Home on the Range Road: Rural RPRs

CALGARY / CANMORE / EDMONTON / YELLOWKNIFE

Real Property Reports (RPRs) continue to be a huge source of closing issues. Most of us are familiar with the problems that affect city properties. Other problems show up on rural properties. On a recent rural property sale, our client provided an RPR with Compliance - but the RPR didn't show any fences. The buyer's lawyer said they wanted an updated RPR, so the argument started.

Why might an RPR for a rural property not show fences?

Most counties are not concerned with fencing, especially between neighbouring properties. For this reason, some surveyors will, and some will not include fencing on their RPRs. Our client's surveyor noted on the RPR that fences are shown in urban areas only. Though our surveyor wasn't wrong to leave out the fences, the buyer's lawyer noticed a minor fence flanking a county road. This fence could potentially encroach on County property, and the County would need the fence line shown on an RPR to determine if it was compliant.

In the end, our seller client made an offer and the buyer accepted a credit for title insurance to cover any potential issue that might show up for the fence not shown on the RPR. Be careful here – some title insurance policies do not cover fence issues.

Takeaway

A county would be interested in a fence location that exists adjacent to county property, even if it is not surveyor practice to include the fence on rural RPRs.

So, if you are on for the seller, you want the buyer to accept an existing RPR. Consider amending the purchase contract so that any fence is accepted "as-is-where-is" and does not form part of the representations and warranties.

If you are looking after the buyer, review the RPR during negotiations and express concern that any fencing not shown might encroach on county property.

Always review RPRs carefully with your client for any changes or differences, and talk to your real estate lawyer for advice and implications!

Protect yourself.

Cheers,

Barry + Reid

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