Reading a Title Search in BC: Charges, Covenants and Easements

A title search shows who owns a property in BC and what rights others hold over it, from a mortgage to a utility's right of way or a neighbour's easement. Here is how to order one, how to read each part, and which charges are cleared when you buy and which stay with the land.

The short version

How to order a title search

Titles are ordered from LTSA. A title search shows the land title register at one point in time, and it doesn't show past owners.

• Find the PID. LTSA says to search by the PID, since a street address can't be used. It is on your assessment or property tax notice, and you can look it up by address on ParcelMap BC or BC Assessment's website.
• Order online. An LTSA Explorer account (myLTSA Explorer on some LTSA pages) is a pay-as-you-go account, paid by Visa or MasterCard. Under LTSA's fees as at April 1, 2026, a title search is $11.06, plus a $3.55 electronic service charge and applicable taxes, and a copy of a registered document or plan is $17.78.
• Get help reading it. LTSA can't answer questions about what a title contains. BCREA expects a buyer's REALTOR® to get the title search and review it with you, and your lawyer or notary goes through it in detail.

The parts of a title

LTSA's sample title shows the layout, from top to bottom:

• Title number and dates. The title number, the title it came from, and when the application was received and entered.
• Registered owner. The owners' names, a mailing address and how they hold title, for example as joint tenants, which I explain in Joint Tenancy or Tenants in Common?
• Taxation authority and description of land. Who taxes the land, the PID, and the legal description, which usually includes a lot number and a plan number. A strata lot's description also includes a share of the common property.
• Legal notations. Information recorded on the title after an application, listed separately from the charges.
• Charges, liens and interests. For each one: its nature (such as mortgage or covenant), registration number, date and time, chargeholder and remarks.
• Duplicate title, transfers and pending applications. A pending application has been received and time-stamped but not yet registered; once registered, it takes effect from the time it was received.

One notation to watch for: under section 57 of the Community Charter, a council can have a notice filed on title when a building inspector finds work done without a required permit or inspection, or a condition that makes a building unsafe, as I explain in Selling a Home with Unpermitted Work.

Charges that are usually cleared

Some charges secure money the owner owes, or warn of a court case, and a buyer normally expects them to be gone by completion:

• Mortgages. An interest the owner grants a lender as security for a debt. The title shows the lender, not the balance owing. A collateral charge can secure other borrowing too, as I explain in Collateral Charge Mortgages.
• Builders liens. An unpaid contractor, subcontractor or worker can file a claim of lien, generally within 45 days after a certificate of completion is issued or the work is finished. The lien is extinguished unless a court action is started and a certificate of pending litigation registered within one year of filing, and an owner can apply to have it removed by paying money into court or posting security.
• Judgments. A registered BC judgment is a lien and charge on the debtor's land in the land title district where it is registered, and it generally lapses two years after registration unless the registration is renewed.
• Certificates of pending litigation. A CPL gives notice of a court action claiming an interest in the land, such as a lender enforcing a mortgage or a family property claim. While it is registered, most new dealings can only be registered subject to the outcome, so talk to your lawyer or notary first.

Charges generally rank in the order the land title office received them, unless their documents or a priority agreement say otherwise.

Charges that usually stay with the land

Other charges give someone a lasting right over the property or limit its use, and a sale doesn't remove them. Under the Land Title Act, registering a charge gives notice of what its document says about the land, so read each one:

• Statutory rights of way. Granted under section 218 of the Land Title Act to bodies such as the Crown, a municipality or a utility, for works such as lines or pipes. No neighbouring land has to benefit, and the terms bind future owners. Ask for the plan showing where it runs.
• Easements. A limited right for the owner of one property to use part of another, such as a right to cross it.
• Section 219 covenants. Held by the Province, a municipality or another public body, or, for some conservation covenants, a body the minister designates. They can restrict or require a use, building or subdivision, and they bind later owners. A city may require one before it issues a permit to build on land that may flood, as I explain in Floodplains and Flood Insurance.
• Building schemes. Restrictions an owner, usually a developer, registers over two or more lots it plans to sell under a general scheme. They bind every lot, and the other owners share the benefit. I explain how they and covenants can limit what you build in Buying a Lot to Build On.

A covenant restricting who can own or live in a home based on sex, race, creed, colour, nationality, ancestry or place of origin is void under section 222 of the Land Title Act, however old it is, and the registrar can cancel it.

What is cleared at completion

BC's standard Contract of Purchase and Sale has long had the seller give title free and clear of all encumbrances except a short list: conditions and reservations in the original Crown grant, registered or pending restrictive covenants and rights of way in favour of utilities and public authorities, existing tenancies set out in the contract, and anything else the contract says. BCREA notes that private easements, building schemes and ordinary restrictive covenants aren't on that list, so if one will stay, the contract should name it.

• Financial charges. The contract lets the seller pay off existing financial charges, such as a mortgage, from the purchase price: your lawyer or notary pays it to the seller's lawyer or notary, who gives standard undertakings to pay them out and discharge them. Liens and judgments aren't on the list of exceptions either, so the seller generally has to clear them by completion.
• Last checks. Your lawyer or notary searches the title again just before and just after filing, then applies for a state of title certificate once the discharges are registered.
• What a title doesn't show. Some interests bind the land without being registered, such as taxes and municipal charges, so taxes are checked separately, and for a strata lot, so are strata fees, with a Form F certificate of payment. Title insurance covers some problems a search can't reveal, as I explain in Title Insurance in BC.

Before you remove subjects

BCREA suggests getting legal advice on title before you write an offer, or making it a condition of your offer. These are the checks I suggest:

• Owners and description. Confirm that the registered owners are the sellers and that the legal description matches the contract.
• The documents. Read every non-financial charge and its plan, not just the list on the title, and ask about any certificate of pending litigation or section 57 notice.
• Strata homes. Have the charges on the common property checked as well as those on the strata lot.
• Your plans. If you want to renovate, add a suite or build, check whether a covenant, building scheme or right of way limits it.

Questions buyers often ask me

How much does a title search cost in BC?

Under LTSA's fees as at April 1, 2026, a title search ordered online is $11.06, plus a $3.55 electronic service charge and applicable taxes.

Can I search a title by street address?

No. LTSA searches use the nine-digit PID, which is on your assessment or property tax notice, or which you can find by searching the address on ParcelMap BC.

Does a title search show how much is owing on the mortgage?

No. It shows the lender and the mortgage's registration number, date and time. The seller's lawyer or notary gets the payout amount from the lender before completion.

Will easements and rights of way still be there after I buy?

In most cases, yes: they stay with the land and bind new owners. The standard contract already lets utility and public rights of way remain, so it should list any private easement that will stay.

Can a covenant stop me from adding a suite or more units?

It can. A section 219 covenant can restrict how land is used or built on; in Surrey, for example, the City says existing covenants restricting housing take precedence over its small-scale housing zoning. Read the covenant and check with the City first.

Getting ready to write an offer? See how subject clauses work and who handles your purchase, and learn how to protect your title after you buy in Title Fraud and Real Estate Scams.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Every title is different, so have a lawyer or notary review yours. The details come from the Land Title Act and other BC laws, LTSA, the Law Society of BC, BCREA and the City of Surrey, and were current at the time of writing. For LTSA's guide, see find information on a title.