All Posts in Tag: Legal Corner

Many times what starts off as an innocent disagreement can escalate into something major, if you are not careful. It can be an argument about noise, boundary issues, trees or fences. But if you are considering suing your neighbour about any issue, think about the following first…

When buying or selling a re-sale condominium, the most important document in the deal is the status certificate. It answers important questions that matter to most buyers…

Unless you ask a seller point blank, you are unlikely to find out whether their home was the scene of a murder, suicide, grow house operation, or whether they experienced water damage or flooding in the past.

During last month’s ice storm, your neighbour’s tree fell and damaged your house. Who pays?

For most people, this should be covered under your homeowner insurance policy, whether the branches were from your own trees or your neighbour’s trees. However, most policies have $500 deductibles, so you need to decide whether it is worth reporting the claim. If you have all perils coverage, you may also claim for any damages caused to your car by the branches.

Frank Meyers, a farmer in Trenton, Ontario, made the news last week about his 7 year fight to stop Canada’s National Defence Department’s plan to expropriate his farm, which has been in his family since before Confederation, in 1798. His case is a good example of how difficult it is to fight when the Government wants your land. The Defence Department wants Frank’s land to build a new training and administrative campus for the Canadian Special Forces Command.

Real estate contracts must be properly signed and accepted. This applies when offers are transmitted via email communication as well. Careless errors or omissions can cause a contract to be cancelled.

For the last number of years, it was almost a given that if you bought a pre-construction condo, you would be able to sell it at a profit when the building was finished several years later. I am now seeing examples in my own law practice where there is no such guarantee.

Since writing about changes coming to the home inspection industry, I have received countless emails from home inspectors, real estate agents and buyers. Buyers complained after closing about problems with their home that were not caught during the home inspection. This included serious mold behind one of the walls in the basement, a defective fireplace and a furnace that was working but would soon require to be replaced. Some buyers blamed their real estate agents, stating that they only recommended an inspector who would approve the home quickly.

Buyers often need to request an extension to their closing date. The main reasons are as follows: The buyers have not yet sold their current home; or The buyers’ financing has fallen through or the buyers have not complied with all of the lender’s requirements…

Today anyone can call themselves a home inspector in Ontario. That is a scary proposition since most consumers depend on the opinion of a home inspector before making one of the biggest purchases of their lives. There are over 1500 home inspectors operating in the Province yet there are no mandatory training or technical standards for them to meet. The results are often a leaky roof, cracked foundation or outdated electrical wiring or plumbing that was missed and which ends up costing unwary consumers thousands of dollars to repair after closing. In extreme situations, consumers have lost their homes. Many inspectors do not carry errors and liability insurance, meaning that if they make a mistake, even if you win a lawsuit, you may recover nothing later.