against the property, it is a registered charge and it has to be either paid out and discharged or formally postponed behind the new mortgage. If it is being paid out, it has to be frozen first. A line of credit that is still live when the payout is calculated can be drawn on again before funding, and then the payout falls short.

Do I pay property transfer tax on a refinance?

Property transfer tax attaches to a transfer of an interest in land, not to registering a mortgage. A straight refinance where the owners do not change is not a transfer. If you are adding or removing someone from title as part of the refinance, that part is a transfer and the tax question applies to it.

Talk to us about your file

We quote your file in writing before we start work, so the number on your statement of adjustments is the number you agreed to.

Start your file Send us your file: Refinance or title change