Teranet Inc Charge Explained: Statement, Amounts, and Refunds

A charge from Teranet Inc. on your credit card is a fee for an electronic land registry, title search, property data, or personal property search service in Ontario or Manitoba. Teranet runs the digital systems that lawyers, mortgage brokers, appraisers, lenders, and real estate agents use to look up property titles, register documents, and check for liens. If the charge is on your personal card, it usually traces back to one of four things: you or someone in your household ran a property search, a lawyer put closing disbursements on a card you provided, an annual subscription renewed, or the charge is unauthorized.

How the Charge Appears on Your Statement

Transactions processed through Teranet eXpress show up on credit card statements as “TERANET EXPRESS TORONTO ON.”1Teranet Help Centre. How Does the Transaction Display on My Credit Card Statement Charges from Teraview, PurView, or GeoWarehouse may read slightly differently depending on the platform, but the merchant name will reference Teranet.

Why the Charge Is on Your Card

Teranet’s services are used overwhelmingly by professionals, so an unfamiliar charge on a personal card is worth checking. A few common explanations:

  • Someone in your household ran a one-off property search through Teranet eXpress, which accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Interac Online.2Teranet. Why Should You Opt for Teranet eXpress
  • You recently bought or sold property, and your lawyer charged disbursements to a card you provided. Every Ontario real estate closing involves title searches, writ searches, and document registrations that run through Teranet’s system, and those fees are billed to the client as disbursements.3Sorbara Law. Demystifying Disbursements in Residential Real Estate Transactions
  • You signed up for a PurView or GeoWarehouse account and an annual subscription renewed. PurView’s terms state that subscription fees are invoiced in advance and can be charged to the credit card on file.4PurView. Terms of Use
  • The charge is genuinely unauthorized, in which case you’ll want to dispute it with your card issuer.

Which Teranet Product Likely Generated the Charge

Matching the amount and the descriptor to the right product helps pin down who ran the transaction.

  • Teraview is the software Ontario lawyers use for electronic title searches and document registrations. If you closed on a property recently, this is the likely source of any pass-through fees.
  • Teranet eXpress is the lighter, web-based tool for one-off property searches, document viewing, and writ searches. It does not require a full software license and takes standard cards.2Teranet. Why Should You Opt for Teranet eXpress
  • PurView is used by mortgage brokers and financial professionals for property reports and title data. A standard tier runs $500 per year for 50 reports plus per-transaction fees.5PurView. A New PurView Annual Subscription Is Now Available
  • GeoWarehouse is a property intelligence platform for real estate agents, appraisers, and lenders. Subscription plans run from $1,500 to over $9,500 per year. Many Ontario agents get access through their local Real Estate Board membership.6GeoWarehouse. Subscribe7GeoWarehouse. FAQs for GeoWarehouse
  • Teranet Manitoba provides online access to Manitoba’s land titles and personal property registry, with payments by Visa or MasterCard.8Teranet Manitoba. Online Service and Payment Options

Typical Amounts You Might See

Individual search and registration fees in Ontario are small per transaction, but they add up when several run at once (a typical closing involves multiple searches plus the transfer and any new mortgage). Current amounts on the Ontario fee schedule include:9Teraview. Teraview Pricing

  • Parcel register (title search, first page): $36.50
  • Each additional page of a parcel register: $2.56
  • Document viewing: $3.39 per document
  • Writ search at a key enforcement office: $13.10 per name
  • Writ search at a non-key enforcement office: $17.17 per name
  • Plan viewing or copying: $16.30 per plan
  • Instrument registration: $85.00
  • Retrieve map: $5.65 per display

If the charge is a larger, round-ish number in the hundreds or thousands of dollars, a subscription renewal is more likely than a single search. If it’s under fifty dollars, it’s almost certainly a one-off search or a disbursement.

Refunds and Disputes

Teranet’s general policy is that once a search or submission is processed, there are no refunds, exchanges, or cancellations. PurView allows a narrow exception when a transaction fails because of a system fault on Teranet’s side, but the issue must be reported within 30 calendar days.4PurView. Terms of Use Teranet eXpress states the no-refund rule without any listed exception.10Teraview. Teranet eXpress Pricing

If the charge is unauthorized, cardholders in the United States can dispute it under the Fair Credit Billing Act by sending a written dispute to the card issuer within 60 days of the statement date. The issuer must acknowledge the dispute within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days.11Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges Canadian cardholders have comparable recourse through their financial institution; PurView’s terms direct users to their bank or to payments.ca for unauthorized charge complaints.4PurView. Terms of Use

Who to Contact at Teranet

For subscription and billing questions, Teranet maintains a help centre with payment and billing support at teranet.zendesk.com, including instructions for changing the credit card on file.12Teranet Help Centre. How Can I Change the Credit Card on File GeoWarehouse customer support can be reached at 416-360-7542 or 1-866-237-5937, and subscription inquiries go to geowarehouse.subscription@teranet.ca.7GeoWarehouse. FAQs for GeoWarehouse If a lawyer’s office handled a recent property transaction for you, start there: the charge is likely already itemized on the disbursements section of the statement of account they sent you.