A recent number of real estate claims to LawPro and title
insurers has prompted another bulletin on careful title searching
and the need to be aware of Planning Act traps. A few such
claims:
1. The husband owned one house and the wife owned the house next
door. When they borrowed on one house, the lender insisted that
both husband and wife own the house to be mortgaged. The lawyer
added the wife to the title to the husband's house. Now,
husband and wife owned one house and wife owned the other. When
they decided to finance the wife's house, the lender again
asked for husband and wife to own the mortgaged house. The lawyer
added the husband to the title to the wife's house. The
ownership was now identical and this new mortgage breached the act.
However, both mortgages got paid off and now, the clients want to
put new mortgages on both houses. Clearly title is merged and
separate mortgages on two separate houses are not permitted without
a severance consent. Care must
