What these disputes usually involve
Real estate disputes are contract disputes with features of their own. The property is often treated as unique, deposits are held in trust, ownership is recorded in the land registry, and mortgages give lenders their own enforcement rights. Those features shape both the risks and the remedies.
We act in disputes involving:
- agreements of purchase and sale that did not close, and the deposits paid under them;
- defects and statements about a property that come to light after closing;
- mortgages, including private and vendor take-back mortgages, and the power of sale process;
- title, including fraudulent transfers or mortgages and competing claims to ownership;
- co-owned property that the owners cannot agree to keep or sell;
- boundaries, encroachments and easements between neighbours; and
- emergencies on or just before closing day.
Disputes with builders over new homes and condominiums have their own page: Pre-Construction Disputes.
How we approach a real estate dispute
- Put the documents in order. The agreement, amendments, waivers, notices, correspondence and the parcel register usually tell most of the story.
- Find the deadlines. Closing dates, notice periods in the agreement, mortgage enforcement periods and the limitation period come first.
- Explain the options. A clear demand, negotiation, a motion, an action or an application each carries different costs, timelines and risks. You decide with that in view.
- Protect the property where needed. If there is a risk the property will be sold or mortgaged before the dispute is decided, we consider a certificate of pending litigation or an injunction.
Remedies a court may grant
- Damages for breach of the agreement, including a loss on resale and reasonable carrying costs
- Return or forfeiture of a deposit
- Specific performance, in limited cases
- A certificate of pending litigation registered on title
- An injunction preventing a sale, a closing or other steps
- Correction of the land register after fraud
- An order for the sale of co-owned property, followed by an accounting between the owners