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Steer Clear of Real Estate Claims by Asking These Five Questions on Every Deal

The real estate lawyer’s job is more than just conveying title, and not every matter will be straightforward. Communication errors and inadequate investigation are the biggest causes of real estate claims at LAWPRO, respectively 41 per cent and 26 per cent of claims reported between 2001 and 2011. Busy, high-volume practices often lead to situations where the lawyer is not taking the time to communicate with the clients properly.

Lawyers need to take the time to speak to clients to ensure they’ve gathered all the relevant information.

Here are five questions lawyers should be asking their clients or themselves on . . . [more]

Posted in: Reading: Recommended

Electronic Real Estate Transactions

Much of the legal status of electronic communications in Canada (and elsewhere) rests on legislation based on the United Nations Model Law on Electronic Commerce of 1996. The Model Law’s main Canadian implementation has been through the Uniform Electronic Commerce Act, adopted in 1999. All the common law provinces, Yukon and Nunavut have enacted the Uniform Act, as shown here. Quebec adopted its Act to establish a legal framework for information technology in 2001, mainly based on the principles of the Model Law though not using the Uniform Act as its template. The electronic documents part of the . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Technology

Law Firm Employees Allegedly Misbehaving Make Headlines

You don’t have to go back far in history to read about the many misbehaviors of law firm employees. Whether the media stories concern the alleged actions of partners, associates or support personnel, there is plenty of fodder to make law firms rethink its hiring practices and firm culture to keep the firm name out of the headlines. Unfortunately, they aren’t always successful in achieving that goal. While we don’t have first-hand knowledge of the details, there are several examples of alleged misbehavior that we can learn from.

Data theft

One major risk for law firms is the theft of . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Technology

Thursday Thinkpiece: Bourrie on Fundamental Law for Journalists

Periodically on Thursdays, we present a significant excerpt, usually from a recently published book or journal article. In every case the proper permissions have been obtained. If you are a publisher who would like to participate in this feature, please let us know via the site’s contact form.

Fundamental Law for Journalists

Author: Mark Bourrie
Publisher: Irwin Law Inc.
Publication Date: January 1, 2023
ISBN: Print (Paperback): 9781552216699
Page Count: 232 pages
Regular Price: 40.00 $

Excerpt: Introduction and Chapter Six “The Civil Law System”, pg. 111 [Footnotes omitted]

Introduction

I went to law school after working in the media . . . [more]

Posted in: Thursday Thinkpiece

Trade Secret and Breach of Confidence Monetary Claim Stayed by Bankruptcy

The purpose of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. B-3 (BIA) is to relieve an honest and unfortunate debtor of their debts and liabilities. A discharge from bankruptcy releases the insolvent debtor from pre-bankruptcy debts or liabilities provable in bankruptcy subject to certain exceptions.[1]

An exception to this rule is s. 178(1)(e) relating to “any debt or liability resulting from obtaining property or services by false pretences or fraudulent misrepresentation”.[2] Where the exception applies then such debt or liability is not released, and continues to remain enforceable against the debtor after bankruptcy.[3]

A successful claim . . . [more]

Posted in: Intellectual Property

Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Labour Pains 2. Global Workplace Insider 3. Avoid a Claim 4. BC Injury Law Blog 5. Condo Adviser

Labour Pains
Time Spent as Independent Contractor Relevant Factor in Calculating Reasonable Notice

Is the amount of time spent as an “independent contractor” an appropriate fact for the court

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

How the Process of Decision-Making Might Affect the Result: The Example of a (Real Estate) Licence Appeal Tribunal Decision

An article in the real estate section of The Globe and Mail last Friday left me somewhat aghast at what appeared to be an outrageous denial of the Real Estate Council of Ontario’s (“RECO”) attempt to revoke the licence of one of its realtors. (This was no doubt what the writer, Shane Dingman, intended!) I checked out the actual Licence Appeal Tribunal (Safety, Licensing Appeals and Standards Tribunals Ontario) (“the Tribunal”) decision in Akbar Zarehhossainabadi, Kingsway Real Estate Ince. and Rouhollah Houshmand v. Registrar, Real Estate and Business Brokers Act 2002. The decision provides an informative example of how . . . [more]

Posted in: Case Comment

Wednesday: What’s Hot on CanLII

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and which French-language case have been the most viewed* on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about.

For this last week:

1. Zheng v Your New Car Calgary Inc, 2015 ABQB 121

[17] The Plaintiff refers to Bhasin v. Hrynew, 2014 SCC 71 (CanLII), 2014 Carswell Alta 2046 (S.C.C.), Spartek Systems Inc. v. Brown, 2014 Carswell Alta 1496, (Q.B.), and Tirecraft ( supra). Bhasin deals with the duty of good faith in contractual dealings. The latter two cases provide some guidelines . . . [more]

Posted in: Wednesday: What's Hot on CanLII

What Do Title Insurers Expect From Lawyers?

Still relatively new in Canada, title insurance is not fully understood by many consumers. Even certain less-sophisticated lenders lack detailed knowledge of the product. The responsibility for explaining title insurance to those who purchase it – and for supporting insureds in obtaining coverage that suits their needs – falls squarely on lawyers’ shoulders.

Lawyers are also responsible for communicating accurately with the proposed insurer about the details of a real estate transaction, the property to be purchased, and the expectations and needs of the purchaser and lender.

At the Law Society of Upper Canada’s recent Real Estate Summit, LAWPRO’s Vice . . . [more]

Posted in: Reading: Recommended

Trumped, for Now

It’s small, in light of his other issues, but Donald Trump is once again embroiled in litigation, albeit outside of the United States, which may result in findings against him of at least negligent misrepresentation sufficient to produce personal liability: see Singh v Trump et al, 2016 ONCA 747 (CanLII), <http://canlii.ca/t/gv3z7>. 

The action had been dismissed, completely, on a summary judgment motion. The Ontario Court of Appeal, earlier this month, allowed significant portions of the appeal. As a result, subject to a successful appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada – I can’t see leave being granted – the

. . . [more]
Posted in: Case Comment, Miscellaneous

Ontario Land Titles System to Add Risk to Owners

The Ontario Land Titles Act pushes onto an owner the risk of the owner’s transfer being void. It does so, even if the owner took proper care when buying. This is an outdated idea. Most modern land titles systems don’t use it.

Ontario’s Bill 27, the Burden Reduction Act, 2016, includes a major change to the Ontario Land Titles Act. The bill aims to modernize Acts and reduce their burden. The bill would put a new definition of a “fraudulent instrument” into the Ontario Land Titles Act. This would push even more risk onto an owner. It . . . [more]

Posted in: Substantive Law: Legislation

Ontario Court of Appeal to Consider Basic Land Titles Issues

A current appeal in CIBC v. Computershare raises basic questions under the Ontario Land Titles Act. It’s also the first time that the courts have dealt with the many 2006 changes to the Act.

In CIBC v. Computershare, owners had fraudulently caused a discharge of their first mortgage to be registered. The owners had continued their payments and so the lender didn’t know about the discharge. Later, the owners had taken a loan under a new registered first mortgage. Under the Act, the new first mortgage had priority. But the trial court mistakenly decided that the old first . . . [more]

Posted in: Case Comment