More Information

We can assist you with any type of real estate transaction.  Set forth below are the kinds of residential and commercial transactions that we handle, and a sample of some of the problems we watch out for and solve.  

• Purchase of a freehold on a resale (good chain of title? sound legal description? parcel register issues?)
• Purchase of a freehold from a builder (mature development or still one-foot reserved? did they make a title mistake when creating the subdivision or since?  Yes, it happens.)
  
• Purchase of a condominium on a resale (status certificate issues, budget, Form 15, etc.)
• Purchase of a condominium from a builder (status certificate etc., plus interim and final closings)
• Purchase of a new home or condominium featuring property tax holdbacks (how much, how long)
• Purchase of a condominium featuring special assessments (valid? how much, how long)
• Purchase of a condominium with an assignment between occupancy and final closing
• Purchase of a new home or condominium as an investment (HST issues)
• Purchase of a share in a cooperative (is it set up properly?)
  
• Purchase of a mobile home (is the land leased and, if so, on what terms?)
• Purchase of a whole of a lot on a plan of subdivision
  
• Purchase of part of a lot (Part Lot Control Bylaw still in place?   Planning Act problems?  Severance properly done?)
• Purchase of property described by metes and bounds, sometimes inaccurately
• Purchase from an estate (is probate needed or is it a first dealing?)
  
• Purchase from a trustee in bankruptcy
• Purchase from a lender under power of sale (were the tricky power of sales procedures followed properly?)
• Purchase where the name on the Agreement of Purchase and Sale does not match the title
• Purchase where there are red flags of fraud, flips, no deposits, unexplained credits to the vendor or to third parties
• Purchase of property on navigable water (what are the rights of the Crown?)
• Purchase of property on a major road (driveway access issues?)
• Purchase of property where access is by right-of-way (is it still valid?  can it be passed on to a subsequent buyer?)
  
• Purchase of property subject to a right-of-way and/or non-standard easements (will they impede your use?)
• Purchase of investment property by individuals, partnership, corporations or charities
• Purchase of property that may have been a grow-op
• Purchase of rental property - four or fewer units, or five or more units (fire retrofit required?  lease issues?)
• Purchase of property with tenants to retain or evict (were rent increases legal? notice of termination properly given?)
• Purchase of property with a well and septic system (is there a potability certificate?  septic use permit?  well report?)
• Purchase where family members are added to the title to allow the main buyers to qualify for a mortgage
  
• Purchase where the mortgage is guaranteed (independent legal advice required?)
  
• Percentage ownerships to allow low percentage owners to avoid or minimize capital gains taxes later
  
• Purchase with private mortgage (application of the two-lawyer rule)
• Transactions featuring discount realtors who, pursuant to their contract, are entitled to do the minimum 
• Private transactions needing Agreements of Purchase and Sale
• Rent-to-own schemes (these can be highly problematic if anything goes wrong, as happens too often)
  
• Purchase of commercial property (status of leases, zoning/building compliance, HST issues, fire marshal, etc.)
• Full title searches (still demanded by title insurers) including builder deals (even the best builders make mistakes)
• Chains of ownership and defects therein, and multiple other title issues and defects as and where applicable

Sales in respect of all the above

• Sale where the vendor spouses are separating, amicably or otherwise
  
• Sale by non-resident of Canada (holdbacks, CRA clearance certificates)
• Sale of jointly owned property where one owner's share is subject to CRA lien with insufficient funds to pay the lien
• Sale where the vendor is bankrupt (with or without cooperation from the creditors or the trustee)
• Resale of property recently bought from a builder where property taxes are not yet assessed and holdbacks needed

Other Matters

• PPSA issues affecting chattels
  
• Construction lien issues
  
• Survivorship Applications following the death of a spouse or joint tenant
• Transmission Applications following the death of the last remaining, or only, owner
  
• Transmission Applications where the deceased lived in another province and died without a certificate of appointment
  
• Old, paid off mortgages still on title
  
• Removing expired line of credit mortgages (too often, the owner is unaware the bank registered the line of credit)
  
• Removing notices of security interests (furnaces, hot water tanks) that few owners realize are on their title
  
• Mortgage lenders who have to be monitored to ensure they register the correct discharge
• Small lenders who require that we prepare the discharge
• Sales featuring the discharge of a private mortgage (the rules are different)
• Legal requisitions, quirks and problems to deal with
  
• WETT certificates for wood-burning stoves
  
• Incorrect legal descriptions, thumbnail errors, and so on
• Applications to Amend the Register to correct the errors that occur despite the excellence of the Land Titles staff
  
• Preparing Agreements of Purchase and Sale where the parties have chosen not to engage realtors
• Reviews of Agreements of Purchase and Sale from the purchaser's perspective
• Reviews of Agreements of Purchase and Sale from the vendor's perspective
• Interpreting Agreements not reviewed prior to when the clients signed it and when disputes later arise
  
• Executions against vendors or mortgagors and dealing with the creditors and their law firms
• Executions against people with similar names (client affidavit, lawyer affidavit, both?)
• Boundary disputes, overhanging tree disputes, common driveway disputes, etc.
  
• Chattels to be left behind; fixtures to be taken; repairs to be done and later inspected
• Conditions: well-drafted?  unreasonable?  fulfilled? there in the first place?
• Purchasers who want to back out of the deal
• Vendors whose purchasers want to back out of the deal
• Purchasers who have not sold their current home and cannot get bridge financing and, thus, cannot close the deal
• Purchasers whose mortgage financing falls apart hours before closing
• Assisting clients who are new to Canada and to the English or French language
• Being sensitive to cultural issues
  
• Refinances of existing property (debts to pay?  should ILA be required?)
• Transfers to sever joint tenancy (usually in the context of a matrimonial separation or to protect family assets)
  
• Severance applications to create two or more lots out of one lot
• Family law and estate law issues arising in applicable transactions
  
• Business liability reasons for title to be in the name of only one spouse

• Breach of contract issues when something goes wrong that the title insurer refuses to cover, forcing you to sue them at great expense (title insurers strive mightily to avoid paying claims so it is far better to avoid that in the first place)