Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Blog

Last year I blogged about a Nanaimo commercial tenant who defeated her landlord’s claim for unpaid rent on the grounds the lease had been fundamentally breached as a result of a pervasive odour. Neither the landlord, nor the tenant could find the source of the smell though it was related to the HVAC system. The odour was adversely affecting the tenant’s retail clothing ...

It seemed like a good idea at the time. However, as time passes, things change and having a restrictive covenant on title to property can become a big problem. Restrictive covenants are charges registered on title to land that restrict the use and enjoyment of that land in some way.  They can prohibit activities on a property or confine the nature, size and location of ...

In several earlier posts I discussed a B.C. Supreme Court decision involving problem strata owners who had, for years, defied efforts by the strata council to moderate their poor conduct.  The court ordered the sale of the strata unit as the only practical means to bring an end to what was described as “outrageous conduct."  The Court of Appeal allowed the owner’s first ...

What happens if you lease a commercial retail space only to find, after several months of operation, that there is a pervasive and unpleasant smell in the place?  Customers are complaining.  Your employees are feeling ill.  Your inventory might be getting damaged.  The source of the smell cannot be found.  Is this your problem or the landlord’s?  Can you get out from under the ...

Many readers would be surprised to know that where you purchase real property with money provided from a third party there is a presumption that you are purchasing that property, or interest in that property, on behalf of the third person.  This is called the doctrine of “purchase money resulting trust”.  Until recently, there was some question as to whether this remained ...

In my January 2012 and July 2012 blog posts, I discussed the ongoing saga of the Jordisons, arguably the epitome of strata owners from hell.  For a period of years, the Jordisons continually behaved in an obnoxious and outlandish manner towards their neighbors.  To try to stop them, the strata council levied fines totaling over $20,000 for their ongoing and flagrant ...

Landlords, tenants and law students all wrestle over what it means for something to be a fixture as opposed to a chattel.  It matters to landlords because, at the end of a tenancy, fixtures can become their property and enhance the land value. It matters to tenants because they risk losing valuable assets installed on the premises as part of their business.  It matters to law ...

On March 7, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada issued an important decision regarding the obligation of public authorities to compensate private landowners in circumstances where public infrastructure construction has interfered with the private use and enjoyment of land.  In doing so, the Court ruled that a court must weigh the overriding public good occasioned by the ...

On Monday October 29, 2012 the B.C. Property Assessment Appeal Board released an important decision reducing the assessed value for property tax of the upland land and improvements at the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal to a nominal value. BC Ferries occupies the Province-owned property both under a long-term lease restricting the property use to ferry terminal, and under a ...

The Supreme Court of Canada released its decision today in Southcott Estates Inc. v. Toronto Catholic District School Board, 2012 SCC 51 which addressed a number of thorny issues relevant to commercial real estate disputes including whether a Plaintiff must mitigate its damages where it has made a claim for specific performance of a real estate contract.  The decision has ...