Legally Speaking Co-Listings: What REALTORS® Should Consider When Co-listing a Property #530

Before entering into a co-listing agreement, there are some important items REALTORS® need to consider…

Legally Speaking The First Law of Holes #517

Will Rogers defined the first law of holes as follows: “When you find yourself in a hole; stop digging…

Legally Speaking Consequences For Breach Of Fiduciary Duties #491

S was the owner-operator of both a real estate brokerage and a mortgage company which intermingled their business enterprises…

Legally Speaking “Limited Dual Agency Or No Agency,” There Is A Different #446

A recent case illustrates the pitfalls awaiting brokerages and REALTORS® when choosing to act as a limited dual agent…

Legally Speaking Limited Dual Agency Can Still be a Risky Business #427

A recent BC Supreme Court decision awarded damages against a REALTOR® for breach of fiduciary duty while acting as a limited dual agent…

Legally Speaking Consequences of Breach of Fiduciary Duty #411

An agent’s duty of full disclosure to their client and the consequences of a breach of that duty were the subject of a recent lawsuit concerning deficiencies in a new townhouse…

Legally Speaking Licensee Purchasing Property Found to Have Fiduciary Duties to Sellers #407

In a case where a licensee purchased property in her own name, a Supreme Court judge surprisingly found the licensee owed a fiduciary duty of disclosure to the sellers…

Legally Speaking Property Law Act, s.6—Seller Must Have Title to Sue; Commission Case—No Breach of Fiduciary Duty #373

A couple who agreed to purchase a yet-to-be-constructed condominium from a developer repudiated the agreement after it was built because their complaints could not be resolved…

Legally Speaking Commission Collection – No Breach of Duty or Fiduciary Relationship #359

When the price of a property listed on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) is reduced, what is the extent of a licensee’s obligation, if any, to give follow-up notice…

Legally Speaking Damages, Licensees’ Purchase of Property Customer Wanted, No Explicit Agency Relationship, Fiduciary Duty; Leaky Condo, Buyer Acted Unreasonably in Relying Upon Property Disclosure Statement #336

It should be obvious that licensees cannot purchase property they know their clients want…

Legally Speaking Condominium, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Developer Required to Repay Parking Rent #284

A licensee called the B.C. Real Estate Association to ask for the result of the appeal referred to in Column #253, of a decision which declared void…

Legally Speaking Property Condition Disclosure Statement – Licensee's Liability for Failure to Deliver and Obtain #281

An owner was ordered by a health officer to make repairs to, or replace, a malfunctioning sewage disposal system. Instead, he decided to sell the house and in doing so refrained from disclosing the problem…

Legally Speaking Listing Licensees Duties to Provide True Market Value; The Cancellation of a Listing Cancels the Holdover Clause #279

The extent of a licensee’s duty to provide market value for property a licensee knows he will list for sale, was discussed in a case where a lakefront lot, which was listed for sale at $35,000, was purchased…

Legally Speaking Criminal Rate of Interest #243

An interest rate in excess of 60% is illegal under Section 347 of the Criminal Code…

Legally Speaking Breach of Duty and Fraudulent Misrepresentation #129

Termites, latent defect, non-disclosure, breach of duty, fraudulent misrepresentation, and all occurring in Toronto. A young couple purchased a home in an area of termite…

Legally Speaking Conditional Sale and Purchase by Vendor – Licensee's Duty to Vendor #118

An unconditional offer from a purchaser flush with funds is as welcome as the first spring day in Dawson Creek and as rare as a double-ended commission…

Legally Speaking Fiduciary Duty Owed by Agent to Principal – When Does it End? #117

On January 15, 1988, you put on MLS a listing expiring April 14, 1988, for the sale of a commercially zoned corner lot at a price of $360,000.00…

Legally Speaking Commissions #113

There are occasions when a licencee agrees reluctantly to pay part of a purchaser’s costs out of the licencee’s commission, to make a deal between a cash-short purchaser…

Legally Speaking Negligent Preparation of an Offer – Liability of Licensee for Damages #111

A month later Adam and Nester were back in Noel’s office, this time with a letter from the vendor’s lawyer. The letter contained a consent…

Legally Speaking Fiduciary Relationship Responsibilities Between the Licensee and Client #29

Legally Speaking Column No. 1 discussed the fiduciary relationship between the licencee and the person who has retained the licencee to sell his property. Those principles were examined in a recent case where the…

Legally Speaking Damages, Deposits; Separate Legal Representation for Vendors #26

In an Ontario case which arose because of a purchaser’s refusal to close a real estate transaction, the vendors were awarded S5,000.00 general damages for the “vexation, frustration, distress and anxiety, caused…