How to check the title of a multiplex home before you buy

What a title shows, and what it does not

The LTSA describes a title search as a record of a title at a point in time. A title lists the registered fee simple holders, who are the owners, the legal description of the parcel, the parcel identifier (PID), and the charges, liens and interests registered against the title. It does not include phone numbers, and it does not show past owners.

For a strata home, the legal description names the strata lot and ends with the strata plan number. The LTSA explains that the number is usually a two or three letter code followed by a number, such as 'VR 1234' or 'LMS 789', and that the letters refer to the region and the time the plan was registered. Other prefixes include 'BCP' and 'EPP'.

The LTSA cannot answer questions about what a title means or do research for you. That is your lawyer's or notary's job, and it is part of what you pay them for on any purchase.

How to order a title

The LTSA offers an LTSA Explorer account for people who order a small number of titles. You search by parcel identifier or title number, choose the title and any plans you want, and pay online.

The LTSA's fee listing as at April 1, 2026 sets a title search at $11.06, a document or plan order at $17.78, and a State of Title Certificate at $16.76. A State of Title Certificate is a certified copy, which you rarely need as a buyer. A plain title search is enough to read.

You will need the PID or the title number. The listing agent can give you the PID, and your own agent can find it from the address.

One caution from the LTSA's own pages: the address on a title may not match the street address. Check the legal description and the PID, not the address.

Reading the charges on title

The charges section lists every interest that someone other than the owner has registered against the property. On a home for sale, most of them are routine, and your lawyer or notary will deal with them at completion. Knowing what each kind is helps you spot the ones to ask about.

• A mortgage: the seller's lender. It is paid off from the sale money at completion and removed from title.
• A lien or a judgment: money someone claims from the owner. It must be cleared before or at completion, and your lawyer will require it.
• An easement or a right of way: someone else's right to use part of the land, such as a shared driveway or a utility line. These usually stay on title after the sale.
• A covenant: a promise registered on title, often in favour of the city, about how the land may be used. These usually stay on title.
• A certificate of pending litigation: a court case that claims an interest in the land. Ask your lawyer about it before you go further.

The strata plan and the common property record

For a strata home, the strata plan is the drawing that shows every strata lot, the common property and any limited common property, together with the Schedule of Unit Entitlement. You can order the official copy from the LTSA as a plan order.

The LTSA also keeps a separate record for the strata's common property, listing the charges and legal notes that affect it. Its help pages say there is no charge to search and order the common property record with an LTSA account. You find it by entering the strata plan number in the search field.

For scale, the LTSA reports that as at March 31, 2026 there were 35,098 filed strata plans and 807,738 active strata lots in BC. Every one of them has a plan and a common property record you can read.

Papers that come from the strata, not the land title office

The LTSA says that the land title office holds the official strata plan, but will not usually have the most recent copies of the bylaws and other strata information. For those, you go to the strata.

The information certificate, called a Form B, must be given within one week of a request by an owner, a buyer or someone they authorize, under section 59 of the Strata Property Act. It lists the monthly fees, any approved special levy, the reserve fund balance, bylaw changes not yet filed, pending resolutions, court or tribunal cases, parking and storage, and the insurance. The Strata Property Regulation caps its fee at $35 plus up to 25 cents a page.

Minutes, budgets and financial statements come from the strata council or manager. Where a strata has a manager, the LTSA points to a third-party portal called eStrataHub, where owners and authorized people can order documents online.

On a shared title with no strata, there is no Form B. The papers to ask for are the co-ownership agreement, the building insurance policy and the last property tax notice.

Compare the listing with the title

Once you have the title, put it next to the listing and check five things. Small differences are common and usually harmless. Large ones are questions for the listing agent and your lawyer before you write an offer.

• The owners named on title match the people selling the home, or the listing explains why they differ, for example an estate sale.
• The legal description and PID match the home you viewed, and for a strata home, the strata lot number matches the unit.
• The ownership label on the listing matches what the title shows: a strata plan number for a strata home, one parcel with several owners for a shared title, or a registered lease for leased land.
• Any easement or right of way makes sense on the ground, such as a shared driveway you saw at the viewing.
• No lien, judgment or court claim appears that the listing does not mention.

Titles for shared and leased homes

A shared title with no strata names every owner on the one title. Under section 11 of the Property Law Act, the owners are tenants in common unless the transfer says otherwise, and the shares are equal unless the transfer states them. Read the title to see how many owners there are and what share each holds, then ask for the co-ownership agreement.

In a leasehold strata, section 1 of the Strata Property Act treats the leasehold tenant as the owner, and the lease is registered at the land title office. The lease and its end date are the first things to find and read.

One last point from the LTSA's own description: a title search shows the record at a specific point in time. A title can change between your search and completion day, which is why your lawyer or notary searches it again just before the purchase closes.

When to do all this

In our view, the right time to read the title and the strata plan is before you write an offer, when a question costs nothing. The papers from the strata, such as the Form B and the minutes, usually come during the condition period after your offer is accepted, and your offer should give you time to read them.

If you would like help reading the title of a home you are considering, send us the address. We can go through the title and strata plan with you.

Questions buyers ask

More in Strata or Freehold

• Freehold and leaseholdWhat the ownership field on a listing means, label by label
• What you own in a strataYour strata lot, the common property, and the line between them
• A shared title, no strataOwning a share of one property with another household

Also worth reading

• Strata documents before you buy
• Search multiplex homes for sale