2009 Toronto Star Columns

Last week’s column told the story of the illegal chimney on a north Toronto
bungalow owned by Ruta Benjamin and her husband.

Ruta Benjamin and her husband were sitting in their house, minding their
own business, when they suddenly found themselves in violation of regulations
of the Technical Standards and Safety Authority without doing anything wrong.

With less than a month to go, the Ontario court system is in for one of its
biggest shake-ups in recent memory.

Whatever money Pauline Rudling saved by using a will kit instead of a lawyer to prepare her last will and testament was spent hundreds of times over on legal fees so that a judge could figure out what she meant. Shortly before she died in January 2003, Pauline Rudling...

The home inspection industry in Canada may never be the same again following the decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court last week in the case of Salgado v. Toth*. Back in September 2006, Manuel Salgado and Nora Calcaneo signed an agreement to buy a house in...

There's a common misconception that the best way to avoid Ontario's 1.5 per cent probate fees on the value of an estate is to place the family home and other assets into joint ownership with a child or children, so that the property will automatically transfer to the...

As many as 244 purchasers received a nasty surprise at the end of
September when they got hit with thousands of dollars in “fictitious” charges on
final closing of their new condominium units.

Can a buyer refuse to close the purchase of a new home if there are
deficiencies in construction, forgotten or incomplete items, or unauthorized
changes to the design, layout or materials?

The Great SPIS Myth

With the proclamation of the Green Energy Act, 2009, Ontario has
moved one step closer to requiring mandatory energy audits on the sale of
residential properties.

Just how much privacy can a person expect in the comfort of
his or her own home, free from any government intrusion? That was the
question considered in August by a three-judge panel of the Alberta
Court of Appeal. The case involved the home of Daniel James Gomboc in
southwest Calgary.

Terry is a 23-year-old public servant, having recently graduated with a
bachelor of commerce degree.

One of the most controversial issues facing the real estate community is
the use of the Seller Property Information Statement (SPIS), which is often
provided by sellers to buyers to disclose various issues about a house being
offered for sale.

Power of entry is subject to a number of conditions and permit fees are costly A Star reader recently emailed me to say he was thinking of purchasing a property which is under construction but the seller told him that the neighbour is refusing access to his driveway...

The vast majority of residential real estate transactions close as scheduled, without problems or disputes. The chances of any given real estate deal resulting in litigation involving the buyers, sellers and real estate agents increase dramatically when the agents...

In the course of my real estate law practice in Toronto, I often review
condominium status certificates for purchasers. Usually this is a fairly routine
function, where the lawyer looks for arrears in common expense payments,
underfunded reserve funds, litigation by or against the condominium corporation,
special assessments and similar items which could impact on the purchaser or her
bank account.

I was reviewing an offer to purchase a Toronto house last week and
was surprised to see a condition that I had never seen before in an offer on a
city home.

Back in the spring of 2004, Timothy and Cherese Scherbak signed a listing agreement to sell their property on Boland Ave. in Sudbury, using the services of Wendy Weddell and Re/Max Sudbury Inc. The Sellers Property Information Statement (SPIS), which they signed at...

A decision released by the Supreme Court of Canada last month raises the interesting question of how much privacy an individual may expect with respect to personal photographs taken inside his or her own home. The story began in June 2001. Agnieska Wojtanowska (Agnes)...