What documents do I need to sell a house in Quebec?

Which documents does the notary need to close the sale?

In Quebec the sale of a house is signed before a notary in practice. The Chambre des notaires says that, on a sale, the notary acts for the seller and the buyer, even when the buyer chooses the notary. If a mortgage balance remains, the notary repays the lender from the sale money and publishes the discharge at the land register. The notary also obtains the official municipal and school tax statements and can pay any unpaid balance (Les honoraires du notaire). Taxes already paid are adjusted at the notary. The buyer becomes responsible for municipal and school taxes when the contract is signed at the notary’s office, or on the possession date set in the promise to purchase (At what moment do I become responsible for paying property taxes?). For a typical house, the seller’s side of the file is the deed by which you bought or received the house, a certificate of location, the current tax bills, and the hypothec details. Ask your notary what else the file needs.

If you are not the only owner, every owner signs, or someone signs with a valid power of attorney. If the owner has died, ask the notary who may sign. The succession documents are described below.

Do I need a new certificate of location to sell my house?

Often, yes. No law makes a certificate of location expire, according to the Ordre des arpenteurs-géomètres du Québec (the land surveyors’ order). But the OACIQ, which regulates real estate brokerage, explains that a notary will require a new one when yours is more than ten years old, because of the ten-year prescription in article 2917 of the Civil Code of Québec, even if nothing has changed.

You also need a new one when the house has changed since the last one: a pool, shed, fence, hedge, garage or extension; a new servitude; a change in a flood zone or other risk zone; or a cadastral update, even if the only change is the lot number. The OACIQ puts the usual preparation time at four to six weeks, and the notary should receive the certificate at least 20 days before the deed is signed. The seller normally pays for it unless the promise to purchase says otherwise. The OACIQ adds an exception: if the buyer requires a new certificate in the promise to purchase, and that certificate shows no change from the previous one, the buyer pays for it (Importance of an up-to-date certificate of location).

Title insurance does not replace it. The OACIQ states that title insurance does not release the seller from the obligation to provide an up-to-date certificate.

I can’t find my deed. What do I do?

Every deed of sale in Quebec is registered at the Registre foncier du Québec, the provincial land register, so a lost paper copy is not a lost title. The lot number is what you use to consult that register online. The cadastre’s Infolot map has a free access that finds a lot from an address and shows its shape and position (Infolot cadastre map). The land register also has an interactive map (Registre foncier du Québec interactive map). Its own notice says the results have no legal value and that the map cannot give the lot number of a divided co-ownership. Your notary can also pull the registered documents as part of the file. Look for your copy first anyway, because the notary who signed your purchase may have kept other useful papers, such as an older certificate of location.

What extra documents are needed for a house in a succession?

When the owner has died, ask the notary early who may sign. Éducaloi explains that a will search starts with a death certificate, or a copy of the act of death, from the Directeur de l’état civil. A funeral-home paper is not enough. One request then searches the will registers of both the Chambre des notaires and the Barreau du Québec (Comment faire une recherche testamentaire?). Éducaloi also explains that a declaration of transmission prepared by a notary is signed before the house can be transferred to a new owner, and that this declaration becomes the succession’s title. Once it is signed, the liquidator can sell in the succession’s name. If no liquidator was named, the heirs can sell, and every heir signs (Liquider une succession : questions fréquentes). Our guide to selling an inherited house in Quebec (How do you sell an inherited house in Quebec?) covers the steps in more detail.

What other papers help a sale go faster?

These are not always required, but buyers and notaries often ask for them: invoices and permits for work done on the house; recent heating and electricity bills; any report you already have on the foundation, water, an oil tank, a septic system or a well; leases and notices if part of the house is rented; and, for a condo, the declaration of co-ownership, recent minutes and the contingency fund details.

Write down what you know about the house’s problems too. When you sell through a broker, the OACIQ’s mandatory form is the Declarations by the seller of the immovable. The broker completes it with you as part of the brokerage contract (The Declarations by the seller of the immovable). When you sell directly, there is no required form, but you still owe the buyer honest information. The Civil Code warrants the buyer against latent defects that make the house unfit for its use, or that so reduce its usefulness that the buyer would not have bought it or paid so much (article 1726: Civil Code of Québec, article 1726). The parties can exclude that warranty in the contract (article 1732: Civil Code of Québec, article 1732). The seller cannot use the exclusion for a defect they knew, or could not have been unaware of, and did not disclose, except where the buyer buys at their own risk from a seller who is not a professional seller (article 1733: Civil Code of Québec, article 1733). Our article on selling a house as is in Quebec (Selling a house as-is in Quebec) explains how that exclusion works.

Which documents does Bruce need to make an offer?

Very few. Bruce Malcolm is a private buyer of houses in Montreal and the West Island. He is not a broker, an agent or an appraiser. To make an offer he needs the address, who owns the house, and what you know about its condition. You don’t need a new certificate of location or a full file to ask for a number.

If you accept, the notary gathers the rest, and the closing date is set around how long the missing pieces take, for example a new certificate of location or the succession papers. You can leave behind what you don’t want in the house.