In Jackson v. Rosenberg, 2024 ONCA 875, The Ontario Court of Appeal revisited a key concept in Ontario property law: the joint tenancy, and how it is distinguished from from a tenancy in common. The Appellant was the great-niece of the Respondent’s romantic partner. In or around 2012, The Respondent conveyed a 50% joint tenancy in his primary residence to the Appellant through a gratuitous transfer. The Respondent’s evidence was that this transfer was made so that title of his house could pass to the Respondent upon his death without needing to pay probate fees. In or around 2020, the Respondent became concerned that the Appellant was going to use the joint tenancy the Respondent had conveyed to in 2012 to force him out of his home. The Respondent engaged a lawyer to convert the Respondent’s joint tenancy interest into a tenancy in common. The Appellant commenced an appeal … Read More
Failure To Close A Real Estate Transaction Can Be Very Costly
For many reasons, an agreement of purchase and sale to buy real estate may be breached by either the seller or the purchaser. The innocent party may be entitled to significant compensation. For instance, in the recent Ontario Court of Appeal (ONCA) decision, Rosehaven Homes Limited v. Aluko, 2022 ONCA 817, the ONCA upheld a lower court decision granting summary judgment requiring the appellants to pay damages to the respondent arising from the appellants’ failure to complete an agreement of purchase and sale for the purchase of a home. In that case, the appellants were unable to complete the transaction because they could not obtain sufficient financing. However, the agreement was not conditional on them obtaining financing. The respondent ultimately sold the property at a loss (compared to the sale price agreed to between the parties). The lower court awarded $331,922.27 to the respondent (being the difference between the original … Read More