Lawyer not obligated to negotiate better purchase agreement

by admin | Aug 7, 2010 | 2010 Toronto Star Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca When a lawyer is presented with an unconditional but obviously defective agreement of purchase and sale by a client, does he or she have an obligation to try to negotiate an improvement to its terms? That was the question for the court to decide...

Toronto’s building department operations are neither open nor transparent

by admin | Jul 24, 2010 | 2010 Toronto Star Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca Before closing the purchase of their home, Pierre Marcoux and Caroline Bougie discovered the City of Toronto building department had an open file on the house. They wanted the seller, Darlene Remlinger, to rectify the situation by having the...

RECO decision heralds new rules about basement apartments

by admin | Jul 10, 2010 | 2010 Toronto Star Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca A discipline decision by the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) earlier this year has established what may be a new disclosure standard for real estate agents dealing with basement apartments and land surveys. Back in 2006, Richmond Hill real...

Case dismissed against sellers of house with hidden defects

by admin | Jun 26, 2010 | 2010 Toronto Star Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Back in April, 2006, Walter and Shelley Cotton signed an agreement to buy their dream home in Brantford. After closing, the house turned out to be the worst nightmare they could have imagined, requiring them to spend more than $85,000 to bring it up to building code....

Asbestos little-understood issue in real estate industry

by admin | Jun 12, 2010 | 2010 Toronto Star Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca Emma and Henry (not their real names) live in a modest three-bedroom detached home near Bathurst and Lawrence. A few weeks ago, their laundry room experienced a minor sewage backup caused by a cracked sewage pipe under the front lawn. After the...

Monopoly of land registration system inappropriate

by admin | May 29, 2010 | 2010 Toronto Star Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca Is the Ontario government about to auction off exclusive access to our land registration system to the highest bidder? Is it in the public interest to have a private monopoly control our land registration system? These are two of the questions...