Real Estate Litigation Articles

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca In today’s real estate market, it’s not unusual for new home buyers to find themselves in a dilemma. One situation can be that the value of the pre-construction house drops below the contract purchase price, and they cannot get enough mortgage...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca Property owner stuck with $25,000 in court costs over cottage’s pre-existing issues Will a title insurance policy protect a buyer when the house has a serious construction deficiency making it unsafe and unmarketable to a future buyer? That was...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca “What could be more Canadian than Toronto neighbours arguing about building an addition on a house?” asked Justice Ed Morgan in one of his decisions released earlier this year. “Homeowners arguing about a maple tree, of course,” he continued....

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca An Ontario Superior Court decision may change the law of joint land ownership and the right of survivorship when one owner dies. Going back hundreds of years, the common-law rule has always seen the survivor of the joint owners — “joint tenants”...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca The duty of a condominium corporation to accommodate disabled residents is highlighted by a decision from the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal released earlier this year. Frederico Polito moved into a condominium on Emmett Ave., in Toronto, in...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca A celebration walk is set for tomorrow — June 23 — to dedicate eight newly-named laneways in the Palmerston/Little Italy area. My personal favourite is the new Wayne and Shuster Lane, celebrating the famous comedians whose names were household...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca What happens when a real estate transaction closes, the keys and money have been exchanged, and the buyer arrives at his or her new property only to find the seller still there? Last month this happened to a client of mine on the purchase of a...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca Is a homeowner obliged to disclose to a potential purchaser that the house was the site of a gang murder? This was the key issue last month in a decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal, which reversed a 2018 trial court decision. The...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca Buried in last month’s provincial budget is a measure designed to reduce the cost of obtaining probate — “to provide tax relief for families when they need it most, as the death of a loved one is a difficult time.” Effective Jan. 1, 2020, the...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca Next month marks the start of cottage season — a good time for a reminder that buying rural property is much different than buying in the city. Buyers and agents must consider, among other things, issues like land surveys, shore road allowances,...