Real Estate
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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December 11, 2024
Canadian property firms face proposed class action alleging rental price fixing
Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT), RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust and a dozen other rental property owners and management companies are facing a proposed class action lawsuit over allegations they conspired to artificially inflate rental prices in Canada.
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December 11, 2024
Ontario appeal decision clarifies ‘murky area of real estate law,’ lawyer says
Ontario’s top court has outlined what happens to the right of survivorship if a property owner severs a joint tenancy, something a lawyer involved in the case is calling a useful clarification for a “murky area” of real estate law.
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December 11, 2024
INTERESTS IN LAND - Equitable interests - Resulting trusts - Joint estates - Partition
Appeal by appellant from the trial judge's order dismissing his claim for a resulting trust and granting the respondents' claim for partition and sale of the property. The parties were three siblings and the estate of one sibling. The three respondents brought an application for an order of partition and sale of the property. The appellant countered with a claim for a resulting trust and asserted that he was the beneficial owner of the whole property.
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December 10, 2024
Ontario Court of Appeal affirms commercial landlords have no duty to mitigate when leases repudiated
The Ontario Court of Appeal has affirmed that a landlord who rejects a repudiation of a commercial lease by a tenant does not have a duty to mitigate damages.
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December 10, 2024
Feds doubling loan limit to build secondary suites in homes, increasing 30-year amortizations
The federal government has announced that it will double the loan limit under the Canada Secondary Suite Loan Program to $80,000, launching the program in early 2025. This was said to “make it easier for homeowners to convert an unused basement into a rental apartment or a garage into a laneway home” to increase density in communities.