Condo ruling a useful lesson on taking resident complaints seriously and acting in good faith

by admin | Mar 24, 2025 | 2025 Toronto Star Property Law Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

“All 80-year-old unit owner Joshua Frankel wants is a good night’s sleep. Sleep deprivation is no trifling matter.” With these words in January, Justice R. Lee Akazaki began his 4,400-word ruling on a dispute between Frankel and York Region Condominium Corporation 664...

Daughter’s mortgage fraud on her parents’ house shines a light on the need for homeowner title insurance

by admin | Mar 10, 2025 | 2025 Toronto Star Property Law Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Case is a lesson for homeowners who did not buy title insurance when they bought their house, writes lawyer Bob Aaron, to arrange existing owner title insurance through their lawyers. A court decision released in January highlights the importance of homeowners having...

Why the controversial Lake of Bays road licence bylaw was fatally flawed from the start

by admin | Feb 24, 2025 | 2025 Toronto Star Property Law Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Faced with costs of thousands of dollars for each property, Lake of Bay residents responded with angry social media posts and letters to their councillors, Bob Aaron writes. In the wake of intense vocal opposition from local residents, the council of the Township of...

Relevant Qualifications & Experience

by admin | Jan 27, 2025 | 2025 Toronto Star Property Law Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Want to avoid problems in your next real estate deal? Here are the top 10 issues in my experience that can lead to disappointment, unnecessary expense and even litigation in real estate agreements, in no particular order: Wrong unit I frequently see residential...

How a surprise court ruling over joint ownership of a home left estate beneficiary with nothing

by admin | Dec 16, 2024 | 2024 Toronto Star Property Law Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

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 Toronto Homeowner Died. Then a Stranger Tried to Drain Her Home of its Equity

by admin | Dec 2, 2024 | 2024 Toronto Star Property Law Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

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...