To read more about the difference between Interim Occupancy and Final Closing, please read a previous article written by our firm here.
An Interim Occupancy Closing Notification is provided either to the purchaser's lawyer or to the clients directly advising them of the interim occupancy closing date.
Oftentimes, I have clients inquiring about preparing for Interim Occupancy in advance. Unfortunately, as the Purchaser's lawyer, we rely on the Builder's lawyer to provide us with the interim numbers and documents. These do not get provided to us until at least 5 to 7 days prior to the interim occupancy closing date. This means that a file is typically prepared on a rush-basis.
So, what can you do to be prepared in advance as much as possible?
The first thing to do is to ensure that your lawyer is kept up to date with all correspondences/notices from the sales office. It is critical for you to forward these to your lawyer so that they can keep your file up to date as well.
Clients should also note that the Pre-Delivery Inspection of a unit can be up to the morning of the occupancy itself. At this time, the builder or sales representative will provide you with a Tarion Certificate of Possession and Warranty. This is a key document to retain for your records as it has the Tarion Enrolment Number to register with Tarion MyHome. You will also need to provide a copy to your lawyer for their records.
There are also a few required items that you can presume the Builder's lawyer will ask for such as:
- Home Insurance Policy showing a tenant's coverage of $2 million liability – what you can do here is get in contact with insurance providers in advance to shop around for the best insurance coverage. While the builder may have specific instructions on how to prepare this insurance, you can still get ahead and contact insurance providers in advance to shop for the best insurance coverage;
- Outstanding Deposits - If there are any deposits due at occupancy, you should have the funds ready to go in your account especially if you are pulling money from various accounts. Once your lawyer has a copy of the Interim Statement of Adjustments (also known as interim numbers), they will provide you with the same.
- Post-Dated Cheques – these are required for your occupancy fees. While we are seeing builders have occupancy fees being paid through pre-authorized payments, there are still a number of builders that require 6 to 12 post-dated cheques bed delivered on occupancy. Therefore, I recommend that you order cheques in advance as they can take up to 10 business days depending on your bank; and
- Documents to Sign – Once available, your lawyer will provide you with information on signing these documents.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.