Electronic Registration, Personal Security Package

ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION

Both the Rules and the Practice Guidelines for Electronic Registration of Title
Documents (Electronic Registration Practice Guidelines) contain requirements or
suggested procedures to be followed by lawyers in the electronic registration of title
documents.

PERSONAL SECURITY PACKAGE (PSP)

A PSP is the personalized specially encrypted diskette or key and the corresponding
pass phrase used to access the e-reg™ system. The Rules impose obligations on
lawyers to safeguard their PSPs and to ensure that non-lawyers employed by them also
safeguard their PSPs.


A lawyer who has a personalized specially encrypted diskette to access the e-reg™
system, must not permit others, including a non-lawyer employee, to use the lawyer’s
diskette and must not disclose his or her personalized e-reg™ pass phrase to others.

In addition the lawyer must ensure that any non-lawyer employed by the lawyer who has
a personalized specially encrypted diskette to access the e-reg™ system does not
permit others to use the diskette and does not disclose his or her e-reg™ pass phrase to
others.

AUTHORIZATION TO REGISTER

Guideline 3 of the Electronic Registration Practice Guidelines deals with
the Acknowledgment and Direction.

In the e-reg™ system documents are signed and registered electronically by lawyers
and their assistants. Prior to registering electronic documents, lawyers should obtain
and retain in their files the client’s written authorization to register.

The Acknowledgment and Direction is a form generated by the e-reg™ system
that contains:

• the client’s acknowledgement that the information in the document to be registered is accurate and that the client understands the contents of the document;
• the client’s authorization to the lawyer to electronically register the document
  and if required to enter into a Document Registration Agreement (DRA); 
• the client’s confirmation of his or her identity.

A lawyer may use either the form of Acknowledgment and Direction generated by the
e-reg™ system or the lawyer may prepare his or her own form of acknowledgement
and direction containing the pertinent information.

Amendments should be made to the standard form to meet the circumstances of the
individual transaction. If a lawyer drafts his or her own form of Acknowledgment and
Direction, it is recommended that the document registration report generated by the
e-reg™ system be attached to the form.

Lawyers should meet with their clients and review with them the Acknowledgment and
Direction and any other written client instructions before the electronic document is
released for registration. If it is not possible for the lawyer to meet with the client, the
lawyer should arrange for this document to be signed with the safeguards appropriate
for the execution of any original document. Signed copies of the Acknowledgment and
Direction should be retained in the lawyer’s file as the written verification of client
instructions and authority for the electronic registration of the document.

In certain circumstances it may be appropriate for a lawyer to rely on documents other
than the Acknowledgment and Direction to confirm client instructions. For example,
during the transition period in which electronic registration is being introduced,
documents prepared in Polaris format and signed by clients can serve as instructions
to register if lawyers fully explain this to their clients.

Please note that the Electronic Land Registration Agreement that account holders are
required to enter into with the Ontario government for authorization to submit documents
for registration in the electronic land registration system provides that prior to submitting
certain documents (transfers, charges, discharges and powers of attorney) for electronic
registration, the account holder must ensure that users under the account have obtained
evidence of proper authorization from the owner of the land or holder of an interest in the land that has directed the registration. In addition they must be in a position to
provide evidence of that person’s explicit consent to release their authorization for
registration to the Director of Land Registration upon request by the Director in the event
of an investigation regarding suspected fraudulent or unlawful activity or registration.