Investigation of Titles Act

c t INVESTIGATION OF TITLES ACT PLEASE NOTE This document, prepared by the Legislative Counsel Office, is an office consolidation of this Act, current to May 16, 2025. It is intended for information and reference purposes only. This document is not the official version of the Act. The Act and the amendments as printed under the authority of the King’s Printer for the province should be consulted to determine the authoritative statement of the law. For more information concerning the history of this Act, please see the Table of Public Acts on the Prince Edward Island Government web site (www.princeedwardisland.ca). If you find any errors or omissions in this consolidation, please contact: Legislative Counsel Office Tel: (902) 368-4292 Email: legislation@gov.pe.ca Investigation Of Titles Act Table of Contents c INVESTIGATION OF TITLES ACT Table of Contents Section Page 1. Definitions................................................................................................................................................ 5 2. Title for forty years .................................................................................................................................. 5 3. Form of notice and affidavit ..................................................................................................................... 6 4. Registering notice of claim ...................................................................................................................... 6 5. Re-registration .......................................................................................................................................... 6 6. Registration after period expired .............................................................................................................. 6 7. Registration not to validate expired claim ................................................................................................ 6 8. Fees .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 9. Act to prevail over other provisions ......................................................................................................... 7 SCHEDULE 9 NOTICE OF CLAIM TO BE REGISTERED UNDER THE INVESTIGATION OF TITLES ACT 9 AFFIDAVIT VERIFYING CLAIM 10 c t Current to: May 16, 2025 Page 3 Investigation Of Titles Act Section 1 c INVESTIGATION OF TITLES ACT CHAPTER I-10 1. Definitions In this Act (a) “claim” means a right, title, interest, claim or demand of any kind or nature whatsoever affecting land set forth in, based upon or arising out of a registered instrument, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes mortgages, liens, easements, agreements, contracts, options, charges, annuities, leases and restrictions as to use of land or other encumbrance affecting land, but does not include a highway, public lane, unregistered right of way or other easement or right that a person is openly enjoying and using or any claim imposed by any statutory enactment; (b) “instrument” includes a Crown grant, order in council of Canada or of Prince Edward Island, deed, conveyance, mortgage, assignment of mortgage, certificate of satisfaction or discharge of mortgage, assurance, lease, bond, release, discharge, power of attorney under which any instrument is executed, bond or agreement for the sale or purchase of land, will, probate of will, grant of administration, municipal bylaw, certificate or order as a result of proceedings in any court, judgment or order of foreclosure, and includes every other certificate of judgment or order of any court affecting any interest in or title to land, every sheriff’s deed of land sold by virtue of his office, every contract in writing, every order and proceeding in mental incompetency, bankruptcy and insolvency, every plan of a survey or subdivision of land, and every other instrument whereby land may be transferred, disposed of, charged, encumbered or affected in any wise, affecting land in Prince Edward Island; (c) “land” includes lands, tenements, hereditaments and appurtenances and any estate or interest in any of them; (d) “owner” means a person entitled to a freehold or other estate or interest in land at law or in equity, in possession, in futurity or in expectancy. R.S.P.E.I. 1974, Cap. I-7, s.1; 1978, c.6, s.62; 2025,c.11,s.16(2). 2. Title for forty years (1) No person in dealing with land is required to show that the person is lawfully entitled to the land as owner of the land through a good and sufficient chain of title, save and except during the period of forty years immediately preceding the date of the person’s dealing with the land, and no claim that has been in existence longer than the forty-year period affects the land, unless the claim has been acknowledged or specifically referred to or contained in an instrument registered against the land within the forty-year period or unless a notice is registered against the land as provided in sections 3, 4, 5 and 6. c t Current to: May 16, 2025 Page 5 Section 3 Investigation Of Titles Act Quieting Titles Act (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to land with respect to which a certificate of title has been given under the Quieting Titles Act R.S.P.E.I. 1988, Cap. Q-2 within the forty-year period mentioned in subsection (1). No notice necessary in certain cases (3) Where a person is shown by the books of a registry office to be the owner of a freehold or leasehold estate in land or of an equity of redemption therein prior to any forty-year period and is continuously shown on the books from time to time during the forty-year period and thereafter as the owner of either a freehold or leasehold estate in the same land or of an equity of redemption therein or any of them, that person’s claim to the land is not affected by failure to register the notice as required by subsection (1). R.S.P.E.I. 1974, Cap. I-7, s.2; 1978, c.6, s.62; 2025,c.11,s.16(3). 3. Form of notice and affidavit A notice of claim may be in Form 1 in the schedule in duplicate and shall be verified by the affidavit of the claimant or of the claimant’s agent or assignee having personal knowledge of the matters required to be verified, which affidavit may be in Form 2 in the schedule. R.S.P.E.I. 1974, Cap. I-7, s.3; 2025,c.11,s.16(4). 4. Registering notice of claim A person having a claim against land, or another person on that person’s behalf, may within forty years from the date of the registration of an instrument in which the claim is acknowledged, set forth, or referred to, or on which the claim is based, or out of which the claim arises, register a notice of the claim in the manner set out in section 3, and the registration constitutes a notice of the claim for a further period of forty years. R.S.P.E.I. 1974, Cap. I-7, s.4; 2025,c.11,s.16(5). 5. Re-registration Before a notice expires, the notice may be registered as long as the person registering the notice or another person claiming under that person considers it necessary, and every reregistered notice continues in force for forty years from the date of the registration of the notice. R.S.P.E.I. 1974, Cap. I-7, s.4; 2025,c.11,s.16(6). 6. Registration after period expired Notwithstanding sections 4 and 5, any person having a claim against land which by the provisions of this Act would have expired, may register notice of the claim at any subsequent time if there has been no intermediate registered dealing with the land, and the registration has the same effect as if done within the time limited by sections 4 and 5. R.S.P.E.I. 1974, Cap. I- 7, s.6; 2025,c.11,s.16(7). 7. Registration not to validate expired claim The registration of a notice as provided in sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 does not in any way validate a claim that has otherwise expired. R.S.P.E.I. 1974, Cap. I-7, s.7. Page 6 Current to: May 16, 2025 t c Investigation Of Titles Act Section 8 8. Fees The registrar is entitled to a fee of $3 for registering the notice referred to in sections 3, 4, 5 and 6. R.S.P.E.I. 1974, Cap. I-7, s.8. 9. Act to prevail over other provisions The provisions of this Act may have effect notwithstanding any statute or any rule made under the authority of a statute or any rule of law, and, where there is any conflict between the provisions of this Act and any statute, rule or rule of law, the provisions of this Act prevail. R.S.P.E.I. 1974, Cap. I-7, s.9; 2025,c.11,s.16(8). c t Current to: May 16, 2025 Page 7 Investigation Of Titles Act SCHEDULE SCHEDULE FORM 1* NOTICE OF CLAIM TO BE REGISTERED UNDER THE INVESTIGATION OF TITLES ACT WHEREAS, by an instrument dated on the _________ day of __________________ 20_____, _______________________________________ did ______________ the lands and premises therein described to ___________________________________________ heirs and assigns for securing the payment of ______________________________ and there is now owing upon the said ___________________ the sum of ______________________ particulars of which are as follows: DESCRIPTION OR PARCEL NUMBER OF LANDS AFFECTED: IN WITNESS WHEREOF the said ____________________________________________ has hereunto set his hand and seal the __________ day of ____________________ 20_______. SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED in the presence of __________________________ __________________________ *{Note: Form 1 is prescribed by section 3} c t Current to: May 16, 2025 Page 9 SCHEDULE Investigation Of Titles Act FORM 2* AFFIDAVIT VERIFYING CLAIM I _____________________________________ of the ___________ of _______________ in the County of _________________________________ the claimant (or agent of the claimant) in the foregoing notice make oath and say: (1) The foregoing (or annexed) notice truly sets forth the terms or substance of the agreement entered into between _____________________________________ and ______________________________________ and sets forth the amount now owing by the said ____________________________ to the said ________________________________ who now resides at ________________________________________________________________. SWORN AT __________________________________________________________________ ) in _______________________________ County in the said ) Province of Prince Edward Island ) this _________ day of _________________________ ) ______________________________ 20_________ before me ) ___________________________________________ ) ______________________________ A Commissioner in ___________________________________________________________ ) County for taking affidavits in the ) Supreme Court. ) On the ________ day of _____________________ 20_____, personally appeared before me _______________________ of ______________________ in ____________________ County and being duly sworn and testified that he is a subscribing witness to the within Notice of Claim or writing and that he was present and did see the same duly executed by the claimant therein named. _____________________________ Commissioner *{Note: Form 2 is prescribed by section 3} Page 10 Current to: May 16, 2025 t c