Selling Commercial Property with a Title, Encroachment or Access Issue in Alberta

1. Define the issue without overstating the conclusion

Identify the affected title, parcel, improvement, route, registration and current operation. Separate a suspected issue, professional finding, registered right, disputed claim and unresolved absence of evidence.

Do not advertise clear title, legal access, no encroachments, fully compliant or insurable unless the authorized current evidence supports the precise statement. Missing evidence should remain missing—not be converted into a positive assumption.

• Affected parcel
• Source and date
• Physical feature
• Registered instrument
• Operational effect
• Professional owner

2. Assemble the current title and plan record

Obtain certified titles, registered documents, survey plans, historical materials where counsel requires them and a pending-registration review where relevant. A title preview is not a certified title and omits registered interests.

Reconcile legal descriptions and plans to the marketed property. If parking, loading, access, utilities or improvements depend on another parcel, identify the dependency and supporting instrument explicitly.

3. Establish the physical and operating facts

Document buildings, additions, fences, yards, signs, loading, parking, drive aisles, utilities and neighbouring occupation. Have the Alberta Land Surveyor, engineer, planner or other qualified professional define the necessary current field or technical work.

Record how the issue affects present operations and likely buyer use. Existing operation does not prove legal access, boundary location, permit status or suitability for a different use.

4. Compare resolution paths before launch

With counsel and other professionals, evaluate whether the issue may require a discharge, correction, postponement, easement, licence, boundary agreement, survey, municipal approval, physical alteration, policy request, price treatment or disclosure-only sale strategy.

Do not promise cure, timing, cost, third-party consent, registration acceptance, insurance coverage or lender approval. Each scenario should retain dependencies, owner, target date and fallback path.

5. Design disclosure and data-room controls

Provide buyers with the current source record, professional reports authorized for release, correction log and a clear description of open work. Stage sensitive documents appropriately but do not hide a material issue behind confidentiality or an as-is label.

RECA rules and advertising guidance apply to licensed activity and representations. Counsel should advise on seller disclosure, privilege, contractual language and responses to buyer questions.

6. Price and market the real risk state

Separate the property's supported physical and income attributes from the issue, resolution cost, timing, financing effect, use constraint and buyer-pool impact. An asking price, tax assessment or policy quotation is not proof of unaffected market value.

Choose a public, targeted or confidential process that gives qualified buyers enough evidence and time. Do not use urgency to suppress a title-dependent diligence question that will reappear with counsel or the lender.

7. Structure offers for executable resolution

Compare price with title objections, cure obligations, diligence, lender and insurance conditions, extensions, holdbacks, indemnities, representations, closing and post-closing work. Have counsel control legal commitments and notices.

A buyer's willingness to proceed does not prove that the issue is cured or acceptable to another lender or future purchaser. Record the exact evidence and allocation accepted in the executed agreement.

8. Preserve closing and post-closing proof

Track corrective registrations, final title, agreements, survey evidence, issued policy if used, lender approvals, undertakings, holdbacks, access handover and remaining obligations. Payment or document submission alone is not proof of registered resolution.

Commercially can organize the property evidence, design licensed marketing, qualify inquiries and compare transaction execution. It does not give legal advice, certify boundaries or access, sell insurance, guarantee coverage or promise a clean-title closing.