Recently a Client who owned a condominium unit in a condominium building, came into my office and complained that he was being a target of an unjust campaign by members of his condominium corporation’s (“Corporation) board of directors (the “Board”) to drive him out of the condominium building.  The Corporation alleged that, amongst other things, the Client was lighting fireworks off of his balcony on holidays, having loud parties at all hours of the night, and allowing guests to run rampant all over the condominium building.  The Client admitted that on the occasion he would host small parties and get togethers but denied the Corporation’s version of his alleged activities. Initially, the Corporation began issuing letters through the property manager demanding that the client cease the alleged activity on every occurrence in which he would have visitors to his unit.  The client attempted to address the matter with the Corporation by asking for proof of the alleged conduct and for a meeting with the complainants to discuss their issues directly with him.  His attempts fell on deaf ears and the relationship between the Client and the Board deteriorated.The final straw came when the Client received a letter from the Corporation’s solicitor threatening legal action and charging him legal fees for the said letter as they were entitled to under the condominium’s declaration and rules.  The Client was furious because he felt that the Board

At Levy Zavet PC we offer a wide range of business consulting services including Corporate and Securities Law. The Levy Zavet team specializes in the matters of Corporate takeovers, spin offs, right offerings, private placements, business incorporation, business setup, business consulting, issuing hybrid securities, purchasing hybrid securities and purchasing asset-backed securities. We are also specialized in advising on tax-efficient instruments.We have an expert team of lawyers and legal personnel to help our clients while facingCorporate/Business Disputes. Business litigation may involve fraud, breach of contract, securities, real estate matters, property dispute, shareholder disputes, partnership disputes, oppression remedies, derivative actions, negligence claim, trade secrets and employment cases. Our lawyers are experienced and trained to offer advice and help in any area of corporate legal matters and business litigation. The Levy Zavet team of lawyers can defend any lawsuit and accusation arising in the above stated business litigation matters.

Whenever buying, selling or renting a property, signing a contract is always involved. Real Estate Law covers sales, purchases, leases, construction, development and other transfers of real estate rights and properties. A real estate lawyer is integral while making a deal in real estate whether while buying or leasing or building.The Levy Zavet Lawyers help you put terms on a real estate contract which are in your best interest. We can help in protecting and negotiating interests that are in our client’s favor.  We work hard to protect and resolve any landlordtenant dispute.Levy Zavet PC is amongst the best in the business when it comes to Real Estate Litigation. This may involve allegations of fraud in real estate transfers, breach of purchase agreements, breach of sale agreements, zoning disagreements, lending disputes, property financing disputes, construction and development matters, and landlord and tenant disputes.

Under section 17 of the Mortgages Act, and pursuant to relevant case law the answer is “Yes” the lender can.  Subject to the wording in the original mortgage commitment/agreement, you will often find that lenders will charge 3 months interest pre-payment penalty if they have to enforce the mortgage via a power of sale proceeding or if you neglected to renew the mortgage once the term has expired and have failed to pay the lender out (within the time allotted pursuant to the lender’s notice).  Also, often enough, the original mortgage commitment/agreement will have qualified wording for “Open” mortgages stipulating that so long as the borrower is not in default, the borrower will be able to pre-pay the mortgage in whole or in part without a penalty or bonus.  However, once in default, a lender can demand the penalty payment of three months’ worth of interest calculated on the then outstanding principle balance, even if your mortgage is an Open one.In relevant case law the courts have often ruled in favor of the lender on disputes over its right to charge penalties pursuant to section 17 of the Mortgages Act, where the borrower was found in default of payment of any principal or interest money. 

This article applies to legally married couples and not those in common-law arrangements.  The long and the short of it is that IF both spouses are on title of the property [that means they are both registered owners in one capacity or another (commonly as Joint Tenants or even Tenants In Common)], then you will need them BOTH to sign the listing agreement, representation agreement, the offers in between, any other required Realtor documents/amendments, and the finally accepted Agreement of Purchase and Sale and its amendments.  So long as that is the case, the two FINAL documents you should ask their lawyer to produce while signing the listing agreement is, first an Un-revocable Direction to the lawyer (presuming he/she will be the one closing the deal) as to how the Proceeds of Sale are to be divided and that he/she is to be the closing lawyer.  This ensures that the two spouses cooperate and do not hold each-other hostage on the eve of closing threatening not to close unless one spouse gets what they want out of the deal.  It also ensures that the lawyer who holds this direction will be able to use it because he/she will be closing the deal.  Second, and at the same time ask the lawyer to also draft and provide a declaration that both spouses will be providing vacant possession on the day of closing before 4:00 pm.  This will help the scenario where one spouse is being

For purposes below referring to a “house” includes a condo as well.  Did you know that CRA will consider you a “Builder” if:1)       You are an individual or corporation;And you own or co-own with others a house or piece of land without the primary or secondary intention to live in it;And you on your own or together with others contribute monies OR materials OR land OR services OR any combination thereof to the building or substantial renovation of a house;2)      OR You are an individual or corporation;And you enter into an agreement of purchase and sale to purchase a house while it is under construction and before it can be legally occupied without the primary or secondary intention to live in it;  (in this case legally occupied will include circumstances where condos although not yet registered have not yet reached occupancy)

The property settlement that is related to family law for protection of your better half maybe complicated in case one partner is bankrupt or thinking to filefor bankruptcy. Under these circumstances, a quarrel may arisebetween the interests of a trustee in bankruptcy and the divided non-bankrupt partner in knowing as to how the property may be divided among both the parties. The quarrels that take place between the separated partner and the trustees of bankrupt estates may be solved by the Family Court who is authorized to make orders about the distribution of property even if the property is in the trustee in bankruptcy’s custody. While filing for bankruptcy, you may file chapter 13 bankruptcy where you will restructure your assets sothat you may be able to pay them off easily. When you decide to file for bankruptcy, your difficult financial condition will certainly have an impact on others who are around you particularly your own family. The situation may become more complicated if the couple lives separately and want to arrange for a property settlement when one partner is already a bankrupt. The relationship between family law and bankruptcy seems to be quite confusing. It involves the problem of the claims of the creditors with the non-bankrupt spouse and their children. As such, the family law proceedings may have a significant impact on the matrimonial property that is available to the creditors. A trustee in bankruptcy may apply as a party to the happenings when the family law

Every other day I get asked “what’s the deal with the Canadian Real Estate market and housing prices is there a cap? Will there be a bust/crash? What will be the floor?” After spending 4 minutes thinking about it; the following is just my two cents! Over the past few years, I wake up every morning and on the news I usually hear or read a combination of a few of the following:Greece is bankrupt;Europe is on shaky grounds with an ongoing debt crisis;North Korea has nuclear capability;India has nuclear long range capability with not just China on their list;Iran has or will have nuclear capability;Syria is in the middle of a revolution;Libya is crippled;In Africa there are 24 countries each dealing with some kind of war, and 88 countries with war between militias-guerrillas and separatist groups, there are 6 provinces struggling for independence;

The condominium market in Toronto is and has been hot over the past few years for a variety of reasons such a seeming stable Canadian economy, foreign investment, growth in Toronto’s financial services industry, low interest rates and lack of supply in desirable neighbourhoods.  Condominium Developers market new projects as sexy investments, and for the most part, over the last many years, Purchasers in desirable projects have seen a return on their  investment either through rent or resale.  Condominiums are out selling any other type of dwelling in Toronto and Toronto is North America’s leader in new condominium project starts.  During a hot condominium market, it is easy for Purchasers looking to invest  for themselves, their children or as an income property, to rush into a deal and a project without knowing all the pertinent facts.  Therefore It was good thinking by the government of the day to provide statutory rescission rights under the Ontario Condominium Act, 1998 (the “Act”) .  This article will briefly examine the rescission rights under the Act and discuss the proper methods of delivering the Purchaser’s intention to rescind if they do not wish to proceed with purchasing a condominium unit.

In Ontario, Tarion Warranty Corporation (“Tarion”) is responsible for administering the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER 0.31 (the “Act”) and is remedial, consumer protection legislation that primarily seeks to protect new home buyers from construction deficiencies and delayed closings.  To paraphrase from the Tarion website, ONHWP describes the mandatory responsibilities of those who build and sell new homes in Ontario and outlines the warranty coverage that builders and vendors are required to provide to new house and condominium purchasers.   However, the definition of “Builder” and “Vendor” can become skewed. Tarion Warranty Corporation v. Boros, 2011 ONCA 374 (CanLII) (“Boros”) is a recent case from the Ontario Court of Appeal that examines whether a person who undertakes to build a home for themselves but decides to sell it instead of moving into it, is required to be a registrant under Tarion.In Boros, the Defendant built a house that he and his wife were intending to live in. Circumstances had changed and the Defendant could not sell his old house and therefore decided to sell the newly constructed home they built instead. His wife had entered into the agreement of purchase and sale and acquired the property under her name alone while it was her husband who was the person involved in constructing the house.   The wife also was the one who sold the newly constructed house.