Real Estate Litigation Articles

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,...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca The Ontario Court of Appeal has affirmed the obligations of condominium developers to provide buyers with complete and transparent disclosure of a proposed project’s features. This includes a budget statement which fairly and accurately reveals...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca A court case decided in Bracebridge last month emphasizes the risks of using a Seller Property Information Statement. It also illuminates the risks of having the same agent act for both the buyer and seller. In July 2014, Aden and Shirley Bowman...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca With Toronto’s high housing prices, more attention is being focused on the concept of co-housing with buyers sharing occupancy and ownership costs of buying a home. Last month, Star real estate reporter Tess Kalinowski wrote about a new...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca When Canadians file for bankruptcy, most of their assets — including houses and cottages — become the property of the trustee in bankruptcy and are sold to pay creditors. One of the few exceptions to this rule occurs when the bankrupt person...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca One way of making better use of the scarce residential land we have in the GTA is to intensify housing. The City of Toronto’s official policy is pro-intensification. But its planning department seems to be actively opposed to squeezing more...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca Urban planner Sean Galbraith demonstrated — in recent Twitter posts — how Toronto’s own zoning regulations are standing in the way of Mayor John Tory’s goal to create 40,000 affordable housing units. Galbraith, of Galbraith & Associates,...

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca The Ontario Court of Appeal has reversed a lower court’s decision allowing the seller of a Toronto property to keep the $100,000 deposit of a buyer who refused to close the deal. Nancy Ann Pringle owned a detached, two-storey house on a corner...