Standard 9: Ensuring Sound Transactions
The land trust works diligently to see that every land and conservation agreement transaction is legally, ethically and technically sound.
Background
A land trust usually intends to protect the property it conserves in perpetuity. To help secure the perpetual conservation of land, its transactions must hold up over time and withstand challenges. Sound transactions rely on the land trust performing “due diligence” in its transaction steps. Land trust representatives need not be lawyers, but they must have good legal advice, and they should familiarize themselves with basic principles of real estate and tax law. The land trust should draw a landowner’s attention to issues that must be addressed as the transaction proceeds. However, a land trust should not represent itself as giving specific legal or financial advice; a landowner’s own advisors should do that. A land trust may have to call on other financial and technical experts in order to complete the transaction. Carefully documenting the steps a land trust takes in performing its due diligence can help secure the perpetual conservation of the property.
Relevant Law
- Property Law Act, RSBC 1996, c. 377, s. 35.
- Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c. 250, s. 218-223.
- Canada Revenue Agency policy interpretation of Income Tax Act, SC 1985, c. I; see:
- Environmental Management Act, SBC 2003, c. 53, s. 40
- Contaminated Sites Regulation, BC Reg. 375/96, as am., s. 3.
- Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c. 250, Parts 10 and 10.1
- Canada Revenue Agency policy interpretation of Income Tax Act, SC 1985, c. I;
see Income Tax Technical News No. 26 at:
- Taxation (Rural Area) Act, RSBC 1996, c. 447.
- School Act, RSBC 1996, c. 412.
- Police Act, RSBC 1996, c. 367.
- Property Transfer Tax Act, RSBC 1996, c. 378.
- Social Service Tax Act, RSBC 1996, c. 431.
PRACTICE
O. Protected Lands Catalogue
All fee simple acquisitions and conservation covenants need to be recorded on the Land Trust Alliance of BC and the BC Conservation Partners “Conservation Database” and “Protected Lands Catalogue” annually. Contact the LTABC to connect with the current data custodian.
Background
This practice applies to land trusts within British Columbia only.
The BC Lands in Trust Registry was originally initiated to track conservation covenants in British Columbia. Since then, the Land Trust Alliance of BC determined that a full inventory of conservation lands should also include sites also owned by land trusts as fee simple lands. The BC Lands in Trust Registry, with its database inventory program (The Protected Lands Catalogue), offers a central location for this inventory offering detailed information about protected areas on private lands, their ecosystems, habitats, species, cultural or aesthetic features and their land uses. Given recent changes to privacy legislation, land trusts should take care to remove all personal information that is submitted to the BC Lands in Trust Registry.
Assessment Questions
BC Assessment Questions
- Does the land trust submit information on their fee simple and covenanted properties to the Conservation Lands Database on an annual basis?
- Does the land trust ensure that no personal information (including tax or financial information) is provided to the Conservation Lands Database or other online agency?
