By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. A buyer who bought a waterfront home subsequently sued the listing agency and salesperson in the Victoria small claims court for negligently misrepresenting the garage size and stating that the kitchen cabinetry was made of cherry wood. She complained the garage was not long enough to hold a standard sized car …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. The Small Claims Act is intended to encourage the just, speedy, inexpensive and simple resolution of claims less than $10,000. The relatively informal process enables people to appear on their own behalf, and losers are not liable for legal cost incurred by winners who choose to be represented by lawyers. The sentiment of, …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. A man who took his two sons cycling over a trail on private land was thrown from his bicycle and ended up a quadriplegic, when he hit a metre-deep ditch concealed by a mound of soil. The cyclist sued for damages on the grounds that the owner breached the duty owed …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. A recent BC Supreme Court decision raises the question: are there circumstances when a licensee should avoid entering into a dual agency relationship? I also believe this case is the first to examine the meaning of “personal information” in the Limited Dual Agency Agreement. A licensee undertook the sale of a …
By Gerry Neely B.A., LL.B. A fairly typical holdover clause in a commercial listing contract entitles the agent to a commission if a sale takes place within six months of the expiration of the listing, if a buyer is introduced to the property by the agent during the listing period. In one case, an additional …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. A prospective buyer who makes an offer subject to a home inspection may have an inflated expectation of the inspector’s ability to discover deficiencies that, if known to the buyer, would lead him or her to abandon the purchase. Conversely, because of these expectations and the risky nature of their business, …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B Paragraph 18 of the Contract of Purchase and Sale excludes liability for misrepresentations made outside it and the Property Disclosure Statement (PDS), when the PDS forms part of the contract. However, it does not protect a party against whom an action for deceit is brought. This issue is discussed in a …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. The first case in Legally Speaking 362 discussed the liability of a buyer’s agent who had submitted an offer containing a conditional inspection clause. He failed to notice the seller’s counter-offer amended the inspection clause, which led to the buyer’s loss of a $50,000 deposit. Although the agent was clearly negligent, he must have …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B An Ontario buyer’s agent, who submitted an offer to the seller’s agent, discovered the importance of carefully examining the seller’s counter-offer for amendments the hard way, at a personal cost of $50,000. The offer was subject to an inspection and to the “obtaining of a report satisfactory to the purchaser.” This …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. The language used in a lease to decide how the adjustment of rent will be determined for a bare land commercial property can be very important. A recent decision involving the rental to be paid during each successive five-year period of a 20-year commercial bare land lease, where the use of …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. Legally Speaking 359 considered a licensee’s successful claim for commission when his principals argued that he breached the standard of care and fiduciary duty owed to them by failing to act upon and disclose information that might have benefited them. The judge decided that the licensee owed no duty to call other agents …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. 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 to buyers’ agents who have shown interest in the property? This novel question arose when a West Vancouver property was listed on …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. Section 35 of the Property Law Act provides for the cancellation of an easement if it is obsolete due to changes in the character of the land, the neighbourhood or other material circumstances. Without this section, the following easement interests, which were the focus of two recent cases before the British Columbia Court …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. A number of licensees are active with local conservation groups. These individuals are dedicated to preserving the natural beauty of the province and the environmental, recreational and heritage values important to their communities. For example, one such licensee was instrumental in the incorporation of The Land Conservancy of British Columbia (TLC) …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. If a seller and licensee fail to consider paragraph 9 of the Contract of Purchase and Sale – that is, they do not list the encumbrances to remain on title – they risk a lost sale and a lost commission, respectively. The theme of this column stems from a licensee’s questions about whether …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B A licensee recently wrote to inquire about share purchase agreements, presumably with reference to the Contract of Purchase and Sale. The question was: what terminology is best and what additional clauses should be included where shares of a limited company are the subject of the contract? With rare exception, and …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B Section 164 of the Strata Property Act gives a strata unit owner or tenant the right to challenge an action completed or threatened, or a decision of a strata council that is “significantly unfair” to the owner or tenant. This phrase has been interpreted to mean that the action complained …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B There are several models for life lease housing other than the one referred to in Legally Speaking 351. That model requires the landlord to refund the purchase price to a life tenant whose lease is terminated. Other models include the following: The tenant receives the refund of the purchase price …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B Life lease is a term for an alternative residence and ownership arrangement for seniors. The term has been growing in BC over the past ten years because of its appeal to seniors with shared interests and values. The typical arrangement involves a non-profit service club or church sponsoring the construction …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B When a fire destroyed or damaged a house before the completion date for its sale, at common law the buyer had to complete the purchase and pay the contract price, unless the contract otherwise provided. For this reason, the Contract of Purchase and Sale includes Clause 16 which allocates risk …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B Lawyers used to feel they could confidently advise clients that, if the buyers failed to pay on the closing dates or sellers failed to deliver executed conveyancing documents by those dates, the contract could be terminated by the innocent party because of the “time is of the essence” clause. However, …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B It is a common practice for a mortgage lender to offer to sell homeowners life insurance sufficient to pay the principal amount of the mortgage outstanding upon the death of one of them. The difficulty of that death for the survivor is compounded when the insurer denies liability. This issue …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B A cautionary note to licensees preparing a contract for the purchase of property by a limited company, where it is intended the company’s performance of the contract is to be guaranteed by the individual who also signs on behalf of the company. The source of this warning is a BC …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B 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 – e.g., “For sale – a lakefront rancher in dilapidated condition, but next to a nude beach.” However, a …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B The arrival of the “big box power centres” should lead owners or property managers of existing, enclosed mall shopping centres to reexamine their standard leases. Landlords may find the wording of typical clauses dealing with alterations and relocations of tenants’ premises limiting if they decide to change the physical structure …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B I understand it is the standard practice of a licensee to explain the significance of the Contract of Purchase and Sale terms to the parties to it, before it is signed. This is particularly desirable for Clause 18, in which the parties agree there are no representations, warranties, etc. other …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B The Ontario standard form of purchase and sale dealt with the Good and Services Tax (GST) by providing, in a clause, a blank space in which the parties would state whether GST was to be included in the purchase price or added to it. The seller of property valued at …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. Earlier this year, the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) circulated a decision made at a hearing by a panel of the appeal division under the Workers Compensation Act. It dealt with the question of whether a real estate salesperson is an independent contractor or a worker within the meaning of the Act. …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. 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? An owner of a ground floor strata unit, in which he carried on his law practice, thought that it …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. Clause 9 of the Contract of Purchase and Sale continues to be a trap for the unwary licensee (or lawyer), because it is the type of “boilerplate” clause that the eye and mind skip over. It requires the seller to deliver a clear title – except for enumerated, permitted encumbrances, one …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. Earning a commission is very much an all or nothing venture. It is made riskier by the court’s strict interpretation of a listing contract to determine whether the acts of an agent who claims a commission, fall within the precise wording of the contract. It is important that an agent not …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. Column 337 ended with formula descriptions for establishing streamside protection areas (also referred to as “leave strips”). The formulas apply to both sides of the stream, so that it is possible to have setbacks as wide as 60 metres. The Streamside Protection Regulation does, however, introduce some flexibility. Local governments have the authority to …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. Streamside Protection RegulationThe Regulation establishes streamside setbacks that are designed to prevent the deterioration or destruction of the water flow and habitat upon which a healthy fish population depends, or where possible, to restore them. Local governments affected by this Regulation must enact standards before January 2006, in their zoning and …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B Streamside Protection Regulation The Regulation establishes streamside setbacks that are designed to prevent the deterioration or destruction of the water flow and habitat upon which a healthy fish population depends, or where possible, to restore them. Local governments affected by this Regulation must enact standards before January 2006, in their …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. It should be obvious that licensees cannot purchase property they know their clients want. If licensees are uncertain whether an agency relationship has been created by conduct, they must take all necessary steps to satisfy themselves that the buyers have abandoned their interests in the property, before offering to purchase it. …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. Your dream is to buy a vacation home at a resort such as Whistler. You can enjoy it with your family, return the favours of friends by giving them the use of it, and reward staff with a free week in the season of their choice. You calculate that you can …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. A Supreme Court of British Columbia judge decided an individual who was not licensed as an agent or salesperson under the Real Estate Act was entitled to payment of $50,000 for introducing a buyer to property sellers. Since Section 47 of the Act bars a claim for commission or other remuneration for an …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. In one case, the conditional clause in a Contract of Purchase and Sale required the buyer to satisfy himself as to the tax implications of Canadian/USA/international law upon his purchase of Canadian property. The buyer lived and worked in California, and the purchase monies from an inheritance were to be transferred …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. Reasons for Judgment were published on February 7, 2001, in the first case I have seen that examines the Strata Property Act (SPA) to settle a dispute as to whether the townhouse owners had to contribute to the cost of repairing the leaky condos in a three-storey block. The strata corporation consisted of …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. An owner who sold a building lot took back an option to repurchase it if the buyer did not construct a dwelling house upon it by a fixed date. The option had to be exercised by a payment to the buyer of $20,000 within three months of the date. Construction of …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. The importance of a homeowner’s association was alluded to in Legally Speaking column 329. The association’s role in a development is equivalent to that of a strata corporation. It provides the mechanism through which the owners of leasehold interests in a development, or a phase of a development, govern the administration of their …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. Column 328 referred to the landlord/tenant relationship resulting from the development of reserve lands. Once all levels of approval have been given, for example, to a residential project, a headlease is created between the federal Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs and a developer, as the tenant. This document provides the …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. An agent who is given a listing of real property by a receiver/manager licensed under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act can confidently expect to be paid if a buyer contracts during the term of the listing to purchase the property in question and completes the purchase. Unfortunately, the agent with a listing from …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. Anyone involved for the first time in the sale of an interest in reserve land will find little that resembles the more usual sale of fee simple land with which we are familiar. The outright sale of reserve land is a rarity, occurring usually as part of a trade of land, because …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. Raising financing for a specific project occasionally involves pooling the funds of a number of investors in a mortgage in favour of a limited company which is incorporated and managed by the persons who brought the project to the attention of the investors. An arrangement of this kind is often structured …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. An owner-developer now has the opportunity until the first annual general meeting to amend the strata plan to designate parking stalls as limited common property for the use of strata lot owners and, in addition, to designate up to two extra stalls for their use. “Extra” means those stalls set aside …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. BCREA published in 1999, a very useful cpe seminar manual, called Strata Property Law for REALTORS, on strata property law and in particular, the Strata Property Act which becomes law on July 1, 2000. This year, regulations to the Act were published which will affect developers, owners and strata councils. The Act requires an owner/developer to …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B Some banks and credit unions are now requiring title insurance for the refinancing of consumer mortgages. This, according to a bank spokesperson, provides for a more efficient system at less cost. From the lender’s prospective, the benefits of title insurance coverage include: removing concerns over negligence; making the insurance no-fault; …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B A lender’s policy, whether residential or commercial, contains the basic risks plus a broader coverage than is provided in the buyer’s policies, referred to in Column 321. Those risks include, interesting enough, the invalidity of the mortgage due to usury laws, encroachments on to or from the insured lands. These …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B We in British Columbia take pride in our Land Title registration system because we can satisfy ourselves as to the state of title with a 60 second online search, instead of waiting a week or so for a title search, as in the State of Washington. However, our system does …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. If a licensee is asked by a third party to list a property, the first response would be to ask to see that person’s authority to act on behalf of the owner. Before the proclamation of the Representation Agreement Act on February 28, 2000, the licensee could have received proof of that person’s …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. A representation agreement (RA) will be the principal document used to appoint someone you trust to make your medical, personal care, financial and legal decisions. There are two types of RAs. The first is a simple representation agreement (SRA) which gives the representative the authority to make routine legal and financial …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. The contents of the representation agreement are yours to decide. With respect to personal, medical and health care decisions, speak to your family, friends and medical professionals. It is particularly important that you speak with your doctor if you have a chronic medical problem. State whether and under what circumstances you …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B What is a licensee’s duty of care to a client who is negotiating the purchase of a commercial property from a numbered company that agreed to give an unsecured warranty? This was the issue in an Ontario case where the licensee drafted the warranty clause in the contract he prepared …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. Two strata owners, who were faced with a rental bylaw limitation, rented their condominium to their adult children without seeking permission from the strata corporation. At various times over several years, permission to rent was denied, then given, and then denied. The owners tried unsuccessfully, in a poor market, to sell …
By Gerry NeelyB.A. LL.B. With so many licensees involved in recreational team sports, such as softball, hockey or basketball, the question of the liability of a person who injures another during the course of a game may be of some interest. This was discussed in a BC Court of Appeal decision of a softball game. …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B A Port Alberni agent successfully collected a commission because of his prominently displayed sign on his principal’s property. It, and the dog run that could be seen from the road, resulted in drive-by buyers turning in and speaking to the owner’s son. When the owner advised the agent of this interest, the …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. That leaky condos are disasters is a given but what is even more depressing are the results of the decision of the cases now being heard concerning the attempts by condominium owners to obtain damages from developers, architects, engineers and others involved in the planning and construction of the condominium. Strata owners, …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. A building scheme generally gives a developer the right to approve the plans for homes to be constructed upon the newly created lots. A perceived conflict may be seen where the developer may own lots in a subdivision and refuses to approve the plans for a home to be built upon a …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. There have been a number of decisions across Canada in the past year or so concerning a seller’s right to recover from the buyer of real property the GST paid by the seller that should have been paid by the buyer. The question in each case was whether notice that GST was …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. A licensee with a deposit that is less than the commissions has always run the risk of either losing the remainder of the commission, or being forced to sue for it, because an unhappy seller instructs his lawyer or notary public (the conveyancer) to pay all of the proceeds of sale to …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. Following upon the leaky condo case discussed in Column 304 of an owner’s refusal to pay a special assessment, is another case in which the developer, as the holder of 24 units in a 194 unit condominium development, challenged the validity of an ordinary resolution approving an assessment of $2,467,000 to be …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. The Alberta Condominium Property Act requires that, upon the sale of residential units, substantial holdbacks from the sale proceeds to be paid to the developer, are to be retained to cover not only the cost of completion of the strata lot, but of the common property. The holdbacks are deemed to be trust …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. The agent for a prospective buyer, whose offer for a seller’s property was rejected, sued the listing agent for the share of commission offered by the listing agent to cooperating agents. The offer, which was for the exact price and the same terms as those contained in the MLS® contract, was rejected …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. The diligence of an employee of a mortgage broker, and the suspicions of a bank customer service representative, helped to stop the activities of a criminal who created fraudulent mortgages which were then assigned to innocent customers looking for a reasonable return. The method of operation of the fraudsman, as the judge …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. The businesses in a retail shopping centre in Richmond were carried on by owners or tenants of strata lots in a strata corporation. Its bylaws required an owner or occupier of a strata lot to obtain written approval from the strata council to make any change in the nature of the business …
A strata owner who refused to pay the second half of a special assessment for the cost of substantial repairs to a condominium complex applied to the court for an order for the cancellation of a certificate of default filed against the strata owner’s property by the strata corporation. The owner claimed that a cost overrun …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. Another favourable decision has been given in support of commission trusts for salespersons and cooperating agents, and their priority over the claims of a secured creditor. The secured creditor had registered a general security agreement under the Personal Property Security Act against all assets of the insolvent agency. The creditor was the former principal …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. The decision in the Beka v. Share case referred to in the preceding Column #301 was based upon the judge’s conclusion that the parties, by agreeing to fix a new date, had waived time is of the essence. The “time is of the essence” clause raises another issue that may affect the rights of …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. A decision made January 29, 1999 now gives us three decisions since 1983, each of which involved the sale of a lot to be created upon the registration of a plan of subdivision of a larger parcel. The issue in each case was whether a seller could force the completion of sale …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. The first Legally Speaking column was published in January 1981 and each succeeding one, issued at intervals of three weeks more or less for eighteen years, has led, somewhat to my amazement, to this column: Number 300. This is a milestone sufficient to look back and answer a question which has been asked …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. Between those whose Y2K predictions are of nuclear bombs accidentally detonating, others who say Y2K is nothing but hype by the media and the Y2K specialist consultants who benefit from compliance work, there are a number of conservative computer system analysts who believe that North America will face disruptions in 2000 …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. We have leasehold strata plans and phased strata plans and now something entirely new: “sections.” A strata corporation may create sections to represent the different interests of owners of residential lots and of non-residential strata lots; owners of different types of residential strata lots; or owners of non-residential strata lots whose …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. When a buyer defaults and the listing agent sues the seller for commission, there have been two lines of legal thought as to whether the listing agent should succeed. The first is “the ordinary understanding of mankind” that when a homeowner employs an agent to find a buyer, the commission is …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. It is not every circumstance when an agency will be liable for misrepresentations made by its employee/salesperson. An agency was drawn into legal proceedings when the buyer of a new home sued the agency and the salesperson, who was the builder of the home, on the contractual warranty or for an implied …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. “The evidence of Ms. Lederman is compelling as to the importance of exposure to the widest possible market through the MLS®. It presents a simple, economical, and effective method for marketing a property. It has many advantages and no obvious disadvantages. It is the more important and beneficial to a seller …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. At last, a decision which I believe reviews, for the first time, the terms of the Exclusive Buyer’s Agent Contract, particularly paragraphs 4 and 6 which deal with an agent’s remuneration and conflicts of interest, respectively. The decision provides some guidelines for licensees who often walk a fine line between balancing …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B The preceding column (#293) set out the facts concerning a licensee’s claim for commission under an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent Contract (EBAC) and gave the first reason why the claim was unsuccessful. The second reason was linked to the licensee’s representation that signing a 12-month EBAC, before the offer to purchase the …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. Occasionally a property owner builds a wall, fence, walkway or structure partly on adjoining property. This is usually the result of a misunderstanding of the location of the common boundary line between the two properties. Decades ago an encroached-upon owner would have had the right to have the encroachment removed. The law …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. Dogs can be trained to assist the visually or hearing impaired and to warn epileptics of an impending seizure. A recent Ontario case asked the question of whether a dog capable of providing assistance to the hearing impaired was exempted from a “no pet” condominium regulation. An owner, who agreed at the …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. One of the decisions referred to in Column #269 discussed whether changes made during the course of construction to the plans of condominiums, which had been presold before construction started, were substantial enough to enable buyers to rescind the contracts. The changes, including the elimination of five windows in each suite, were held to …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. We can draw two conclusions from the facts described in a recent decision in which a buyer sued for damages because the area of the land purchased by the buyer was only 258.5 acres instead of 309 acres. The first conclusion is that one cannot rely upon the British Columbia Assessment Authority …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. As discussed in the previous column, early planning may reduce the overall costs. For example, with early advice, an owner may be able to change his or her plans before an excavation disturbs the artifacts within the site, to avoid the higher remedial cost of screening and salvaging the artifacts from disturbed …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. Although legislation to protect and conserve heritage property in British Columbia has been in existence since 1925, its impact upon residential homeowners and small property owners has seemed remote. That changed in the Victoria area with newspaper reports of the problems experienced by a beachfront owner of property whose excavations for a …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. A recent decision, whose release coincided with the increasing attention being paid to the problem of leaky condominiums, discussed the duties owed by municipal and public health inspectors and engineers to the buyers of a lot on Bowen Island who found they could not use the property because it contained sewage …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. The Ministry of Finance issued a Property Transfer Tax Act Information Bulletin 1-96, to set out in detail the steps that must be taken, if property transfer tax is to be avoided in the following circumstances. The first is where owners of adjacent parcels of land plan to consolidate and subdivide them, …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. 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 a 99-year lease granted by a condominium developer to a subsidiary company. The lease, which was for all the parking stalls in a newly-constructed …
The decision concerning the effect of the cancellation of a listing contract upon the holdover clause, which was discussed in Column #279, was based upon oral reasons for judgment provided by one of the lawyers involved in the proceedings. Since then a transcript of the Supreme Court of British Columbia decision, which overturned the provincial court …
By Gerry NeelyB.A., LL.B. February 1st, 1998 is the date when the new Builders Lien Act became law, with the exception of a few sections which will only come into force if and when they are proclaimed by regulation at a later date. The sections are those against which the British Columbia Real Estate Association protested, because …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B Column #279 discussed the cancellation of a listing, which cancelled the holdover clause and the practice of cancelling an MLSO listing of property, which has been on the market for a number of days to give the listing a fresh appearance. However, there is more to this issue, as the …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B 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 to the listing agent. He did complete a Property Condition Disclosure Statement, in which he …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B 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 and resold immediately for $65,000. The offer to purchase was received within …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B A decision involving the Property Transfer Tax Act points to a way, when the facts are right, to reduce the amount of the total tax payable when there are multiple buyers. Three individuals bought one parcel of land in 1994 valued at $760,000, taking the fee simple title in their …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B The omission of wording in a lease renewal clause that the renewal would be void if the parties were unable to agree upon the renewal terms, led to some surprising results, at least for the tenant. The right to renew the initial term for a further period of three years, …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B Completion of the revisions to the Condominium Act will be delayed, according to the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations, to allow for a further discussion of the major five following issues. The major issue is one raised by the owners of larger strata lots who argue that expenses should …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B The increase several years ago of Small Claims Court monetary jurisdiction to $10,000, opened the door for a number of licensees to sue for payment of a commission which they might otherwise have chosen to forget about. The advantage is that there are no costs, other than minor court costs, …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B While from time to time we all rail against too many laws weighing us down, there are laws created by legislation which provide remedies for the problems created by our shortsighted predecessors – in title to the property we own and the strict application of the law to those problems. …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B Column No. 266 described a B.C. Court of Appeal decision that a valid trust can be created by a properly worded independent contractor contract, despite the illegality of that form of contract under the current Real Estate Act. The significance of this decision is that the trust protects the licensee’s …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B The conclusion of a judge, concerning the test for determining the effective cause of sale in a case where an agent sued for a commission, may have some application to the arbitration of a commission dispute between two agents of a board/association. The agent took a listing at a price …
By Gerry Neely B.A. LL.B Since many developers are now pre-selling before there is a hole in the ground, their presentations to prospective buyers can only be based upon models, plans and sales brochures portraying the merits of the condominium a prospective buyer may occupy. Inevitably some alterations to the plans are required as construction …
The British Columbia Real Estate Association acknowledges that our head office is located on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish Nations of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam). We also acknowledge the other 195 First Nations in British Columbia, as these are the lands we each call home.
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