What is the Typical Process for an Encroachment?
The city has returned the Real Property Report with compliance; however, they have also stamped it with an Encroachment Advisory. We will forward the email from the city with information regarding their concerns when we receive it. Please see the city’s website for current processing timelines:
https://www.calgary.ca/realestate/encroachments.html “
This is an email response that Third Rock Geomatics utilizes when we receive a plan with an Encroachment Advisory. At the time of writing, the city was taking about 3 weeks to respond to inquiries.
Types of Responses from the City
A response from the city may be as follows: You require a schedule “A”, “B”, or “C”, a “License of Occupation Agreement”, or the “Encroachment Advisory has been stamped Void”.
Understanding the Void Stamp
We will start with the Void stamp. The city has determined that the infraction has been dealt with through a by-law, in which case it is permitted, or there is already an agreement associated with the concern. Either way, the process has been finalized, and it only took however long for the city to respond.
License of Occupation Agreement
A License of Occupation Agreement is very rare and usually reserved for severe infractions or commercial properties. In all cases, it is best to consult with the surveyor and perhaps your lawyer on the best way to proceed.
Schedule A, B, and C Applications
The remainder of this article will focus on the Schedule A, B or C applications. The level of cost increases as the size of the encroachment increases. A Schedule A agreement is the simplest and cheapest to resolve. Once the documents are in hand, usually the owner of the property whose name at that moment in time is capable of signing the documents and returning them to the city. This agreement is kept on file in the city and is acknowledged by the Void stamp overtop of the Encroachment Advisory. The process may take between 4 and 8 weeks.
Schedule B and C Applications
Schedule B and C applications are agreements that are registered on the property title at the Land Titles Office and associated with the property in perpetuity or until an application to remove it has been made. The process to attain a final agreement will take a minimum of 8 months to resolve. The city will respond to the received Real Property Report with a “Client Requirement” document outlining the infraction(s). They will state “you have the opportunity to remove” the structure and reapply. If the option to remove is not possible, for the associated fee outlined on the “Client Requirement”, an application can be made for an agreement with the city. Third Rock Geomatics is capable of making the applications on behalf of their clients.
Application Process and Timeline
Once the application has been made to the city of Calgary, at the time of writing the wait period was about 4 weeks to receive documents in the mail. When the application was made depending on the date of possession, either the current owners name must be provided with the current title, or after possession date, a letter, a contract or some form of documentation stating who the purchasers are and how the name will appear on the new title are required for submission. Possession dates are important. The Land Titles Office works on “a moment in time”, priority ranking, so first come first served. If the documents for the original owner can be submitted prior to the possession date, then the documents will have priority and will be processed by the Land Titles Office first before the switch in title.
Challenges with Attaining Signatures
Attaining signatures can be difficult. The seller is always motivated to sign and return the documents to the lawyer’s office or back to Third Rock Geomatics, however getting the purchaser to sign the documents can be difficult and requires access to the purchasers through their lawyer. It can take a couple of weeks to months for the purchasers to sign documents. This period is highly variable.
Sending Signed Documents to the City
Receiving the signed documents means sending the signed documents to the city so they can register the documents at the Land Titles office. Sending the signed documents into the city takes about one week for them to process and put in the mailbag to send to the Land Titles office. The mailbag is sent every Thursday, so this period of time could take up to two weeks depending on when the documents were mailed to the city.
Land Titles Office Registration
The registration at the Land Titles Office can take between 3 and 5 months to be finalized. As mentioned, priority has to be given to the first documents received and if the encroachment agreement is received after the change in title, it can be a long wait time. Waiting at the time of this article was almost two months. This adds to the overall length of completing the process.
Final Steps in the Process
When the land titles finally processes the Encroachment Agreement, it is another week or two for the city to receive the information and process it. The final product is a plan with a Void stamp placed on the red Encroachment Advisory, and the receipt of documentation in writing with original signatures.
As mentioned, it is a long process and one which requires continuous tracking to ensure the process continues to move forward. Third Rock has managed hundreds of these applications on behalf of their clients.
