The Supreme Court of Canada used the following language when discussing “as is, where is”. It applies at the time, unless you say otherwise.
The Honourable Mr. Justice Dickson J. of the Supreme Court of Canada summarized the law in Fraser-Reid v. Droumtsekas [1980] 1 S.C.R. 720:
“…..Notwithstanding new methods of house merchandising and, in general, increased concern for consumer protection, caveat emptor remains a force to be reckoned with by the credulous or indolent purchaser of housing property. Lacking express warranties, he may be in difficulty because there is no implied warranty of fitness for human habitation upon the purchase of a house already completed at the time of sale. The rationale stems from the laissez-faire attitudes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the notion that a purchaser must fend for himself, seeking protection by express warranty or by independent examination of the premises. If he fails to do either, he is without remedy either at law or in equity, in the absence of fraud or fundamental difference between that which was bargained for and that obtained.”
Comment
That’s the total explanation about purchases of second hand property.
Get it in writing and/or conduct an inspection!
The only legal remedies are for:
- Fraud
- Fundamental difference.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker