Real Estate Law Blog

The provincial government’s new 15 per cent tax on foreign purchasers of residential property is the talk of the town in Metro Vancouver.  While many local residents have spent the last several days debating about the likely effect of the tax, others are already facing the consequences as buyers respond to the tax by failing to complete on binding agreements of purchase and ...

On July 28, 2016 highly anticipated changes to the British Columbia Strata Property Act came into effect by regulation. The following news release from the government provides more information about these amendments.

Of key importance to strata corporations, developers and owners alike is the reduction in the voting threshold required to terminate a strata ...

In our blog post from July 25, 2016 we highlighted the provincial government's introduction (effective August 2, 2016) of the new 15% property transfer tax (the "Foreign Entity Tax") on foreign buyers of residential property in the Greater Vancouver Regional District ("Metro Vancouver").

The Foreign Entity Tax has been introduced by way of an amendment to the Property ...

The provincial government announced earlier today, July 25, 2016, that foreign buyers of residential real estate in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (excluding Tsawwassen First Nation lands) will be subject to an additional property transfer tax (The “Additional PTT”) of 15% of the fair market value of a foreign entity's proportionate share of property. For ...

On June 28, 2016, the Independent Advisory Group (“IAG”) issued its Report on the conduct and practices in the Real Estate Industry in BC. The IAG investigated the real estate industry and the existing regulatory regime, in the context of the current extra-ordinary real estate market and reports of inappropriate practices.

The Province announced that it will end the ...

The Province has announced new regulations pursuant to the Real Estate Services Act (“RESA”) that impose new duties on licensed B.C. real estate agents effective May 16, 2016, that will restrict the assignment of contracts of purchase and sale of real estate.  The Regulations are intended to cool the overheated real estate market and reduce the number of contracts being ...

The Supreme Court of Canada issued its reasons today in Krayzel Corp. v. Equitable Trust Co., 2016 SCC 18, adding some clarification to a mortgage lender’s right to protect itself from the increased commercial risk associated with a defaulting mortgagor through the use of interest rates, given s. 8 of the Interest Act which reads as follows:

No fine, etc., allowed on ...

On November 16, 2015 proposed changes to the British Columbia Strata Property Act in Bill 40-2015 were approved by the provincial legislature. These changes will come into effect after related regulatory changes are made, which is expected to occur in early 2016. This amendment, among other things, will make it easier for strata corporations to terminate their strata by ...

The BC 2016/17 Budget, released on February 16, 2016, implemented changes to the Property Transfer Tax Act and to the Land Title Act in the form of increased tax rates, citizenship disclosure requirements and a new PTT exemption.  The Budget did not change the current PTT treatment of unregistered beneficial conveyances, but it did create a new disclosure requirement ...

In a recent B.C. Court of Appeal decision, the court was asked to revisit the age old question of whether vendors of real property in British Columbia can still rely on the doctrine of caveat emptor or 'buyer beware' to avoid certain types of claims made by disgruntled purchasers.  In short, the court ultimately recognized the continuing application of the doctrine with only ...