Real Estate Law Blog

One of the many issues commonly negotiated between landlords and tenants is the condition of the state of repair that the premises must be in at the expiry of the lease. Typically, a standard form lease will require that the tenant return the premises to the landlord in the same condition as that which it is required to maintain during the term of the lease, and to remove certain ...

On March 15, 2017, the BC Government issued Order In Council 152/17 (the “OIC”), which creates a retroactive exemption from the 15 percent Foreign Entity Tax (the "Tax") for foreign nationals applying for permanent residency under BC’s Provincial Nominee Program, and provides refunds for certain purchasers who have previously paid or are required to pay the Tax ...

Recently, a number of retail enterprises have availed themselves of the protection of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), Canada’s insolvency statutes.  The BIA and CCAA, as federal statutes, have various provisions that allow a debtor to deal with their leases in a manner which may be inconsistent with the ...

On February 16, 2017, Bill M-205 (Property Law and Land Title Amendment Act, 2017) passed first reading which, amongst other things, proposes to make amendments to the Property Law Act (British Columbia). Notably, Bill M-205 would restrict ownership of land within the Agricultural Land Reserve (the “ALR”) by foreign nationals or foreign corporations to a maximum of ...

Landlords who enter into commercial leases with tenants accept, and expect in return, some degree of liability as spelled out in leases and commercial tenancy legislation. After all, leases are intended to be two-way streets: the landlord provides the tenant with a leasehold interest in real property, and the tenant pays rent in return. Understandably, landlords are in no ...

The City of Vancouver (the “City”) has issued a new corporate policy on Letters of Credit that sets out the requirements that must be met where applicants for City approvals are required to provide security to the City for development or non-development projects.

The policy provides that the City will not accept any form of cheque (whether certified or not) or bank draft ...

The British Columbia Law Institute published on September 1, 2016 its Consultation Paper on Complex Stratas seeking public comments on proposed reforms to the Strata Property Act and its regulations concerning sections, types, and phases.

The BCLI carries out scholarly research, writing and analysis for law reform, collaborating with government and other entities ...

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 ...