The unauthorized use of real estate lockboxes for unsupervised access to listed properties continues to be a matter of concern to the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) and...
Navigating a real estate agent’s creative bag of euphemisms, writes Bob Aaron, is key to cracking the code when searching for a home — like this handyman special with its low...
With the value of the average Toronto home running north of $1 million, it can be tempting for parents to add their children to title to avoid paying the government’s 1.5 per...
A decision of the Ontario Superior Court last summer is a reminder to home buyers that they cannot rely on the contents of a published listing unless any details of importance...
One of the most important real estate cases of the year was released by the Ontario Court of Appeal this month.
The market for Airbnb houses and condos is likely to take a significant hit in the wake of a ruling earlier this year by the Tax Court of Canada, which held that the sale of a...
Judge finds it foreseeable sellers might rely on proceeds of sale to meet obligations to buy another house. Bob Aaron says it’s best to have backup financing.
Pawel Kosicki and Megan Munro found they didn’t, and a judge ruled an individual can’t acquire ownership by encroaching on public land, says Bob Aaron.
Does it make sense for neighbours to spend tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees over what a judge described as an insignificant piece of disputed land along the shared...
Case shows using joint ownership as an estate planning tool to avoid the payment of probate when one owner dies is risky, writes Bob Aaron.
When the value of a house is affected by a history of murder, suicide, ghosts, or hauntings, it is generally referred to as stigmatized, explains Bob Aaron.
Anyone these days can generate an emoji, but without ample evidence to confirm the source, its use is neither efficient, nor reliable, says Bob Aaron.
Justice of the peace found noise caused by pickleball was unreasonable and disturbed inhabitants and that this breached town bylaws.
This example shows Ontario’s laws must ensure an end to discrimination in housing throughout the province.
It failed to consider these fairly, take his concerns seriously, and provide timely responses and decisions during the process.
“Why would anyone pursue seemingly hopeless litigation over the right of way to a mutual driveway?”
All owners of residential property in the City of Toronto must file an online declaration of the occupancy status of their property before February 2, 2023.
Home buyers and sellers can avoid expensive legal judgments with more straightforward options to resolve a contract dispute.
A clarification on the amount of HST to be applied to assignment sales after a confusing budget announcement.
How a new measure to target property speculation might disrupt the market.
Some buyers are hoping to 'flip' pre-con units before they have to close on - and actually pay for - them.
Bob Aaron: "Home prices would plummet, as they did with the new levy in ’74. I vividly recall that the housing market crashed overnight."
He was a successful advocate of affordable homes in Toronto. And he was part of my family.
Prospective purchasers cannot rely on a published listing when it comes to the interior size of a home.
Always read the fine print when you rent home equipment like furnaces, A/C, HVACs and water softeners.
A fair ruling or is it just downright batty?
One spooky surprise taught these homeowners an important lesson about disclosure.
Buying a house with a "private drive" may not be as straightforward as you'd think in Toronto.
A Superior Court decision in August provides valuable guidance on how buyers and sellers should act when a property suffers substantial damage before closing.
When a title insurer pays a referral fee to a lawyer for arranging a policy on a client’s property purchase, who should get the benefit of the fee — the lawyer or the client?
Until now, Ontarians who own land could have legally been made to maintain public roads - not a job most are equipped for.
If you are buying a selling a home, avoid scheduling your closing date on September 30.
Can a buyer terminate a transaction and get their deposit back if the published listing significantly overstates the size of a house?
Canadians who buy, renovate and sell homes quickly use the principal residence gain tax exemption to enhance their profits - but there may be limits.
Privacy screens and video cameras out while religious decorations allowed in recent Ontario legal rulings on shared condo building/townhouse spaces.
Who is responsible when a home is so defective that it is deemed unsafe to occupy?
Can a home inspector avoid legal responsibility if there is an exclusion of liability clause in the inspection contract?
Homeowners are allowed use the surface of a property easement, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the utilities underneath. If it does, costs add up.
What happens when home sellers leave behind possessions, or even cash? Should buyers keep their findings or return it to the sellers?
A couple in Edmonton find $500,000 while renovating their new home. Finders, in Canada though, are not necessarily keepers.
A new legal judgement suggests that Ontario condo boards must act reasonably towards owners deemed to be non-compliant.
A respected real estate lawyer warns against using untested COVID-19 clauses in property transactions.
This past year’s GTA real estate market may become known as the year of aborted transactions.
Given how pervasive condos are to city living, why are so many unit owners out of touch with how condos are managed?
If the city of Toronto was serious about tackling the housing shortage, why would it charge Toronto homeowners $300,000 to legalize three bachelor apartments in their house?
More Canadian than Toronto neighbours arguing about building an addition on a house? Arguing about a shared maple tree.
Owner stuck with $25,000 in court costs over cottage’s pre-existing issues - in spite of paying for title insurance.
Joint ownership of a home in Ontario has meant that a surviving owner becomes the sole owner - but now?
High real estate prices are inspiring more creative buying arrangements between even casual acquaintances - but it's important to proceed carefully.
What happens when sellers are late moving out?
Is a homeowner obliged to disclose to a potential purchaser that the house was the site of a gang murder?
Why there is no such thing as a simple will.
What happens when there is a significant discrepancy between the way a home is described on an MLS listing vs. the Agreement of Purchase and Sale?
Special issues can arise from shared driveways and other shared property points.
Toronto’s own zoning regulations are standing in the way of its goal to create 40,000 affordable housing units.
What happens when an owner receives an incorrect status certificate issued by a condominium corporation?
The Ontario government’s decision to repeal the Green Energy Act has also changed the rules for homeowners looking to sell their properties.
What happens when the rights of smoking and non-smoking tenants and landlords conflict?
Home buyers need to come up with the money for a winning bid - even in a declining market.
Buyers of lakefront cottages should be aware of whether their land touches the water not only in fact but according to the registered title.
When the sellers of a home hire a stager to help market and sell it, who owns the rights to the before and after photographs?
If a lawyer receives an incentive from a title insurance company for arranging a client's policy, who should get the benefit: the lawyer or the client?
Building deficiencies resulting from poorly regulated construction and that affect the sale of a property are now covered under title insurance in the wake of a recent Superior...
This is the sad story of a $109,000 flower box. It all began in a large project of 213 condominium garden homes known as Bethamy Woods, in Ottawa.
The Ontario Court of Appeal has confirmed that a home buyer did not have the right to walk away from the purchase of a property which was found to be a former marijuana...
Can a person be convicted of illegally removing a property-line tree when the City has issued a permit authorizing it?
A recent court case emphasizes the importance of using a survey and getting accurate property measurements before signing an agreement in a home purchase.
How is it that 22 condominium owners in a north Toronto development do not own the units they are living in?
Gillean Gibb and Liliana Maria Pereira are next-door neighbours on Grosvenor St., in London, Ont.
It’s hard to imagine why two neighbours would together spend as much as $50,000 on legal fees in a court fight over a strip of land between their houses that measures only 0.14...
Is a purchaser entitled to back out of a real estate purchase deal if she finds out before closing that the home was the site of a murder?
When a parent registers title to a home in joint names with a child, and the family relationship later breaks down, the results can be unhappy — and expensive — for all concerned.
Dozens of purchasers in a Mississauga condominium project are awaiting news of further developments after the project was destroyed by fire earlier this month.
But the decision...
Winter in Toronto can bring the early morning sounds of neighbours’ shovels on driveways and sidewalks, and snowplows on roads.
Failure to clear snow and ice...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Condo Buying, Home Buying, Home Selling
Editor's Note: This article was first published in July 2017.
What happens if a real estate purchase and sale...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Home Buying
Is a property survey important? Is it necessary if the buyer gets title insurance?
I’ve often said that a survey is the most important document...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Home Buying
With cottage-buying season now underway, it’s important to remember that a land survey is the single most important document in the whole...
Who owns a tree which straddles the property line between my house and my neighbours? Can I cut it down without their permission?
That was the issue which brought two...
Perhaps the most fundamental principle of property ownership in Ontario is that users of the land registration system can rely on it for an accurate...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Home Selling, Real Estate Trends
The seller property disclosure statement remains a hot topic in the real estate community as Manitoba has now made them...
A court case that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada highlights the importance of homeowners keeping accurate records of their possessions in the...
Bob Aaron in Legal
As I see it, the real issue in this provincial election should be whether the Ontario government is able and willing to act decisively and promptly to maintain...
I received an interesting call earlier this month. A reader lives next to a construction site and the builder’s crane is continually passing through the air...
Bob Aaron in Condo Buying, Legal
A Superior Court decision released last month underscores the importance of reviewing condominium floor plans before completing the purchase of a...
Bob Aaron in Home Buying, Legal
Last month I received an email from a firm billing itself as a “very successful real estate investment firm that invests heavily in something...
Bob Aaron in Condo Buying, Home Buying, Legal
The Park Lake Residences condominium project is located on Lake Shore Blvd. W. at Ellis Ave., near the foot of Windermere. Built by...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Home Selling
Real estate boards and agents across the country continue to promote the use of the Seller Property Information Statement (SPIS), despite the fact...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Condo Buying
The Ontario Court of Appeal has reversed a lower court decision that ruled that all of the unit owners of a new condominium project did not have...
When does a real estate deal close — when the deed is registered, when the keys and money change hands or when the seller moves out of the house?
This question...
In many parts of the City of Toronto, houses were built so close together that when one owner wanted to repair or improve one side of his or her house, it was...
Mortgage fraud may no longer be on the front pages, but the fallout from hundreds of past fraud cases is still wending its way through Ontario courts.
The most...
When a lawyer is presented with an unconditional but obviously defective agreement of purchase and sale by a client, does he or she have an obligation to try to...
Before closing the purchase of their home, Pierre Marcoux and Caroline Bougie discovered the City of Toronto building department had an “open file” on the...
A discipline decision by the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) earlier this year has established what may be a new disclosure standard for real estate...
Back in April, 2006, Walter and Shelley Cotton signed an agreement to buy their dream home in Brantford. After closing, the house turned out to be the worst...
Emma and Henry (not their real names) live in a modest three-bedroom detached home near Bathurst and Lawrence. A few weeks ago, their laundry room experienced a...
Is the Ontario government about to auction off exclusive access to our land registration system to the highest bidder? Is it in the public interest to have a...
Is a religious object attached to the outside of a house or condominium a fixture, which remains with the home on a sale, or a chattel, which can be removed by...
The sad tale of the Glenlake Ave. driveway featured in the Star late last month has focussed public attention on the difference between the Land Registry and...
Down the street from my house, one of my neighbours has an old bathtub filled with earth sitting on the front lawn. In season, it contains flowering plants and...
Does a mortgage lender have the right to add the outstanding balance on your Visa card to the amount outstanding on your mortgage?
That was the issue in a 2009...
It has become common practice in Toronto for some developers to require condominium purchasers in each building to contribute to the costs of guest suites,...
A decision of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal late last year could have an enormous effect on owners and occupants of condominiums and rental...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Condo Buying Tips
In 2005, Stuart signed an agreement to purchase a condominium unit for $326,900 in an upscale 20-storey project not far from the Annex area.
MoveSmartly blogger Bob Aaron was featured on CBC's Marketplace as host Erica Johnson invistigated complaints regarding "Rich Dad" real estate seminars.
A recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal has come down strongly in favour of the rights of individual condominium owners.
The case deals with Wentworth...
I've always found it strange that the organized real estate community in Ontario is still highly concerned about urea formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) in...
In a precedent-setting move, a recently discovered decision of the provincial Assessment Review Board (ARB) has cut a homeowner's assessment in half because the...
The problems caused by the strike of civic workers in Toronto last summer are now coming home to roost. Last June, John purchased a newly constructed $600,000...
Last week's column told the story of the illegal chimney on a north Toronto bungalow owned by Ruta Benjamin and her husband.
When the house next door to the...
Ruta Benjamin and her husband were sitting in their house, minding their own business, when they suddenly found themselves in violation of regulations of the...
With less than a month to go, the Ontario court system is in for one of its biggest shake-ups in recent memory.
Effective Jan. 1, 2010, the monetary...
Whatever money Pauline Rudling saved by using a will kit instead of a lawyer to prepare her last will and testament was spent hundreds of times over on legal...
The home inspection industry in Canada may never be the same again following the decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court last week in the case of...
There's a common misconception that the best way to avoid Ontario's 1.5 per cent probate fees on the value of an estate is to place the family home and other...
As many as 244 purchasers received a nasty surprise at the end of September when they got hit with thousands of dollars in "fictitious" charges on final closing...
Can a buyer refuse to close the purchase of a new home if there are deficiencies in construction, forgotten or incomplete items, or unauthorized changes to the...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Home Selling Tips
The Great SPIS Myth
It's time to reveal The Great SPIS Myth – the prevailing fiction about the Seller Property Information Statement (SPIS),...
With the proclamation of the Green Energy Act, 2009, Ontario has moved one step closer to requiring mandatory energy audits on the sale of residential...
Just how much privacy can a person expect in the comfort of his or her own home, free from any government intrusion? That was the question considered in August...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Condo Buying Tips
Terry is a 23-year-old public servant, having recently graduated with a bachelor of commerce degree.
He is ready to buy his first home, and...
One of the most controversial issues facing the real estate community is the use of the Seller Property Information Statement (SPIS), which is often provided...
Power of entry is subject to a number of conditions and permit fees are costly
A Star reader recently emailed me to say he was thinking of purchasing a...
The vast majority of residential real estate transactions close as scheduled, without problems or disputes. The chances of any given real estate deal resulting...
In the course of my real estate law practice in Toronto, I often review condominium status certificates for purchasers. Usually this is a fairly routine...
When Amos Hertzman and Caitlin Pencarrick bought their small frame house in Vancouver's historical Strathcona neighbourhood five years ago, they never imagined...
I was reviewing an offer to purchase a Toronto house last week and was surprised to see a condition that I had never seen before in an offer on a city home.
...
Back in the spring of 2004, Timothy and Cherese Scherbak signed a listing agreement to sell their property on Boland Ave. in Sudbury, using the services of...
A decision released by the Supreme Court of Canada last month raises the interesting question of how much privacy an individual may expect with respect to...
Some roads named in a person's honour are well thought out; other choices come into question
Searching title to a local condominium townhouse last month, I was...
Appeal court judges find wording of law 'virtually incomprehensible'
A three-judge panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal has called the wording of a section of...
Back in November 2005, Nahid Eskandapour signed an agreement with Lebovic Enterprises Ltd. to buy a new home on Colony Rd. in Richmond Hill. The closing was...
Lenders need to have all pertinent information to prevent mortgage fraud allegations
An Alberta court has ruled that the contents of a lawyer's file in a real...
Melanie came to her lawyer's office in tears. Two years earlier she had received $5,000 from a "friend" to allow her name to be used on the purchase of a...
Late last month, Toronto became the first city in North America to adopt a bylaw requiring the construction of green roofs on new developments. It comes into...
The issue of toxic Chinese drywall may well become the biggest environmental crisis to hit North American homeowners and builders in decades.
The defective...
Sonia James learned the hard way that it's not always a good idea to sue your lawyer and blame your misfortunes on him or her.
In late 2002, James signed an...
One of the biggest mysteries of the local real estate market is the legality of basement apartments – also known as granny flats, in-law suites, accessory...
Barbara and Michael learned the hard way that pre-construction deposits paid to builders of condominium units are only protected by the Tarion Warranty Corp....
Injunction granted after protesters stall construction at Hagersville home-building site
Last month, the Ontario Superior Court in Hamilton granted an...
The Canadian condominium industry and the real estate bar lost one of its towering giants last weekend with the passing of Mark Freedman, a senior partner at...
Last month I reviewed an offer to purchase a waterfront cottage near Kirkfield, Ont. The property was listed by a real estate agent in the Kawarthas and the...
I learned of a new term in the housing industry last week. "White box" refers to a newly constructed house or condominium unit that is built to the minimum...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Condo Buying Tips
Last week I had the opportunity to review a condominium builder purchase agreement with a couple of clients. They had been told in the sales...
The Ontario Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a mother who promised to give her son two family cottages if he renovated them, but then changed her...
Christopher and Lindsay Taggart were dismayed to discover that the lot underneath their newly constructed home was 1,000 square feet smaller than it was...
Purchase offer should ask that the advertised square footage be warranted
What happens if you buy a house and it turns out to be more than 18 per cent smaller...
A new American law set to take effect June 1, 2009 will require anyone selling a residential property in Cook County, Ill. – which includes Chicago – to...
Over the last 18 months, approximately 700 older homes in Ontario have been insulated with a product containing urea formaldehyde foam insulation, or UFFI.
The...
As part of its green energy legislation, the McGuinty government is poised to shred the right to privacy that all citizens enjoy in their lawyer's offices –...
Imposing mandatory energy reports will further depress prices and sales volumes
If it was the intention of the Ontario government to do as much damage as...
The Ontario Court of Appeal has written what may well be the final chapter in what I call The Case of the $100,000 Fence.
The case involved a dispute over a...
The already battered real estate industry had reason for concern when Premier Dalton McGuinty said last month that "we owe it to ourselves to take a good, long...
British Columbia has become the first province in Canada to license home inspectors in order to protect buyers by ensuring qualified inspections. The B.C....
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a decisive ruling that clarifies once and for all that the interest paid on a mortgage taken out to...
Is a real estate agent responsible for accurately advertising the lot size? What happens if he or she gets it wrong?
Those were the questions facing clients of...
Is a builder obligated to disclose to a purchaser the fact that a suicide occurred in the house just before the sale closes?
That was the question posed to me...
A territorial judge in the Yukon has told the local real estate industry to take a hard look at one of its standard form documents. His comments were made in...
Judge rules that deck should have been inspected at the end of construction, not earlier
One of the reasons litigation is so expensive and time-consuming in...
When it comes to consumer issues, my goal in this column is to educate, protect, and occasionally, entertain.
Over the past year, I emphasized how important...
A decision of the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto earlier this year clarifies the huge financial risks a condominium owner assumes if he or she is found...
In 1997, James and Barbara Dinsmore bought a new townhouse in Windsor for $177,000 from Masterpiece Homes. On taking possession, they noticed dampness on the...
A recent decision of the Small Claims Court in Winnipeg illustrates whether the buyer or seller is responsible for damage to a home, which is discovered on...
The fallout from mortgage fraud cases in recent years continues to occupy the attention of lawyers, judges and the innocent parties involved.
Back in 2006,...
From time to time, lawyers get accused by real estate agents of being "deal killers." I was reminded of this recently in an email from Paula Riopelle, a real...
Tarion Warranty Corporation, which provides new home warranty coverage to most Ontario houses and condominiums, has amended its registration requirements for...
Does the doctrine of "buyer beware" allow a seller to conceal the mere possibility that there is a potentially dangerous condition in a house? That was the...
Nathan Vlahos and his wife are about to become first-time homebuyers. They are looking for a home between Richmond Hill and Newmarket and have selected a local...
In the real estate field, when the value of a house is, or could be, affected by a history of murder, suicide, ghosts, hauntings or other unexplained...
A decision of the Superior Court of Ontario last month was a powerful reminder that real estate disputes can become very costly if they ever reach a courtroom.
Why is an Ontario photo health card not a valid form of identification for purposes of a real estate transaction, but it's perfectly acceptable for the...
A recent decision of the Superior Court of Justice highlights the risks of a buyer failing to close a transaction to buy a new home or condominium from a...
Back in 1998, brothers Faheem, Shaun and Narool Samad decided to purchase a house in Toronto for the three of them and their parents to occupy. At the time,...
Grant and Lisa Hall were next-door neighbours to Loraine Wiltshire in north Toronto. The Hall property is west of the Wiltshire property, and both are...
A scary tale of an oil leak in an Ottawa-area home provides a valuable lesson for homeowners whose homes are heated by oil.
In early 2006, an exterior oil...
After architect Andrew Dewberry and author Jayne Seagrave bought their house in Vancouver three years ago, they decided to build a tree fort for their two...
Ronald and Ann Bonnar owned a house in Cape Breton, N.S. The house had two mortgages registered against it – a first to Royal Bank of Canada, and a second in...
Carlos Lameiro fell in love with a three-bedroom bungalow, near Dixon Rd. and Kipling Ave. in Etobicoke. It has a finished basement with a separate entrance,...
Norman Ave. is a two-block long street near St. Clair Ave. W., and Lansdowne Ave. Number 16A is a small row house that recently became the subject of an apparent mortgage fraud...
A decision of the Ontario Superior Court earlier this year provides a valuable lesson to property owners whose homes were once heated with fuel oil.
Back in...
Imagine hiring a newly minted real estate lawyer for the largest purchase transaction of your lifetime – a new home – only to find out that he or she has had...
A recent leaky basement court case from the Ontario Superior Court in Thunder Bay is the latest in what might be called a flood of litigation resulting from...
A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (see below) provides a timely reminder that parents who want their cottages to remain in the family...
Tarion Warranty Corporation has introduced a new set of rules for delayed condominium occupancies. The new delayed occupancy warranty came into effect July 1,...
On July 1, Tarion Warranty Corp. introduced a completely new set of rules and procedures for delayed closings of freehold homes and condominiums purchased from...
An Ontario court decision released last month serves as a potent reminder of the dangers of using a Seller Property Information Statement (SPIS) when...
The Great Eastern Ontario Cement Case is alive and well and thriving in Ottawa. In fact, after wending its way through the Ontario court system for more than...
A bizarre news story out of Shoreham, England, serves as a powerful reminder that the failure to have a signed home renovation contract can create...
A recent spate of counterfeit certified cheques hitting Toronto-area law firms threatens to slow down the efficient processing of real estate transactions.
...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Home Buying
Next month marks the official beginning of summer, the season when many city folk retreat to their cottages to de-stress and to absorb some...
Bob Aaron in Home Buying, Legal
Taking the law into your own hands over a property line dispute can be dangerous to your bank account, as one Toronto homeowner discovered...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Home Buying
When Donna bought her home near Warden Ave. and Ellesmere Rd. last summer, she had no idea she would get stuck with the final water bill of the...
Back in 1915, poet Robert Frost penned the line "Good fences make good neighbours." Last year, in a bitter dispute involving the owners of adjoining cottage...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Home Buying
The most important question for anyone buying a cottage property is always, "How do I get there from here?" After all, there's no point...
Bob Aaron in Home Buying Tips, Legal
Earlier this month, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released a decision which highlights the obligations of parties signing a...
Bob Aaron in Legal, Home Selling Tips, Toronto Real Estate News
Ed. Note. We are pleased to welcome Bob Aaron, a Toronto real estate law expert, to Move Smartly. A leading ...
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