Articles 2022

In light of the recent LSO directions regarding remote commissioning, we have put together an outline of an approach that real estate lawyers can consider when obtaining a remote signature from a client. This is not legal advice and has not been approved by the Law Society of Ontario but is rather offered as a resource.

A review of the concept of caveat emptor and the possibility of holding a vendor's agent liable for non-disclosure of a major latent as a form of deception in real estate transactions.

The Law Society of Ontario is seeking input on the definitions of "finance company" and "lending client" by June 30, 2019.

The Canadian Bankers Association has a list of bank officials to contact regarding the discharge of mortgages, which will be routinely updated and was last updated on January 28, 2019.

What does the representation and warranty of "good working order" for chattels and fixtures in agreements of purchase and sale for real property mean? The authors summarize their recent experience reviewing the scarce case law on this subject.

Suppose you own a house and want to open a restaurant on the ground floor. The applicable zoning by-law happens to permit that use on your property so you pull a building permit for the renovations, get a liquor license and start cookin’ with [TSSA-approved] gas. A week later, the City, in its wisdom, amends the zoning by-law to prohibit restaurant uses at your property. What do you do now?

The Ontario government is seeking input on proposed changes to the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002, and an anonymous survey is available for anyone to provide their input anonymously by March 15, 2019.

As a preview of Kimberly Beckman and Aaron Platt's upcoming 2019 OBA Institute presentation, Aaron Platt helped to summarize some of the due diligence issues that arise in multi-tenant property transactions, especially from a planning lawyer's perspective.

The two-year grace period to create an up-to-date register of real property ownership interests is up. As you set your ambitions high to start off 2019 on a great note, this serves as a quick reminder to call your commercial real estate lawyer and confirm that your real property ownership register is up to date.