Maintenance work on the electrical system of the building hosting the online land register caused a breakdown of this essential service to the real estate industry. In the office of the minister responsible Jonatan Julien, we assure that the teams are at work to restore service as soon as possible.
Updated yesterday at 6:38 p.m.
“The outage was not caused by any malicious intrusion,” assures Geneviève Tremblay, the minister’s press attaché. There was an equipment failure in the electrical system following building maintenance this weekend. The system is out of service until replacement parts arrive and the system is then returned to service. The parts have arrived. »
It was planned that the land register would be inaccessible from Friday, March 4, 7 p.m. to Sunday, March 6, at noon. However, it has not been able to be reinstated since.
It is a priority for the ministry to relaunch it as soon as possible, because it is a system that is used at high volume.
Geneviève Tremblay, press secretary to Minister Jonathan Julien
The land register is used in particular by notaries to publish deeds of sale and mortgage deeds affecting all immovables in Quebec. These documents are consulted daily by financial lenders, real estate and mortgage brokers, real estate data companies and the public.
“The breakdown is a concern for notaries, but also for the public who will see, among other things, delays in their real estate transaction process,” said Johanne Dufour, director, clientele and communications, at the Chambre des notaires in an email. of Quebec.
“As with any computer problem, we were hoping for a quick return to normal, but given the situation which continues on Tuesday, we also communicated on our website to explain the possible consequences to those affected. »
The breakdown could also lead to additional costs for the clients of the notaries.
“As for notaries, continues Mr.me Dufour, they must effectively explain these facts to their clients in addition to warning of possible delays or costs to be foreseen when the register is returned to service, because in some cases, it will be necessary to resume the work and the verifications of the last days. »
The Land Registry team communicates daily with the Chamber of Notaries, which then relays the information to its members.
The outage is also causing headaches for real estate and mortgage brokers.
Since the blackout, no real estate transaction can be published, nor any loan.
Marc Charbonneau, real estate broker
at Re/Max, in Brossard
Brokers use the register, in particular when obtaining a new mandate, to ensure that the client is indeed the owner of the building he wishes to dispose of.
“For our part, we have to manage the expectations of clients who see their real estate transaction delayed,” explains John Fucale, senior vice-president of broker relations at Multi-Prêts, the leader in mortgage brokerage in Quebec. “No notary can make a disbursement before being able to publish the transaction in the register. »