Real Estate Law Blog

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 ...

The B.C. Supreme Court recently issued a ruling in a strata property case involving second-hand smoke. Andrushko v The Owners Strata Plan KAS 1041 McIntosh Grove, 2015 BCSC 2445 will be of interest to strata councils and their advisors, who are increasingly being called upon to manage smoking-related disputes.

The case involved a strata complex located in Salmon Arm ...

British Columbia’s new Guide Dog and Service Dog Act (which we wrote about in an earlier blog post) will come into force on January 18, 2016.

Corresponding changes to the Strata Property Act will also come into force on January 18, 2016.  Strata owners, occupants, tenants and visitors will be able to have their certified guide dog or service dog on strata premises, regardless ...

A recent decision of the BC Supreme Court demonstrates the difficulty of obtaining an order under Section 35 of the Property Law Act. The case will be of particular interest to developers who intend to rely on the Section as part of their development plans. Section 35 grants the Court authority to cancel or modify certain types of charges including easements, statutory rights ...