B.C. GOVERNMENT TAKES COMPANY’S PROPERTY
Full version in Cantonese can be heard from my Podcast.
FACTS:
If a holding company is a vendor of a property & had not filed it’s annual reports for over two years, it technically considered “dissolved” by the Corporate Registry.
THE PROBLEM:
At the time of sale, listing agent should run a company search and if realized the company had been dissolved before the sale contract was signed. This mean the company is not a valid legal entity and therefore, can not enter into a contract to sell the land. Not only that, but by operation of section 4 of the Escheat Act of B.C. the land technically had “escheated” to the B.C. government. What does this mean? This means that the land became the property of the B.C. government.
SOME TECHNICAL LEGAL STUFF:
Businesses incorporated in BC are required by law to file an annual report. If a company fails to file an annual report for 2 consecutive years, the Registrar may dissolve the company. When a company is dissolved, the interests in land to which the company is entitled at the time of its dissolution escheat to (ie. Get taken by) the government. This means that, the interests in land that a corporation may have held prior to dissolution become the property of the provincial government. For a period of two years after land escheats to the government, the government cannot sell the land. After two years, the government can sell the land without further notice to the owner.
If a company is restored (brought back up to date) within 2 years of dissolution, any land escheated to the government vests back in the corporation.
SIMPLE ENGLISH, PLEASE:
If a company does not file it’s annual reports for two years, the government may take it’s properties!
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your accountant or lawyer for further information.
Info provided by Darlene McCann
Verico-Paragon Mortgage Group Inc.
