Responding to Objections to an Application to Convert Lands to “Land Titles Absolute”
Post by: Craig Robson
What are your options if an objection is made to your application to convert lands to Land Titles Absolute? As a starting point, you should always conduct a careful review of the materials that support the objection. They may on their face show insufficient time has passed to give the encroachment the status it needs to defeat your title. If this is brought to the attention of the neighbour, they may withdraw their objection.
If a review of the materials is inconclusive, then as a second step you may decide to conduct a sub-search of title of the neighbouring land and seek any other evidence you can find through discussions with other neighbours, building permit records, Google Earth searches and the like to try to prove the encroachment has not been in place for the requisite 10 years before the lands went into Land Titles Qualified. You might also choose to acknowledge the claim if it does not affect the integrity of your development and convey the encroached lands to the neighbor. Depending on the circumstances, you may need a severance consent from the Committee of Adjustment and it should be kept in mind that this can be both time consuming and expensive. Another option is to attempt to negotiate a settlement of the objection with the neighbour.
This approach has the benefit of allowing for all manner of compromise resolutions to be found, but typically only works if both sides are prepared to act reasonably. You can also try to “go around” the neighbour. That is, if you don’t need the land in question to be in the condominium, then the survey boundary can be adjusted to exclude the area in dispute. If all else fails, then the Land Registrar can be asked to convene a hearing to rule on the claim or you can apply for a Court order that the claim is without merit.