Size does matter in published listings about properties for sale, says a pivotal new legal ruling

by admin | Dec 23, 2020 | 2020 Toronto Star Property Law Column, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca A century of Canadian legal precedents dealing with listings describing homes for sale were reversed late last year by an Ontario Court of Appeal decision that is being seen as one of the year’s most significant real estate law rulings. The case...

Unfair burdens are put on homeowners’ families and heirs by delays at Toronto estates court

by admin | Dec 9, 2020 | 2020 Toronto Star Property Law Column, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca When the heirs of a GTA deceased homeowner decide it’s time to sell the property, it typically takes the Ontario estates court many months to rubber-stamp probate documents allowing the sale to proceed. This delay is causing significant hardship...

Do home buyers keep the $500K they discover in their house during renovations?

by admin | Nov 28, 2020 | 2020 Toronto Star Property Law Column, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca In his first-year law student text book, “Principles of Property Law,” prof. Bruce Ziff begins a chapter on lost objects with this statement: “The law of finding is not an area of pressing practical concern.” I was reminded of this comment when...

The pandemic has dramatically changed how home buyers and sellers close their property deals

by admin | Nov 14, 2020 | 2020 Toronto Star Property Law Column, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca Anyone who has bought or sold a property since the COVID-19 state of emergency was declared in Ontario last March will have experienced a sea change in how these deals are legally closed. Prior to the pandemic, buyers and sellers of houses and...

Would you agree to buy a property that is haunted?

by admin | Oct 31, 2020 | 2020 Toronto Star Property Law Column, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca Young ghosts and goblins may be imagining the hauntings that have happened in their homes this Hallowe’en. For home buyers, the possibility of purchasing a residence associated with a haunting — or other dark event — can be a true nightmare....

Dispute over a property line fence stirs up a costly battle in Superior Court

by admin | Oct 17, 2020 | 2020 Toronto Star Property Law Column, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca Keep your neighbour disputes off the Internet. A decision from Superior Court in May provides a compelling lesson about why disputing neighbours should keep their differences off the internet. The case ended with a $70,000 judgment against an...