Accumulated Taxes

The ‘Accumulated Taxes’ are any property taxes that come due between the first day that a property is advertised for tax sale and the day that the highest tenderer pays the full amount owing for their tender, including Land Transfer Tax, HST, and accumulated taxes.

This will usually be a relatively small amount, probably one or two months interest on the Minimum Tender Amount, at 1.25% interest per month.

Example:

Let’s say that the Minimum Tender Amount for a property is $10,000.00

The property is advertised for tax sale beginning on March 10^th

The person with the highest tender pays the full amount owing on their tender, plus Land Transfer Tax, HST and Accumulated Taxes, on May 2^nd.

The municipality adds 1.25% interest onto the tax account on the first day of each month.  So, interest would be added on April 1^st and May 1^st.

Here’s the calculation for the Accumulated taxes:

$10,000.00    Minimum Tender Amount

X        1.25% Monthly interest rate

X             2 Interest for two months

=   $250.00    Amount of Accumulated Taxes that must be paid

If a property tax instalment had been due during the above timeframe that will also be added on to the Accumulated Taxes.

Cancelled--Can a tax sale be cancelled?

The treasurer of the municipality can cancel a tax sale at any time until a tax deed or "notice of vesting" (a deed naming the municipality as the new owner) is registered on title. A tax sale cannot be cancelled after a tax deed or notice of vesting has been registered.

Deposit with your tender

When you submit a tender it must be accompanied by a deposit.  The deposit must greater than or equal to 20% of the amount you are tendering.  For example, if you are tendering $5,000.00, your deposit must be for at least $1,000.00.  If the deposit is less than 20% of the amount you are tendering, it will be rejected and you won't be able to buy the property.

Your deposit must be made by way of money order or by way of bak draft or cheque certified by a bank or trust corporation.

HST--Does HST have to be paid on tax sale properties?

If you buy a property at a tax sale you must pay HST on it unless either:

1.The property is a residential property and it has previously been sold as a residential property, or

2. You are a HST registrant and you provide the municipality with the required paperwork indicating that you will "self-assess" and remit the required HST.

InfoPak--What's an InfoPak?

An InfoPak (formerly called Tender Package or Bid Package) is a collection of information about all the properties in a specific municipality that are currently being offered for tax sale.  A typical Info Pak includes some, or all, of the following information:

1.  Assessed value of the properties
2.  Annual taxes
3.  Street-level photo(s) of the properties
4.  Aerial photo(s) of the properties
5.  Municipal Property records
6.  Map
7.  Property information
8.  Instructions for submitting a tender
9.  Proper form to submit tender on
10. Proper envelope for submitting a tender
11. Advertisement for tax sale
12. Directions to the properties

InfoPaks--How do I order an InfoPak

To get the InfoPak (Featured Properties Only):
1) Login (if you are a member)
2) Go to the Upcoming Tax Sale Page
3) Click on the Municipality you are interested in
4) If it is a "Featured" Property the InfoPak will be available. (We do not have InfoPaks for "Other" properties) At the top of the page you will see the InfoPak contents description and below the description is button to order it
5) Click the "Order InfoPak" button and add it to your cart (for members the price will show $0)
6) Check out
7) In less than 2 minutes an email will be sent to you with a link to download the InfoPak
8) Click the link in the email and save the InfoPak to your computer

InfoPaks--Do I need one for each property in a municipality?

No, one InfoPak will provide the information that you need for all the properties that a municipality is selling on a specific date.  For example, if a town is advertising ten properties for sale on a certain date, there will be one InfoPak and it will include information about all ten of those properties.

InfoPaks--How much do they cost?

Most of our InfoPaks cost ten dollars.
InfoPaks are free for GOLD Members

InfoPaks--Do you have them for every property?

No, we only have InfoPaks for our Featured Properties.  To get information packages about our Other Properties please contact the municipality.

InfoPaks--How will I receive InfoPaks that I buy from OTS?

If you order an InfoPak, you will instantly receive an email with a 'dpwnload link' in it. Just click on the download link to download the InfoPak.

NOTE:  The download link will only remain active for 7 days.  After that you will not be able to download the InfoPak.

All documents will be viewable ad printable in Adobe Reader.

InfoPaks--I did not receive the InfoPak I ordered

If you do not receive the email with the link to download the InfoPak within a few minutes of placing your order, check your junk/spam mail folder. The email will be in there.

Land Transfer Tax--How much Land Transfer Tax do I have to pay on a tax sale property?

For properties in the City of TORONTO you must pay DOUBLE the rate of Land Transfer Tax shown above.

"Subject to Executions if Enforceable"...

...What should I do if this is not removed from title after my tax deed has been registered?

If the execution is in favour of the Crown

You will not be able to have this removed from title until you have paid off the Crown interest.  As part of your dealings with the Crown, you should obtain a written assurance from them that they will have their execution removed from title, within a specified time frame, after you have paid them the amount of money that is owed.

If the execution is not in favour of the Crown

If you purchased an OTS Title Search Summary for this property, send us an email a couple of weeks after your tax deed has been registered.  We will contact the land registry office and ask them to remove the execution from title.  We cannot guarantee that we will be successful, but we will try.

Tenders--Can I withdraw my tender?

In order to have your tender withdrawn you must make a written request to the treasurer of the municipality to withdraw your tender, and your written request must be received by the treasurer before the specified date and time for receiving tenders, as shown in the advertisement for tax sale.

Attention GOLD Members--see the following Tips on Tax Sales
Tenders—what if I submit a tender and then decide that I don’t want to buy the property?

Title Searches--How will I receive searches that I purchase from OTS?

Title Search Summary™, Title Search Update™, and all our other products, are sent by email. Title Search Summaries™ are usually conducted and sent to you within two business days.

Title Search Summaries™ and  Title Search Updates™ from OTS are only available to GOLD Members.

Updating Searches--Why is it advisable to update the title search and execution search on the day of the tax sale?

So that you will know if there have been any registrations or executions affecting your land between the time that the title search was done and the time that the tax sale is conducted.

For example, if Canada Revenue Agency registered a mortgage against the property, the property would be subject to that mortgage even after the tax sale. If you bought that property, and did not pay the mortgage, the mortgage holder could seize the property and sell it. Or, if an expropriation order were registered against the property, you could end up buying less land than you had originally expected.

Updating Searches--What is included in the updated title search and execution search?

If you order a Title Search Update no later than the day before the tax sale, on the morning of the tender opening we will:

Conduct an execution search against the owners of the property

Find out if any mortgages, expropriations, etc. have been registered against the property since our previous title search.

Email you the results of the update before noon on the day of the tax sale

PLEASE NOTE:
A Title Search Update is only available if you have already ordered a Title Search Summary for this property. 

Updating Searches--When will I receive the results of the updated searches?

Before noon on the day of the auction or tender opening we will email you an "Update Summary." In most cases we will also email you an updated title search and execution search

Note: We can only guarantee that we'll send you the results before noon if we receive your order no later than the day before the tax sale.