Legally Speaking Death at a Property #502

If someone dies at a property, is the death a material latent defect that must be disclosed in writing to all other parties before entering…

Legally Speaking Boo You Really Want to Know? #487

Licensees often ask whether a death at a property must be disclosed by the seller, be it death by murder…

Legally Speaking Material Latent Defect Versus Latent Defect. Is There a Difference? #486

Two major disclosure duties govern every listing REALTOR®. Common law requires the Realtor to disclose any known latent defect…

Legally Speaking Buyers’ Due Diligence Obligations #452

There have been a number of recent articles on a seller’s obligation to make full and complete disclosure of all issues respecting property offered for sale…

Legally Speaking Underground Storage Tanks: A Refresher #434

For properties built before 1957, the presence of an underground oil storage tank (UST) poses significant environmental and financial risk to buyers and sellers…

Legally Speaking Defects, Disclosure and Caveat Emptor #430

It’s trite law that a seller and a listing REALTOR® have a duty to disclose known material latent defects, but not patent defects…

Legally Speaking Latent defects – endangered bird species and heritage designation #387

An Ontario real estate salesperson learned more than he ever expected or wanted to about the Loggerhead Shrike (eastern population), “a songbird that hunted like a small hawk.”

Legally Speaking More Caveat Emptor, Latent and Patent Examples #384

The owners of a house, which was old when they bought it in 1979, sold it in 1994 to buyers who discovered after completion that the kitchen floor sloped 2.5 to five centimetres from one side to the other…

Legally Speaking Caveat Emptor and Seller’s Lack of Knowledge of a Latent Defect #383

A Supreme Court judge concluded the following advertisement by a representative for the sale of a lot implied a warranty that the buyer could commence construction of a house without unusual expense or building…

Legally Speaking Nude Beach – Disclosure or Not: Latent or Patent Defect?; Limitation Act – 30 Year Limitation Period: Right to Sue Municipality Lost #346

Full disclosure and view property take on entirely different meanings when a nude beach is involved. Some buyers might think a nude beach next to their lakefront property is an asset…

Legally Speaking Soil Contaminated Sites #138

What do gas stations with underground tanks, sawmills, pulp mills, paint manufacturing shops, dry-cleaners, shipyards, truck parking yards for moving or fuel companies, junkyards, farms and…

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 Defects, Duty to Disclose Those That Are Reasonably Discoverable #66

We import more than fruit, vegetables, movies and the Beach Boys from California; now we may be importing their law…

Legally Speaking State of Title Certificate Would Have Avoided Award of Excessive Damages #28

One conclusion to be drawn from a recent decision of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia is that a search of title or the purchase of a $3.00 State of Title Certificate would have avoided an…