Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca December 28, 2000 Don’t take your home insurance for granted Make sure you have coverage you need Nicole and Tom were excited about moving into their home, and they weren’t the only ones delighted with the deal. It was the mid-1990s and the market was soft. The vendors, Lois and Clark, had […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca December 14, 2000 Homeowners not liable for sidewalk mishaps Court rules legal responsibility rests with city despite snow-clearing bylaws STARFILE PHOTODIGGING OUT: Property owners can be fined for not clearing sidewalk but can’t be sued in case of accidents, courts have ruled.”On a typical winter morning almost anywhere in Canada, the silence […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca December 7, 2000 Time real estate industry started e-mailing offersIt happened again this week. A fax arrived from a local real estate office advising me that a client had bought a property. A copy of the offer accompanied the fax cover sheet. The next three pages looked like someone had randomly sprinkled […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca November 30, 2000 There’s no turning back on plan to automate land registryOntario’s plan to automate its land registration system is more than 10 years behind schedule, and its projected cost of completion could exceed $1 billion, says a highly critical report by provincial auditor Erik Peters. In his Special Report on […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca November 23, 2000 Not all title insurers are alike First Canadian Title tried to get law changedLast week’s column was an introduction to title insurance, a relatively new way to protect home buyers against unpredictable and often undetectable issues that could affect the ownership or marketability of their property. Some of these […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca November 18, 2000 Why you should get title insurance Not long ago, an Ontario lawyer acted on a home purchase under a power of sale. The first mortgage had gone into arrears and the mortgagee had sold the house. Title showed that there was a lien for a furnace registered in […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca November 10, 2000 Make sure your lawyer’s on the e-train Land transfers process going electronic in Peel as part of Ontario-wide automationProperty conveyancing in Mississauga and Brampton has moved from the 18th century to the 21st century with the introduction of electronic property registration across Peel Region. Joining Middlesex (London), Wentworth and […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca November 5, 2000 Province draws line on sloppy documentation New standards set that could delay property registration Users of Ontario’s land registry offices got a double whammy this week with twin announcements that are certain to shake up the stakeholders in the system – lawyers, vendors and purchasers, and freelance conveyancers and […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca October 22, 2000 Spectre of tainted houses raised Next week is Halloween and wee ghosts and goblins everywhere will be pretending that their home, or their friend’s, is haunted. For most of us, it’s just fun and make-believe. But for others it can be a real nightmare. As of last weekend, […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca October 14, 2000 Love is blind – that’s why there’s legal advice Parents who guarantee their child’s mortgage need to take heed. Nicole and Tom are a young couple in the process of buying their first home. Because they couldn’t quite qualify for a mortgage based on their combined incomes, they needed […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca October 20, 2000 Co-owning a house? Get a written agreement Court cases highlight the importance of working out all the little details first Several years ago I represented for five charming ladies from the Philippines who lived and worked in Toronto as care-givers. They decided that they could save money if they […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca October 7, 2000 Inspectors don’t cover environmental hazards Back in 1994, Natalie bought her first house in what was then the City of York. Relying on my advice, she retained a reputable home inspection firm to give the house a thorough going-over before finalizing the deal. About a month ago, while getting […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca September 30, 2000 Real estate body insults its members Conference Scheduled for Rosh Hashanah. Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and one of the holiest celebrations on the Jewish calendar. It is also the annual conference of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the parent organization of the Toronto Real […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca September 23, 2000 Paralegal ruling will have far-reaching result Could have chilling effect on non-lawyers involved in real estate services. The Law Society of Upper Canada has been granted a permanent injunction restraining North Bay paralegal Maureen Boldt from practising law. The court order was granted earlier this month by Mr. Justice […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca September 30, 2000 When parents help their kids buy a home With the average home price in the Toronto area hovering around $250,000, it is not easy these days for young, first-time buyers to break into the home market. Often, the only way today’s 20-somethings can arrange to buy a home is […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca September 16, 2000 White paper proposals target real estate fraud ‘Dual agency’ by realtors could be outlawed in new legislation. Suzy is a first-time home buyer. She is on a strict budget and having trouble qualifying for a mortgage on a particular house – her dream home. To "help her out," Suzy’s […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca September 9, 2000 Proposal would protect consumers Movers, renovators would have to stick closer to estimate. When Erin O’Connor planned the move into her new house, she wasn’t expecting the huge hassle she had with her movers. Before the move, her belongings had to be placed in storage temporarily, and she called […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca September 2, 2000 Thinking of buying a time-share? Don’t sign anything at sales presentations. There are reputable dealers but also many reasons to be wary. The Ontario government has proposed a 10-day cooling-off period allowing buyers of time-share properties who have been caught off-guard by high-pressure sales tactics to reconsider their purchases. […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca August 26, 2000 Builders, vendors ignore feng shui at their peril Many buyers take ancient principles seriously when house hunting. Does your home have steeply pitched roof lines? Does it face north? Is there a large pole or tree blocking the front door? Is the home built on a triangular or irregularly […]
Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca August 19, 2000 Vendor mortgage issue draws reactions Readers fear original borrower on hook if buyer takes over loan. A recent column on Brad and Jennifer’s taking over their vendor’s mortgage must have triggered some hot buttons in a number of readers, and it brought a storm of e-mail asking for more […]