When you grant an easement over your lands to another, who has the obligation to maintain the lands and the improvements on those lands? One might argue that it is the grantor of the easement—that the owner has the obligation...more
"We're ready, willing and able to close. Are you?"
These are familiar words to those who buy and sell real estate. They embody the notion that, on the time appointed for the closing of the transaction, a party is ready to...more
Markets change. Situations change. Plans change. And in the face of change, tenants are often faced with future lease obligations that no longer suit their business plans. They need (or at least want) to change the deal with...more
Once an agreement of purchase and sale for real estate is signed, the path to closing and the rules of closing are firmly engrained, both in the terms of the contract and in principles of law and equity. You don’t get to...more
"This Court accepts that it is very harsh for an owner of land to be forcibly compelled to sell land that they have no desire or wish to sell—this amounts to a private expropriation. This Court also accepts that it is very...more
"Better three hours too soon than a minute too late" wrote William Shakespeare in The Merry Wives of Windsor—a line that would have fit well in the judgement of the Ontario Court of Appeal in its recent decision in 3 Gill...more
The Law of Taking was Fishy -
If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.
If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
But what if a man has the right to sell fish, and he builds his business...more
It's generally accepted good law that, in order to create a valid contract for the purchase and sale of real property, the agreed-upon terms must include, at a minimum, the identity of the parties, the description of the...more
Bennett Jones was pleased to host an oversubscribed NAIOP panel discussion on current issues in office financing, and I am happy to share my key impressions from what was a compelling and thoughtful dialogue....more
For a good long time, Ontario has had two systems for recording the ownership of real property: the registry system and the land titles system, and in the last few decades has been undertaking the concerted effort of...more
What sort of things go through a commercial landlord's mind when receiving a notice from its tenant that the tenant wants consent to assign its lease? The answer is, all sorts of things. The landlord may want the space...more
Ontario courts have long wrestled with whether requisitioning the closure of an open building permit is a valid buyer requisition when made pursuant to a standard Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) real estate form...more
"Self-induced urgency is not “urgent”."
That was the opening line, and the ultimate decision from Hon. Justice Myers in Nicholas v Ogniewicz, 2021 ONSC 4442. The case involved an application by the purchaser for a...more
Too Clever by Half -
Not so long ago I received a draft agreement of purchase and sale from a practitioner in which he named his purchaser client as “John Doe, in trust, and without personal liability, for a corporation...more
In 2015, and just before his retirement, Justice Murray of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice left us with a challenging legal decision that, for the time being at least, will matter to mortgage lenders....more