To combat the issue of money laundering in British Columbia and end hidden ownership of land, the government enacted the Land Owner Transparency Act ("LOTA") in May of 2019 to establish the Land Owner Transparency Registry ("LOTR") for the beneficial ownership of land in British Columbia. 

We want to inform you of significant new disclosure obligations for all properties in British Columbia that are owned by a company, partnership or trust.

The deadline date for existing reporting bodies with an interest in land to file a transparency report has been extended by one year, from November 30, 2021 to November 30, 2022. (Source: BC Gov News)

What is the Land Owner Transparency Act?

As of November 30, 2020, the Land Owner Transparency Act, requires that when an application is made to register an interest in land as defined in section 1 of LOTA, a transparency declaration must be filed to the LOTA Administrator by the transferee(s).

A transferee that is a reporting body must also complete and file a transparency report setting out information about the reporting body and its interest holders.

An interest holder is typically anyone who:

• Is an owner of 10% or more of the voting or equity shares of a company that owns property in BC, whether such share ownership is held directly, or indirectly through another company or a trust; or

• has the right to elect, appoint or remove the majority of the directors of a company that owns property in BC; or

• Otherwise holds a beneficial interest in property in BC, where the registered owner of the property is a company, partnership or trust.

Important: A legal professional is required to file this report on your behalf.

What if I Don't Comply with the LOTA Filing Requirement?

Under LOTA, fines for either failing to file a transparency report or filing a transparency report that contains false or misleading information may result in a fine that is the greater of:

• $50,000 for a corporation, or $25,000 for an individual; or

• 15% of the assessed value of the property to which the transparency report relates.

How We Can Assist You

Our fees for filing the transparency report will vary depending on the complexity of the ownership structure of the land and company, the presence of any trust arrangements, and the time spent gathering the required info about all of the interest holders.

We can provide you with an estimate of the legal costs associated with the filing of the LOTR report once we receive the requirement information from you.

The Next Step

If you hold an indirect interest in land and would like to move forward with the above quote, please fill out the following questionnaire and email it back to us at info@patrolalaw.com

Once your request is received, we will send a follow-up email to gather information for the transparency report.

To learn more about this legislation, details can be found on the following websites:

• Land Owner Transparency Registry
• Government of BC

If you have any questions, please call us at (778) 565-4700 and we would be happy to assist you with this matter.

We thank you for your time and attention to this issue.