THE SELLER WANTED TO SELL. THERE WAS JUST ONE PROBLEM.

Once upon a time, a seller approached a Broker to sell his condo unit.

Before accepting the listing, the Broker did some basic due diligence.

The project had been turned over around 10 years earlier, but the developer was known in the market for significant delays in the issuance of condominium titles.

So the Broker asked the obvious question:

“Does the unit already have a title?”

The seller said no.

According to him, the title was still being processed by the developer. He had also been regularly corresponding with the developer’s title transfer department and was told that the title was nearing release.

In other words, the unit had been turned over years ago, the seller wanted to sell, but the Condominium Certificate of Title (CCT) was still not in his name.

The Broker declined the listing.

Was that the right call?

More importantly, can you legally sell a condo unit even if the CCT hasn’t been issued yet?

Answer in tomorrow’s post.

*****

Circling back to yesterday's post.

Was the Broker right to decline the listing? In my opinion — yes.

Here's the thing: the unit was fully paid, turned over years ago, everything looked "done" from the seller's side. Except the CCT was still stuck somewhere between him and the developer.

I call this stage "Limbo."

So could the seller just sign a Deed of Absolute Sale to a new buyer and move on?

This is where it gets messy.

In a normal resale, the DOAS points to the CCT — title number, seller as registered owner, all of it. Clean paper trail. But here, there's no CCT in the seller's name yet. There's nothing to point to.

Executing a contract is the easy part. Getting a document that can actually be registered — one that eventually results in a clean title in the new buyer's name — is a different problem entirely. And no, you can't just handwrite in a title number and hope regulators accept it later.

What about a Deed of Assignment instead?

Also off the table. Once the seller is fully paid and the developer has already started processing the title in his name, that assignment route isn't available anymore.

Then there's the risk that actually keeps me up at night: double sale.

If the first buyer can't register the sale right away, what's stopping the seller from selling the same unit to someone else? And how would that second buyer — doing their own due diligence, checking title records — ever know an earlier, unregistered sale exists?

Now, could another broker take this listing, structure it differently, and pull it off without a hitch? Sure. Maybe I'm just being paranoid and everything works out fine.

I'm not saying the deal is impossible.

I'm saying that when the CCT is caught somewhere between the developer and the seller, you inherit risks that are completely outside your control. And those aren't risks I'm willing to take on — or hand off to my buyer.

Welcome to Limbo.