Q.  What is the Judgment Registry? 
 
A.  The Judgment Registry is a database of active federal and provincial judgments, provincial maintenance judgments and federal writs of execution that are registered against goods and lands in Saskatchewan. It was established under Section 18(1) of The Enforcement of Money Judgments Act. 

The Judgment Registry replaces the Saskatchewan Writ Registry, which in turn replaced the general records of the former Saskatchewan Land Titles offices. Under The Land Titles Act, 2000, all judgments must be registered in the Judgment Registry to affect goods and lands in the province.  
 
Q.  When did the Judgment Registry come into effect? 
 
A.  The Judgment Registry came into effect on May 28, 2012. 

Q.  How is a judgment registered in the registry?
  
A.  The Saskatchewan Personal Property Registry (SPPR) serves as the point of registration for the Judgment Registry. A judgment must be registered in the SPPR in order to appear in the Judgment Registry, and/or be applied as an interest in the Land Titles Registry.

Q.  Who can register a judgment?

A.  A sheriff, a creditor or a creditor's designate can register a judgment.

Q.  What happens when a judgment is registered in the registry?

A.  A judgment will not have any effect on any titles or interests owned by a debtor until it is registered against those titles or interests.

Q.  How is a judgment registered against titles or interests?

A.  There are two ways for a judgment to register.

The first option is automatic attachment, or auto attach. Auto attach happens when a new title or interest is registered in the land registry, and the name of its owner is the same as the name of a debtor listed in the registry.

For auto attach to occur, the name that appears on the judgment must be a character-for-character match to the first two given names and the surname (or the corporation name) of a debtor in the registry. This means that differences in spacing and punctuation, such as the use of a hypen, will affect whether there is a match.

The second option is a requested attachment. The sheriff, creditor or creditor's designate can search the land registry to determine what titles or interests a debtor holds, and then make a request to have the judgment attach to any or all of those titles or interests. To make a request, they must complete and submit an Application for Judgment Registraion. The application form is available on the Judgment Registry Forms Bundle page.

There is no name-matching requirement for a requested attachment.

Q.  How do I amend a registration?

A.  To amend a registration in the SPPR, you need to fill out and submit a Financing Change Statement - Amendment. This form allows you to update, add or delete information relating to your judgment.

To remove a specific interest in the Land Registry without discharging the entire judgment, you need to submit an Interest Discharge Form.

Q.  How is a judgment discharged from the registry?

A.  When the judgment is satisfied, a discharge must be submitted to the SPPR. Once the discharge is registered in the SPPR, the judgment will be removed from the Judgment Registry and any titles or interests it has been associated with.

If the creditor does not discharge the satisfied judgment, the debtor or another person who has a legal interest in the property can secure a compulsory discharge. They can do so by serving a written demand on the creditor to have the judgment removed from both the Judgment Registry and the Land Titles Registry.

Q.  Who can register a discharge?

A.  A sheriff, creditor or creditor's designate can register a discharge.

Q.  How can I make sure that no one else can discharge my registration?

A.  ISC recommends that you request a registration identification number (RIN) when you first register your judgment in the SPPR. If a RIN has been issued, the registration can only be discharged by:

• the RIN holder; or
• someone who has submitted a RIN request, and who can prove they have the RIN holder's permission to make the request.

Q.  What happens when a judgment is discharged?

A.  The judgment is removed from the SPPR, the Judgment Registry and the Land Titles Registry. It will no longer:

• appear in the registries;
• attach to titles or interests automatically;
• be eligible to attach to titles or interests by request; or
• affect any titles or interests against which it has previously been registered.

Q.  What should I do if a judgment has been registered against my title(s) or interest(s), but I am not the debtor named in the judgment?

A.  You should submit an Application for Interest Discharge, as well as an Affidavit of Identity for Summary Discharge. Both these forms are available on the Judgment Registry Forms Related to Land Titles page.
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If the judgment auto attached when the titles or interests were held by a previous owner, and the previous owner was not the debtor named in the judgment, they should be the one to complete the affidavit.

Q.  How do I search the Judgment Registry?

A.  You can access the Judgment Registry by signing in to the ISC website. The registry is available 24/7.

Click here for tips on how to search the Judgment Registry.

Q.  How much does it cost to search the Judgment Registry?

A.  The fee is a per registration cost. See the ISC Fee Schedule.

Q.  In what situations is the Land Titles Registry liable for errors?

A.  Section 84 of The Land Titles Act, 2000 states that the registry is liable in situations where the registrar:

• makes a registration that is not authorized by the act;
• fails to make a registration that is required under the act; or
• makes any other errors or omissions in the performance of their duties and functions under the act.

This means that, if you search the Judgment Registry using the proper search parameters, and the results are incomplete or inaccurate, you will be able to claim compensation for any losses related to your reliance on that search.

You will also be compensated for any losses you suffer if the registration of your judgment does not comply with the instructions you provide, or if your judgment does not attach to a title or interest when it should.

Under Section 85 of the act, the land registry is not liable for any losses that are due to:

• the registrar's failure to register an interest based on a judgment against a title or interest held by a debtor whose name is in any way different from the way it is listed on the judgment;
• an error in the registration of a judgment in the Judgment Registry after the coming into force of The Enforcement of Money Judgments Act; or
• the registration of an interest based on a judgment against a title or interest held by a person who is not the debtor named in the judgment.