Real Estate Law Blog

Many land developers arrange to sell lots in a proposed development before the subdivision is completed.  The vendor benefits from the promise of confirmed future sales and non-refundable deposits.  Purchasers benefit from lower prices for purchasing early.  However, what happens if the land development is delayed.  Can a purchaser get a non-refundable deposit back?

The ...

In the beginning of 2014, the CRA issued GST/HST Notice No. 284 – Bare Trusts, Nominee Corporations and Joint Ventures announcing that as of January 1, 2015, it will no longer allow joint ventures to elect for a nominee corporation or a bare trustee corporation to be the operator of a joint venture where such nominee or bare trustee does not have an ownership interest in, or ...

By way of Bill 17, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, the provincial government adopted several amendments to the Local Government Act on May 29, 2014. These amendments were intended, amongst others, to allow modern land use policies by phasing out any remaining land use contracts^[1] and to protect developers by “insulating” in-stream rezoning and ...

On November 13, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada released its much anticipated decision in Bhasin v. Hrynew, 2014 SCC 71.  In its decision, the Supreme Court of Canada for the first time expressly recognized “good faith” as an organizing principle in the operation of contract law in Canadian common law provinces.  This is a significant alteration to the law of contracts ...

REDMA came into force on January 1, 2005 and we have now had almost a decade in working under REDMA and the Policy Statements issued by the Superintendent of Real Estate (“SoRE”).  In the spring the BC Government introduced Bill 17 to the Legislature, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2014, which provided a number of refinements to REDMA that will assist ...

The British Columbia Supreme Court’s recent decision in Atco Lumber Ltd. v. Kootenay Boundary (Regional District) has raised questions about the validity of statutory rights of way (SRWs) that aim to impose positive obligations on property owners.  The Atco decision is particularly important to municipalities, public utilities and other entities that regularly rely ...

Frequent readers of Lawson Lundell's blogs may recall a post from October 2012, in which we wrote about a Supreme Court of Canada decision that some believed, at the time, would result in the “death knell” for the remedy of specific performance in Canada at least in respect of commercial real estate transactions. Since then, many courts have indeed grappled with ...

Most commercial leases contain terms that require tenants to pay additional rent. Additional rent is usually a share of the costs and charges incurred to operate the property. These costs can include municipal taxes, insurance premiums, repair and maintenance costs and common area utility charges. In any given year, these charges change and fluctuate.  Landlords often ...

Governing and managing a strata property can be messy and difficult.  Strata owners are generally a disparate group with little in common beyond ownership in the strata.  From among this group, a strata council must be elected, usually all volunteers who, to one degree or another, are reluctant participants and untrained in strata governance.  Yet, it is the members of the ...

Likely because the application of the law is uncertain, commercial leases generally have detailed clauses dealing with the question of when a piece of equipment or an improvement installed in a premises becomes a fixture or remains a chattel.  The answer matters as fixtures, in law, are considered to be part of the land and, at the end of a lease, ordinarily would revert to the ...