Adverse Possession and Municipal Lands
September 8, 2023 By Mark Mikulasik THE ISSUE Is adverse possession available to extinguish the title of a municipality in favour of someone who claims adverse possession? The answer, says the Ontario Court of Appeal, is “sometimes”. BACKGROUND First, almost all land in Ontario, and especially in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario, is in the […]
Is It a Lease or a License?
June 6, 2023 By Mark Mikulasik A license is a form of contractual agreement such as an agreement which allows the use of property or of a portion of a property by the individual or business receiving the license. It differs from a lease in that a license does not give the same exclusivity of […]
Who Is More Innocent?
May 5, 2023 By Brian Babcock The moral high ground strikes again. THE ISSUE Though the phrase is seldom used explicitly in judgments, the centrality of this concept to equity is the silent explanation of the result of many civil cases. THE CASE This is once again demonstrated by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce v. […]
The Scope Of The Entire Agreement Clause
May 2, 2023 By Mark Mikulasik If you are a landlord and promise customer parking as part of convincing a prospective tenant to sign a lease, make sure that it is provided, even if not mentioned in the lease. Especially if it is not mentioned in the lease. THE ISSUE Otherwise, do not expect your […]
Is Adverse Possession Dead In Ontario?
February 10, 2023 By Mark Mikulasik Don’t take adverse possession off life support yet. THE ISSUE Most lawyers in Ontario assumed that adverse possession – the ability to obtain the rights of an owner of land by possessing it as if you were the owner – would have vanished by 2022. Ontario has transitioned almost […]
To Win, You Need Evidence
January 27, 2023 By Nick Melchiorre Leaving a judge in a quandary is never a good thing. Lawsuits over aborted real estate transactions seemed to be popping up almost as often as estate litigation these days. This is particularly true in the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe, but it’s bound to be on […]
Damages When The Deal Does Not Close
January 13, 2023 By Nick Melchiorre THE ISSUE If you are the seller of a house and the buyer fails to close, how do you prove your damages? If you said that it is simply the difference between the two sale prices if you took reasonable steps to sell the property in an arm’s length […]
Taking Entire Agreement Clauses Seriously
January 7, 2023 By Mark Mikulasik Chances are that at some time you have signed a contract containing an “entire agreement” clause. Entire agreement clauses are found in all sorts of contracts ranging from residential real estate to multimillion dollar commercial transactions, typically found at or near the end of legal documents. Lawyers call this […]
Can You Get That Deposit Back? Part Three
December 18, 2022 By Brian Babcock We have written before about the question of when you can get your deposit back on a failed real estate transaction. New examples continue to come forward. THE ISSUE In many situations, financing a property will be difficult because the purchase price may exceed the appraised valuation upon which […]
“P” is for Price
December 11, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik Lawyers are taught in their first year contracts course that one of the essential elements of any contract is an agreement as to price. Not everyone goes to law school, which is good. THE ISSUE But everybody needs to understand that without an agreement as to price, you have […]