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 […]
Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians
December 6, 2022 By Brian Babcock If you are planning to transfer residential real estate to a non-Canadian, you should do so before December 31st, 2022. On January 1st, 2023, a new federal law – the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act – comes into force. The wording of the Act […]
Rent and Relief
November 20, 2022 By Brian Babcock We all need relief from the pressures of the pandemic. The law is still sorting out its role in that desire. THE ISSUE Can a judge order deferral or reduction of rent under a commercial lease due to a pandemic? Unfortunately, the answer is not a simple yes or […]
Make Sure You Have Financing
September 24, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik If you are signing an agreement of purchase and sale to buy real estate that does not contain a financing condition make sure that you have financing firmly in place before you sign. The same warning applies if you are asked to waive a financing condition in your agreement […]
The Duties of a Partner
September 18, 2022 By Mark Mikulasik If you are a partner in a business venture, you not only have risks to outsiders, you have risks arising from your duties to your partners. Many business people enter into partnerships, particularly joint ventures for the holding or development of real estate, with very little if any documentation. […]
Can You Get That Deposit Back? Part Two
August 18, 2022 By Brian Babcock When a real estate transaction fails to close through no fault of the buyer, they usually can expect the return of the deposit. However, when the failure to close is due to the fault of the purchaser, the basic principle is that the deposit is forfeited, without proof of […]