Canada: Charges, Mortgages, Indemnities

If you are a Muslim homebuyer weighing a halal mortgage against a conventional one, the product that keeps you offside your faith may still put you offside the taxman in ways a conventional mortgage never would.

Section 215 of British Columbia’s Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c 250 (the LTA) permits a party who has commenced a legal proceeding and claims "an estate or interest in land" to register a certificate of pending litigation (CPL) against title to that land. Once registered, the CPL functions as a charge: it can dissuade third-party offers, impede refinancing, and block the closing of a sale.

If you ask a lawyer why an indemnity clause is included in an agreement, the reflexive answer is usually some version of "risk allocation". That answer is true. It is also incomplete.