The search a title check doesn't cover

A title search checks the parcel register for what is registered against THIS property. It does not, on its own, check what is registered against a PERSON's name — and in Ontario, a writ of execution binds any land the debtor owns in the county where it is filed, whether or not that specific property was ever named on it.

The new lender's solicitor held funding until the writ was satisfied and a certificate of discharge was on file — not because the switch itself was in any doubt, but because a writ like this can attach the moment a new charge registers.

Satisfying the writ was the only step standing between this file and a completely ordinary switch.

33.0% is comfortably inside the range a typical Canadian renewal file needs to clear — the ratios were never the issue here. The switch itself was straightforward; only the writ needed clearing.

A mortgage agent licensed under Ontario's Mortgage Brokerages, Lenders and Administrators Act flagged the issue to the new lender's solicitor as soon as the execution search came back, rather than letting it surface at the last minute.

First, confirmed exactly what the writ covered. Contacted the court enforcement office directly to get the judgment's current payout figure, including accrued costs — the $3,800 total, not the smaller original judgment amount from a decade earlier.

Second, paid it out directly, not through the mortgage. The $3,800 came from the borrowers' own funds, keeping the mortgage balance and amortization completely unchanged — important, since increasing either would have changed how the file needed to be qualified.

Third, obtained the certificate of satisfaction and had it registered before closing. A payout alone does not clear a writ; the satisfaction has to be filed with the enforcement office and reflected before a solicitor will register a new charge with confidence.

The switch closed at 4.65% with the writ fully satisfied and discharged, at 33.0% total debt service on an unchanged loan amount and amortization.

Because this file is uninsured, the 33.0% TDS figure is informational, not a CMHC ceiling — the loan amount and amortization never changed, so this stayed a straightforward lender switch throughout. The writ was a title-clearing problem, not a qualifying problem.

• 01A clean title search does not mean a clean file. A writ of execution binds by name, not by property — a parcel search alone will never show it.
• 02Get the CURRENT payout figure, not the original judgment amount. Costs and interest accrue for as long as a writ sits unsatisfied, sometimes for years.
• 03Paying out a writ from the borrower's own funds keeps the mortgage itself unchanged. That matters because increasing the loan amount or amortization changes how a switch needs to be qualified.
• 04A payout alone doesn't clear a writ — the discharge has to be registered. Confirm with the solicitor that the satisfaction is actually on file before treating the file as clear.