Expert advice, market reports, and tips from the Niagara Region real estate professionals.
Purchasing a new build home is an exciting opportunity that comes with unique responsibilities for home buyers. This is particularly true when it comes to understanding the warranties and protections for your home. In this two-part article, we will review how the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act (the “Warranties Act”) provides warranty coverage for you and your new home.
Welcome to our latest newsletter! Today, we will consider the sale of land being split into one (1) or more pieces. We will review some key features of Ontario’s Planning Act and consider the distinction of when land can be sold through a legal severance and the circumstances in which a legal severance is not needed. Understanding these differences is crucial for anyone involved in real estate transaction where multiple lots are in play, whether you are a homeowner, developer, or investor. Let’s explore these concepts in detail.
The Homeowner Protection Act, 2024 (HPA), came into force on June 6, 2024. This legislative effort marks a significant step forward in protecting homeowners and buyers in Ontario and introduces several key measures aimed at ensuring fair practices in the real estate market, each of which will be given a brief review in turn.
In our last article, we reviewed estate planning from the perspective of married couples. In this article we consider estate planning from the perspective of common law couples in blended families.
For families that have children from previous relationships, the conversation around estate planning can involve some uncertainty. A parent may question what happens to their estate when they pass away. For instance, a partner may wonder if their children from a previous relationship will be protected, and they may want to preserve a portion of the equity of their estate for their children.
In our last article, we showed how s. 8 of the Interest Act prevents lenders from imposing a penalty on borrowers who have defaulted on their mortgage. In this second part, we will dig into the case law surrounding this issue, and hopefully solidify once and for all that it is illegal for lenders to impose default penalties on the default of borrowers.
Anyone who has ever had a mortgage will know that there are lots of legal terms that apply. This is true especially when it comes to legal terms that relate to what happens if you fail to make payments.
Welcome to our latest newsletter! In this edition, we shed light on the use of dual wills as an estate planning tool in Ontario. Understanding your estate plan is critical to avoiding unnecessary challenges for your loved ones when you pass away. As this article discusses, dual wills can be an effective way to avoid the unfortunate taxation and delay associated with the probate process, and specifically focuses on distributing corporate and other assets where probate is avoidable.
Greetings, esteemed readers! We all aspire to lead lives filled with success, happiness, and fulfillment. However, unforeseen circumstances can throw a wrench in anyone’s plans. One aspect of minimizing risk that often goes overlooked by younger adults is setting up their powers of attorney. In this edition of our newsletter, we delve into why seeking professional assistance from a lawyer is a great option when managing your future success.
