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Updated about 2 months ago, 10/22/2024
Which professional to contact for transfer of property
Hello everyone,
My Canadian company owns a residential property in California and I want to sell it to my own personal name as I am closing my company.
I don't know which professional to consult to help me do the transfer besides my CPA.
Can I do the transfer of the deed myself (going to the County Recorder’s Office) and just check with my CPA for taxes due?
As it's me to me, I wouldn't need title search and title insurance and such. I own 100% of my corporation. I don't think there is going to be capital gain.
Or should I go through an Escrow company or a Title company anyways or another professional for some reason?
Thank you so much for your help!
How is your Canadian company set up? Is it a S-Corp, C-Corp, LLC?
It would be the equivalent of a C-Corp in the US.
The answer may be a bit more involved than you're aware, depending on if your language of the company "selling" to you is correct, or whether the company is dissolving and distributing its assets to the shareholder. Either way, there could be taxes to pay and you'll want to run that by your CPA for sure. As to the actual transfer document itself/deed transferring ownership, that would likely be an attorney's task. If your corporate attorney is not able to handle it, you may wish to find a corporate attorney in CA to work alongside your corporation's attorney, unless the CA attorney is also familiar with Canadian laws. If you feel comfortable drafting the deed yourself and going to the County Recorder to record, you may be able to do it that way, but be wary of unnecessarily screwing up the chain of title or marking something incorrectly, as often happens with DIY projects in the legal world.
*This post does not create an attorney-client or CPA-client relationship. The information contained in this post is not to be relied upon. Readers are advised to seek professional advice.
Assuming your corp received a title policy when it acquired the property, you could go back to the attorney or title agent that handled that closing and ask them 1. can they prepare the deed; 2. can they issue an endorsement to the policy changing the name of the insured to you as the Grantee.
Quote from @Peter Walther:
Assuming your corp received a title policy when it acquired the property, you could go back to the attorney or title agent that handled that closing and ask them 1. can they prepare the deed; 2. can they issue an endorsement to the policy changing the name of the insured to you as the Grantee.
Thank you so much. That is very helpful. I didn't think about the policy change. I'll contact the title agent!
Quote from @Katie Balatbat:
The answer may be a bit more involved than you're aware, depending on if your language of the company "selling" to you is correct, or whether the company is dissolving and distributing its assets to the shareholder. Either way, there could be taxes to pay and you'll want to run that by your CPA for sure. As to the actual transfer document itself/deed transferring ownership, that would likely be an attorney's task. If your corporate attorney is not able to handle it, you may wish to find a corporate attorney in CA to work alongside your corporation's attorney, unless the CA attorney is also familiar with Canadian laws. If you feel comfortable drafting the deed yourself and going to the County Recorder to record, you may be able to do it that way, but be wary of unnecessarily screwing up the chain of title or marking something incorrectly, as often happens with DIY projects in the legal world.
*This post does not create an attorney-client or CPA-client relationship. The information contained in this post is not to be relied upon. Readers are advised to seek professional advice.
Thank you for the answer. I'll look with the title agent.
Quote from @Emilie Pa:
Quote from @Peter Walther:
Assuming your corp received a title policy when it acquired the property, you could go back to the attorney or title agent that handled that closing and ask them 1. can they prepare the deed; 2. can they issue an endorsement to the policy changing the name of the insured to you as the Grantee.
Thank you so much. That is very helpful. I didn't think about the policy change. I'll contact the title agent!
You're welcome.