Real Estate
-
December 17, 2024
New sanctions target Venezuela’s top judge and justice officials complicit in ‘fraudulent’ election
Venezuela's top judge, a prosecutor and two other judges are among five Venezuelan justice officials targeted by Canadian sanctions for what Ottawa says was their undermining of democracy and participating in “the fraudulent declaration of Nicolás Maduro as the winner” of Venezuela’s presidential election last July.
-
December 17, 2024
Leave to appeal allowed for electricity costs decision not subject to judicial review
The Ontario Court of Appeal has allowed leave to appeal a decision concerning costs relating to electricity for a new development, noting that it would be important for public economic interest to determine whether the electricity regulator is subject to judicial review on the matter.
-
December 17, 2024
Vavilov at five | Sara Blake
Five years ago, on Dec. 19, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada, in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65, re-set the standard of review for questions of statutory interpretation. In that case, and two others decided in the same week, the court demonstrated how the new standard of review is to be applied.
-
December 16, 2024
Federal fiscal update after Freeland’s shock departure features tax, legal changes of note to bar
Boosting the number of judges in Ontario’s Unified Family Court and Court of Appeal, making “bail and sentencing laws stricter,” and new civil remedies — and criminal penalties of up to $1 million for corporations — under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, were among the new measures proposed in the 2024 fall fiscal update by the minority Liberal government after Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stunned Ottawa by resigning from the Cabinet a few hours earlier.
-
December 16, 2024
Alberta Court of Appeal upholds default judgment in mortgage action, affirms property sale
The Alberta Court of Appeal has upheld a default judgment in a mortgage enforcement action and affirmed a third-party property sale, finding that the mortgagor did not have a reasonable prospect of successfully defending the action.
-
December 16, 2024
Class action certified against Airbnb for alleged breach of consumer protection laws
The British Columbia Supreme Court has certified a class action against short-term rentals giant Airbnb alleging breach of provincial consumer laws, claiming it is not licensed to provide real estate or travel agent services, nor can it transfer funds between customer and host.
-
December 13, 2024
Estate planning using options to purchase and right of first refusal
In the realm of estate litigation, the interpretation of will clauses that include options to purchase and rights of first refusal seems to be coming up more and more frequently. Recent cases like Cambareri v. Sorrenti, 2023 ONSC 4918, and Zboya v. Hicks, 2024 ABKB 525, to name a few, indicate that there is growing interest in will drafting and estate planning that includes options to purchase estate property, or alternatively, gives beneficiaries a right of first refusal to purchase such property.
-
December 12, 2024
PBO releases overview of Ottawa's national housing strategy, cites challenges with certain information
The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) has released a report on federal government's spending this year on its national housing strategy, noting that the government is projecting how much housing it will provide but not how many people will be in need.
-
December 12, 2024
Ontario to toughen trespass law, ban public drug use as part of effort to deal with encampments
Ontario is bringing in legislation to toughen provincial trespass law and tackle public drug use as part of its effort to help municipalities and police services deal with homeless encampments.
-
December 12, 2024
New 10-day freehold purchase termination right differs from condominiums
The Homeowner Protection Act, 2024 (HPA) received Royal Assent on June 6, 2024. The HPA introduces a new 10 day “cooling off period” into the New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017 which, once proclaimed, will permit the purchaser of a new freehold home from a builder to terminate an agreement of purchase and sale pursuant to an expressed statutory entitlement to do so. The termination right does not apply to resale residential purchase agreements or to properties already covered by the termination right afforded by the Condominium Act. The HPA termination right is similar, but not identical, to the termination right afforded to condominium purchasers from a declarant under the Condominium Act. This article examines some of the similarities and differences between the HPA termination rights and those in the Condominium Act.