When referring clients to other professionals like mortgage brokers or lawyers, REALTORS® should do so carefully and skillfully to avoid legal or regulatory issues.

Posted Sep 04, 2024 by Jude Chow

Revocation involves withdrawing an offer before a binding contract is formed, bringing legal risks for REALTORS®. It’s crucial to seek guidance from your managing broker and ensure your client seeks legal advice.

Posted Jul 31, 2023 by Peter Borszcz

When dealing with secondary suites, REALTORS® must be mindful of the legal aspects involved, as they can bring about unique challenges and risks that impact their clients.

Posted Jul 04, 2023 by Jude Chow

Could a licensee be held liable for the poor performance or negligence of another professional such as a home inspector…

Posted Jul 19, 2018 by Oana Hyatt

In Dolinsky v. Wingfield, oil from a leaky underground tank contaminated the property next door…

Posted May 01, 2015 by Mike Mangan

We all know that being sued for allegedly failing to fulfill legal and/or professional responsibilities can be traumatic, but it can also be time consuming and consequently, expensive…

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…

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…

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…

For those of us who felt that court decisions had relegated the doctrine of caveat emptor to an earlier era, a recent case confirms that the doctrine is still alive to protect vendors…

The Court of Appeal has handed down reasons for judgment on another offer or option case. This one concerned an offer to purchase containing conditions which required the vendor to deliver copies of leases…

The extent to which the CREA Code of Ethics and Standards of Business Practice are factors in a judge’s decision involving the liability of licensees is illustrated by the following case…

The answer to this question was given in a 1977 case in which a purchaser was concerned about the soundness of the structure and foundations of an old house he wanted to purchase…

A whole new growth industry is developing of scientists, engineers, law professors, lawyers, columnists, experts and others, around the pollution of the environment and the liability for doing so…

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…

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…

Column 125 discussed how a mortgagor may be able to limit liability under the personal covenant of the mortgagee, upon the sale by the mortgagor…

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…

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…

The decision of an Ontario District Court Judge is good news for licensees but bad news for solicitors who are too dutiful in carrying out their clients’ instructions…

The Real Estate Council has recently advised licensees of the desirability of advising a vendor of the vendor’s continuing liability to a mortgage lender under a mortgage granted by the vendor on property that is then so

Column #69 which discussed a Builders Lien clause resulted in questions which indicate that there is some confusion as to when liens may be filed and lien holdbacks may be paid out…

Delay in the completion of a sale may arise through the operation of the Wills Variation Act…

A request has been received for an update of the current law relating to the use of the above phrases in the preparation and enforcement of interim agreements…

Column No. 57 discussed at length the problem of deciding whether a condition in an offer to purchase is not what is commonly referred to as a true condition precedent, but rather creates an option which must either…

From time to time suggestions are made for topics for Legally Speaking columns and, if they are of general interest and haven’t been covered before, we will try to use them…

Adam entered his solicitor’s office with a writ in his hand and an expression on his face which his solicitor, as Adam’s old golfing partner, recognized…

Occasionally a licensee may be asked during the period of a listing to do the owners a favour while they are on holidays by perhaps turning up the heat in the winter or watering the lawns in the summer…

The fall in real estate values has made the security held by financial institutions of somewhat dubious value with the result that the number of Court actions against guarantors to recover deficits owed by principal…

How would you decide which of two innocent parties, the vendor or the purchaser, should bear the loss which arose when the solicitor acting for the purchaser gave the real estate agent an n.s.f. cheque for the…