2018 Toronto Star Property Law Columns

It never fails to amaze me how the real estate community stubbornly sticks to the old imperial measurements in a country which supposedly converted to the metric system back in the 1970s.

What happens to the buyers’ deposit when they renege on the purchase agreement for a house and the owners resell for a higher price?

What happens when there is a significant discrepancy between the way a home is described on an MLS listing, and the details in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale?

Real estate lawyers get asked all kinds of oddball questions.

Last week, one of my colleagues asked me how to respond to his client’s query about returning after an Open House at her home to find one of the neatly-made upstairs beds in complete disarray.

What happens when an owner receives an incorrect status certificate issued by a condominium corporation?

That was the issue in a case before the Ontario Court of Appeal earlier this year.

Ford’s call to derail energy audits will benefit the home sale process

There is no right enshrined Canadian law that allows smoking either cannabis or tobacco in a rental property

An Ontario Superior Court ruling this year urged property buyers against overextending their finances in the wake of a failed deal.

Fluctuating lake levels put the principle of accretion to the test in a recent court case

While staging is a very beneficial part of real estate sales process, buyers and sellers should always clarify what use will be made of the photos.

A Law Society of Ontario working group is investigating practices involving the payment of fees and the offer of benefits by title insurers to real estate lawyers.

Justice John I. Laskin wrote that Pilot Insurance’s abusive conduct justified a punitive award to Whiten.

A judge decided that John Breen’s title was unmarketable due to building deficiences and that he was covered under his title insurance policy

This is the sad story of a $109,000 flower box. It all began in a large project of 213 condominium garden homes known as Bethamy Woods, in Ottawa.

This is the sad story of a $109,000 flower box. It all began in a large project of 213 condominium garden homes known as Bethamy Woods, in Ottawa.

The standard clause “to the best of the seller’s knowledge and belief,” contained in an Agreement of Purchase and Sale, has had its meaning settled by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

A looming Ontario Court of Appeal decision on when discovery and disclosure of the fact that a home was used to make illegal substances occurs during a sale agreement could impact home sales in the province.

A recent court case emphasizes the importance of using a survey and getting accurate property measurements before signing an agreement in a home purchase.

In a Toronto townhouse development, 22 unit owners are living in condos registered to someone else — their real estate lawyers were not showing due diligence

The area in question measure less than six inches wide and the ownership possibly dates back to 1923