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PPSA Registrations for a GSA vs for a Guarantee
Wednesday, March 15, 2023Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Real Estate, Corporate LawLending, Ontario Personal Property Security Act
Is there a difference between perfecting a general security agreement through a PPSA registration and registering a PPSA in respect of a...
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Expropriation through Regulation May Warrant Compensation
Wednesday, March 15, 2023Daniel KuhnreichBusiness Law, Real Estate, Corporate LawExpropriation
The doctrine of “constructive taking” requires a property owner to be compensated where state action has the effect of acquiring the legal or beneficial interest in...
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Lending Against a Partial Beneficial Interest?
Thursday, January 26, 2023Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Real Estate, Corporate Law
A beneficial interest is an individual’s right to benefit from assets held by someone else. With respect to real property, it is imperative...
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How Do I Get All My Lender Fees?
Wednesday, December 14, 2022Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Real Estate, Corporate LawLending, Interest Act, Commercial Mortgage Lenders
In Canada, lenders who take mortgages on real property as security should be mindful of section 8 of the Interest Act (the “Act”) and...
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Mortgage Assumptions and VTBs in a Rising Interest Rate Market
Thursday, October 13, 2022Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Real Estate, Corporate LawMortgage, Vendor Take-Back Mortgage
In light of substantial increases in interest rates, real property purchasers are looking for alternative lending arrangements. Some alternatives include...
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1-Minute Read for Commercial Mortgage Lenders: Beneficial Ownership vs. Registered
Tuesday, August 23, 2022Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Real Estate, Corporate LawCommercial Mortgage, Commercial Mortgage Lenders
Ownership of real property in Ontario is divided into legal or registered title ownership and beneficial ownership. Legal ownership and beneficial ownership of real property is...
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Sellers not allowed to rely on “escape clause” to accept a better offer
Monday, November 29, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateAgreement of Purchase and Sale, GTA Real Estate
In some cases, sellers may wish to ‘hedge their bets’ by accepting a conditional offer that contains a term allowing them to continue to market the property for sale until...
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Buyers bound to agreement of purchase and sale negotiated by family friend
Tuesday, October 26, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateAgreement of Purchase and Sale, GTA Real Estate
Buyers who rely on real estate services provided by a family friend would do well to ensure that they are fully aware of the consequences of entering into a...
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Mortgage lender did not breach duty of honest contractual performance
Monday, October 25, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateOntario Mortgages Act
A mortgage lender enforcing its rights under a mortgage may owe the borrower a duty to do so honestly and in good faith. However, this does not mean that...
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Mortgage granted by defendant facing trial judgment set aside as a fraudulent conveyance
Thursday, October 7, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateFraudulent Conveyances Act, Assignments and Preferences Act
Defendants facing the prospect of an unfavourable ruling at trial should be aware that any conveyances or payments to third parties during...
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Dispute between neighbours over fence location results liability for trespass
Monday, October 4, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real Estate
Fences may make good neighbours but not when they can’t agree on where the fence should be located. In Lombardo v. 2672140 Ontario Inc...
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Restrictive covenants and short-term vacation rentals
Monday, September 20, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigation, Real EstateCondominium, Restrictive Covenant, Short-term vacation rentals
Owning a condominium unit that can be leased for short-term vacation rentals can be exciting. Not only does the owner have a property at which to stay while on vacation without the need to pay for...
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Condominium owner liable for costs due to tenant’s misconduct
Friday, September 10, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateCondominium, Occupational Health and Safety Act, Condominium Act
Many condominium units are purchased as investment properties with the owners leasing out the units to tenants. This may result in a...
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Mortgage syndicate required to repay funds to investor due to breach of subscription agreement
Friday, September 3, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real Estate
Mortgage syndicates may offer individual investors the opportunity to realize high rates of return by participating in real estate developments and...
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Buyer’s failure to conduct due diligence defeats claim for misrepresentation against seller of laundry business
Friday, August 20, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real Estate
Buyers of a small business would do well to conduct as much due diligence as a purchase agreement allows concerning the alleged income of the business being purchased. Certainly, any representations made by a...
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Buyer entitled to repudiate agreement after discovering water damage
Wednesday, August 11, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateAgreement of Purchase and Sale, GTA Real Estate
During the period between the time an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS) is signed and the completion date, a property being purchased usually remains in...
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Buyers lose right to recover deposit after seller breaches agreement
Tuesday, August 3, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateAgreement of Purchase and Sale
After an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS) is signed and a deposit is paid it may be weeks or months before the scheduled completion date. In the case of new properties under construction, it could be...
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Oral agreement to transfer family home results in years of litigation between father and daughter
Monday, July 5, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateMississauga, GTA Real Estate
Agreements between family members are often informal and not reduced to writing, even if they involve substantial assets such as real estate. The parties may think that they have agreed on some of the terms but...
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Court refuses to hear dispute over requisitions due to self-induced urgency
Friday, June 25, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateVendors and Purchasers Act
Currently, the civil hearings list in Toronto is backlogged and suffering from what one Superior Court Justice has called “unacceptably long timeouts for civil motions and applications due to the effects of the...
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The Disruptive Power of Blockchain from a Legal Perspective: Part 1: The Ontario Land Registry System
Thursday, June 24, 2021Khalid KarimReal Estate, Corporate LawBlockchain Technology, Blockchain, Ontario Land Registry System
Outside of the real estate sector, you would be hard pressed to speak to the average person about land registration unless they are buying or selling a property themselves...
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Claim for Road Access Act and prescriptive easement to landlocked property dismissed
Friday, June 11, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateHighway Traffic Act, Ontario Road Access Act
In Balogh v. R.C. Yantha Electric Ltd., 2021 ONCA 266 (CanLII), the Court of Appeal for Ontario affirmed that the appellants had no right to cross the respondents’ land to get to their otherwise landlocked property.
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Buyer’s failure to waive conditions nullifies agreement of purchase and sale
Friday, June 4, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateAgreement of Purchase and Sale, Land Title Act, GTA Real Estate
While conditional offers may be rare in the Greater Toronto Area, where multiple bidders compete for most properties, buyers in less heated markets may...
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Compliance Order obtained against condominium owners for unruly behaviour and refusal to wear masks
Friday, May 14, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateCondominium, Compliance, Condominium Act, By-Laws, Masks
Living in a condominium requires a balancing of interests between the residents and compliance with the rules and by-laws that govern the community. No owner can be permitted run amok or...
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Power of sale set aside due to mortgagee's refusal to provide discharge statement
Tuesday, May 4, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateOntario Mortgages Act, GTA Real Estate
A mortgagor has a right to request a discharge statement from a mortgagee at any time prior to the mortgaged property being sold by...
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Buyers’ liability to sellers in aborted real estate transactions - Part 2
Monday, May 3, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateAgreement of Purchase and Sale, GTA Real Estate
We have previously addressed a number of circumstances in which buyers unsuccessfully attempted to back out of a binding Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS) for the purchase...
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Agent’s claim to commission owing under BRA dismissed due to non est factum
Tuesday, April 27, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateMississauga, Buyer’s Representation Agreement, GTA Real Estate
Agents often require buyer clients to enter into a Buyer’s Representation Agreement (BRA) which sets out the buyer’s agreement to pay the agent a commission on...
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Owner of corporation personally liable for litigation misfeasance
Wednesday, April 7, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateOntario, Agreement of Purchase and Sale, Personal Liability
One of the perceived benefits of using a corporation for real estate or other business transactions is to shield the individual owner from personal liability for costs and other...
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A short walk to the beach – What is reasonably necessary for a prescriptive easement?
Thursday, April 1, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateCottage Country, Easement, Lakefront
One of the requirements to establish a prescriptive easement is that it is “reasonably necessary” for the better enjoyment of the owner of the land who claims the prescriptive
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Buyers’ liability to sellers in aborted real estate closings - Part 1
Friday, March 26, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateSummary Judgment, Planning Act
“The factual background to this summary judgment motion is a sad story that has frequently been retold in courtrooms across the land with the same tragic ending.”
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Municipality improperly abandoned ratepayers by failing to oppose application for legal non-conforming use of lakeside land
Monday, March 22, 2021James R.G. CookMunicipal Law, Litigation, Real EstateOntario, Zoning By-Law, Norfolk County
Some municipal zoning restrictions are intended to address local planning needs for commercial and residential purposes, while other...
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