Courts will almost always uphold strict provisions for contractual deadlines, writes lawyer Bob Aaron. Buyers and sellers should be aware that there is no wiggle room when it comes to closing deadlines. When a home purchase agreement has a “time of the essence” clause...
One of the most important real estate cases of the year was released by the Ontario Court of Appeal this month. It upsets the commonly-held interpretation of joint tenancy, a form of property ownership (not tenancy) which provides that on the death of one joint owner,...
A ruling of the Ontario Superior Court in October serves as a warning to those who would commit mortgage fraud that they will be treated harshly by the justice system. Olga Taraschuk owned a house on Florence Avenue in Toronto. She inherited the house from her mother...
Tarion — Ontario’s consumer protection organization for newly built homes — wants to reduce the amount of deposit protection for buyers of pre-construction freehold homes who fail to register their purchase agreements with the program. Deposit protection covers buyers...
Although the ruling does not mark a change in the law, it does indicate that the the CRA is monitoring sales of Airbnb properties, and will not hesitate to pursue past and future sellers for 13 per cent of the sale price, Bob Aaron writes. The market for Airbnb houses...
Judge finds it foreseeable sellers might rely on proceeds of sale to meet obligations to buy another house. Bob Aaron says it’s best to have backup financing. In the world of residential real estate transactions, it is not uncommon for parties to schedule a purchase...
Form 299, Seller Disclosure Latent Defect(s), introduced by Ontario Real Estate Association, will lead to lawsuits in its legal overreach, says Bob Aaron. One of my clients approached a real estate agent last month to list a Toronto house for sale. The agent...
Do you want to get involved in a lawsuit over a tiny piece of land? If you won’t lose sleep over wasting a lot of money and worrying about it all, well …. It never fails to amaze me why landowners spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees...
Do you have the home insurance you need? The answer may not be as straightforward as you think. This case serves as a cautionary tale … My nomination for the worst neighbour of the year, and maybe the decade, goes to Troy Gluppe whose neglect of his own house caused...
When a landlord wants to recover possession of a rental unit without waiting months to get a hearing, such an agreement can be used … or abused. Cash for keys? That’s one way around getting a tenant to vacate. Is it time for the Ontario government to make...
Whether there’s an unauthorized dwelling inside a storage building should not be resolved by peering inside, taking pics, judge finds. Appeal court disagrees. A storage unit would seem an unlikely abode and municipal officials may have questions. Should a municipal...
Township of Lake of Bays implemented a requirement for property owners to enter into an expensive road licence agreement. Is this right? Bob Aaron thinks not. Access to Lake of Bays may cost cottagers more if the Township has its way. But Bob Aaron thinks you should...
“Unacceptable misbehaviour” of occupant due to “serious long-standing substance abuse illness,” in judge’s words, led condo corporation to try to evict man. Condo trouble: community living can present challenges which seldom arise in the context of single-family...
Once you add windows and a door to such a structure, it can no longer be used to ship goods, so it should not be tied to that purpose, Bob Aaron argues. Are shipping containers a solution to Canada’s housing crisis? Should local bylaws prohibit their use in...
Precedents show that courts can rule differently on matters involving video cameras and residences. Is it a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for the police to point a video camera at your home without a search warrant? Should the police be...
Body generally exercises its powers to alleviate or eliminate adverse effects of cannabis smoke in Ontario’s condo community. Since the legalization of cannabis, many owners and tenants living in Ontario condominiums have had the enjoyment of their units adversely...
Court rarely hears cases about real estate. Prior owners of property enlarged yard by fencing in a huge piece of public parkland which they didn’t own. The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear an appeal of a case involving a claim for adverse possession, also...
Buyer beware! Purchase agreements almost always use what I call weasel terminology to avoid calling a unit illegal. It never fails to amaze me how some agreements of purchase and sale continue to use creative language to describe illegal basement apartments. Over the...
Ignore the promoters of cheap “legal will kits,” and their fill-in-the-blanks forms! You need a lawyer, or you will end up in court, advises Bob Aaron. When the time comes to make a last will to dispose of real estate, bank accounts, investments and other assets, it’s...
Is ‘time of the essence,’ legally speaking, in a residential real estate transaction? Past precedents suggest it is and that deadlines must be adhered to. Virtually every real estate purchase agreement contains a clause which says that time is of the essence of the...