What happens when a buyer breaches a contract before the deposit is due and payable? Is the seller still entitled to the deposit if the transaction collapses due to the buyer’s breach?
Posts tagged with “Damages”
Legally Speaking Suing for Unpaid Deposits #527 
Legally Speaking Liability For Strata Insurance Deductibles #515 
Many strata owners do not know they may be personally liable to reimburse their strata corporation for its insurance deductible…
Legally Speaking When Disaster Strikes #490
What happens when a property is damaged by fire before completion? A buyer’s options will depend upon a myriad of factors including the law, facts, contract terms and the parties’ conduct.
Legally Speaking Broker’s Responsibility to Have Office Policies to Help Representatives Deal With Water Problems; Contract to Enter Into a Contract Is Unenforceable #382
An Alberta decision about a broker’s failure to establish policies for representatives to deal with known water problems in homes constructed by a developer in a given area reflects the high value of local knowledge…
Legally Speaking Goodbye Salespersons, Nominees and Agents; Paragraph 2(f) of the PDS—Building Permits, Licensee’s Standard of Care and Material Latent Defects #379
To familiarize ourselves with the name changes for the classification of licensees in the new Real Estate Services Act, Legally Speaking columns from now on will describe salespersons as representatives, nominees as…
Legally Speaking Strata Corporation, Not an Insurer for Strata Owner; Management / Rental Pool Agreement – No Termination Date #341
Does a strata corporation have an absolute liability to a strata owner to pay for damages to an owner’s unit caused by an incident on the common property of the strata corporation…
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 Negligence in Measuring Area of Commercial Property, Commission Claim Successful #196
An Ontario real estate agent who was found by a judge to have negligently measured the area of his client’s commercial property, was still held to be entitled to payment of the commission earned upon the sale…
Legally Speaking Purchaser's Knowledge of When Approval of Financing Given; Criminal Rate of Interest; Is an Application to Discharge a Mortgage Sufficient Evidence of Clear Title? #194
What are the legal consequences for a purchaser whose Contract of Purchase and Sale was subject to raising a mortgage by October 19, 1990, when the purchasers were not made aware that the mortgage…
Legally Speaking Commission Cases #189
The right of an agent to a commission arose in a case where the vendor refused to complete a sale because just two days prior to closing, the purchaser substituted a nominee company for himself as the purchaser…
Legally Speaking Licensees' Duty to Know Basic Municipal Bylaws #187
The decision of the city of Cranbrook to extend its boundaries led to a lawsuit against the owner of a small vacant lot and the listing and selling agents involved in its sale to a purchaser who found that the bylaws…
Legally Speaking Misrepresentation, Innocent; Mobile Home, Refusal of Landlord to Consent to Assignment #186
Normally, the listing agent for the owner of an existing home is unconcerned with set backs or other limitations which would affect the size and location of a home to be constructed upon the lot upon which the home…
Legally Speaking Area, Mistake Discovered After Closing #157
A vendor innocently misrepresents the area of his lot as 10 acres when it is only six acres. If the purchaser relied upon this misrepresentation and discovered the mistake BEFORE completing his purchase…
Legally Speaking Reference: The “72” Hour Clause #141
The time clause, which may be whatever number of hours the parties agree upon, is a useful tool for negotiating conditional offers but it can create problems when notice of an acceptable offer made by a second…
Legally Speaking Garden Removal – Damages; Oral Revocation of a Counteroffer #137
A Victoria couple’s love of their garden led them to take it with them when they moved…
Legally Speaking The Stakeholder Provisions of Section 48 of the Real Estate Act, and the Method of Dealing With a Deposit Where There Is a Dispute Between Parties #135
The stakeholder provisions of Section 48. of the Real Estate Act are so well known to agents that the disposition of the deposit where there is a dispute between the parties is routinely dealt with…
Legally Speaking UFFI WARRANTY – Vendor Warrants That the Building Does Not Contain Urea Formaldehyde Foam Insulation #134
This is a common warranty given either at the request of the prospective purchaser, or of the mortgage company considering an application by the purchaser for financing…
Legally Speaking New Home Contract – Damages for Incomplete or Deficient Work, and for Stress #132
The plans were for a home with unusual design features to be constructed by a competent contractor experienced in the construction of standard design homes only…
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 Section 36 of the Real Estate Act; Backup Offer, appeal of (Col. 89) #127
This Section prevents a licensee from retaining a commission which is based upon the difference between the price at which real estate is listed for sale, and…
Legally Speaking Faxed Transmission – Signed and in Writing; Trespass to Land – Trees #124
Is a contract created by Fax Transmissions a contract in writing signed by the persons transmitting the offer or acceptance? Having been long accustomed to telegram…
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 Bank Foreclosure – Customer Rights; CMHC Guarantee – Negligence #114
Financial institutions often demonstrate a casual if not contemptuous disregard for requests for pay-out statements or delivery of an executed discharge of a mortgage…
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 Landlord's Liability – Leased Premises #109
What do the Province of British Columbia, the Municipalities of Enderby and Chilliwack, Hudson’s Bay Company, Safeway, Grouse Nest, Royal Canadian Legion…
Legally Speaking Appraiser and Real Estate Licensees – Question of Liability #105
John and Joan were looking for revenue property which they found in 1980 thirteen miles east of Smithers Iying between the Yellowhead Highway…
Legally Speaking Selling Licensee’s Duty to Disclose – No “Subject to Sale” Clause #94
It is the selling licensee who discovers what a prospective purchaser can or cannot afford, or what specific quality or use of the property is of particular interest to the purchaser…
Legally Speaking Leases #93
Unless you are a property manager and actively involved in residential leases, the oddities of the Residential Tenancies Act, once known to you, may now be forgotten…
Legally Speaking Lease, Agreement To – Void for Uncertainty #85
Lance lay on the chesterfield, his headache just beginning to respond to his wife’s soothing cool hand on his forehead…