Real Estate Law

• Commercial real estate is business based. Commercial real estate involves property that is sold, leased, or used to achieve a predetermined business objective. It’s used as an investment to achieve a rate of return on the funds invested. Commercial real estate centers on business or investment use of real estate. In commercial real estate, you can buy, sell, lease as a lessor , lease as a lessee, joint venture, develop and invest in a wide range of commercial real estate categories, including retail, office, industrial, apartments, investments, and raw-land leasing.

   

• Residential real estate revolves around the wants and needs of a home owner and family. Residential real estate involves property purchased for individual use, most often to provide housing for families. Residential real estate is focused on personal use. Generally, residential agent’s represent the buyers or sellers of single family, primary homes, cottage, new homes and condominiums.

Important links:
Condominiums – http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/condos.aspx
Land Transfer Tax – http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/tax/ltt/
Refund and Rebate (New Home) – http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/refund/index.html

• Commercial real estate is business based. Commercial real estate involves property that is sold, leased, or used to achieve a predetermined business objective. It’s used as an investment to achieve a rate of return on the funds invested. Commercial real estate centers on business or investment use of real estate. In commercial real estate, you can buy, sell, lease as a lessor , lease as a lessee, joint venture, develop and invest in a wide range of commercial real estate categories, including retail, office, industrial, apartments, investments, and raw-land leasing.

• Residential real estate revolves around the wants and needs of a homeowner and family. Residential real estate involves property purchased for individual use, most often to provide housing for families. Residential real estate is focused on personal use. Generally, residential agent’s represent the buyers or sellers of single family, primary homes, cottage, new homes and condominiums.

For many individuals they are dealing with adjusting rates, increased mortgage payments, decreased equity, reduced income, refinancing a mortgage or home loan is one good way to solve some financial problems. When an individual refinances, they receive a new mortgage to substitute their existing mortgage. This will become a brand new loan and you will usually have to pay title insurance and escrow fees, lender fees, appraisal fees, credit reporting fees, and any amounts needed to bring your insurance and tax obligations up to date.

There are many reasons why individuals are refinancing or obtaining mortgages such as: refinancing can save you money by lowering your interest rate, refinancing allows you to change your loan type and refinancing can lower monthly payments.

A private mortgage is a legal agreement between two parties that are not financial institutions in which one party agrees to lend the other one money in return for repayment, interest, and the borrower’s real estate if he or she doesn’t pay back the loan. The parties involved could be a business and a person or two people or more.

There are pros and cons to this type of arrangement for both lenders and borrowers, but many of the possible difficulties that can be avoided by careful, clear planning and documentation.

Many entrepreneurs start their business from the ground up or many begin their business through the purchase of an existing business. This transaction whether through the purchase of individual assets or shares of a corporation, requires a considerable amount of research and examination on the part of the purchaser. Failure to carefully consider all aspects of the deal and in particular to conduct adequate searches prior to transfer can result in the acquisition of a business that is worth far less than the purchase price, litigation, delay, or an insufficient transaction. A Purchase and Sale agreement is the contract between the vendor and purchaser for the transfer of either shares or assets of a business.

The agreement classifies the entire process of formalizing the sale of a business. The purpose and value of this agreement is to provide certainty and clarity as to the value, identity and ownership of the assets or shares to be sole, the amount and method of payment to be provided. Whether a purchaser is buying assets or shares, the same detailed and comprehensive searches should be conducted. The searches will be very specific and will depending on the nature of asset being purchased.

A lease is very important as it protects both the tenant and the landlord. A lease is a binding agreement between two or more parties. This contract is usually between a landlord, or property owner, and a tenant, person who rents the property. The tenant agrees to pay the landlord for use of a tangible asset such as an apartment for a period of time agreed upon in the lease terms.

There are many common examples of property that can be leased in real estate:

• Residential – home
• Residential – apartment
• Industrial
• Warehouse
• Advertising space
• Space on a roof or property

Important links:

Rights with leasing – http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/Leasing_Goods.aspx

Landlord tenant board- http://www.ltb.gov.on.ca/en/

Buying a home, condominium or second home is a terrifying step financially to take and many factors must be considered before making this purchase. If a buyer or seller is unaware of the terms and conditions they might later regret making this purchaser as it will not satisfy their wants and needs. Having a lawyer review your documents before signing can save you time, bring peace of mind and potentially save you from hassle later on.

Many terms that are important and that all buyers should be aware of are:

• cutoff dates for inspectors and approvals of the inspection reports
• Who is responsible for making repairs, if any, as a result of the inspectors?
• Is the seller making any representations or warranties regarding the condition of the property?
• Will a home warranty plan be purchased?
• What easements are listed?
• Are there any restrictions to the property?
• What are the boundaries of the property?
• What are included as the common elements?
• When is escrow scheduled to close?

Title insurance is an insurance that protects you, the home owner, against challenges to the ownership of your home or from problems related to the title to your home. The policy covers against losses due to title defects such as rights of way, encroachments, unpaid liens etc.

Title insurance can protect someone against a number of risks such as:

• Fraud and forgery,
• Encroachments that would be disclosed by a new survey
• Easements
• Zoning non-compliance
• Someone other than the home owner having interest

Important links:

Title insurance- http://www.fct.ca/customers/lender/res-title-insurance/

A “Power of Sale” means that a mortgage holder (Mortgagee) has obtained the right to sell a property, usually due to non-payment of the mortgage. This doesn’t mean that the Mortgagee owns the property only that they have the right to sell it or they have obtained Power of Sale.

There are a few things about buying a home under Power of Sale such as:

• There are no representations or warranties of any kind. The property is strictly sold on an “as is” basis..

• The people that defaulted on the mortgage have the right to bring the mortgage into good standing (i.e. pay of any arrears and penalties) at any time prior to the new owners taking over. If this happens, they get their property back and the sale does not take place.

• Negotiations usually take longer than they would with a typical Seller. Offers are dealt with by fax or e-mail only and often have to go through two or three people before a decision is made. This process can take up to three business days each time a change is made to an offer. During this time the property remains on the market and showings continue.

There are many disputes that can arise and lead to litigation.

• Transactions that didn’t close
• Latent defects (faults in a home discovered after the completion of a sale which could not have not have been discovered by a reasonably thorough inspection)
• New home warranty claims involving Tarion Warranty Corporation
• Disputes over home renovations
• Construction liens
• Applications to the Landlord/Tenant Board
• Commercial lease disputes including termination of long-term leases and exclusive use clauses
• Commission Disputes
• Financing