Asbestos Presence

(Ontario)

Question:

What happens if the seller and their agent have said that to the best of their knowledge, asbestos is not present in a home and after the deal is firm it turns out that there is asbestos?

Answer:

The clause we have unfortunately is rather useless, and has limited value. Who cares what the Seller thinks or knows! That fact really doesn’t change the risk in any way. We should have better clauses to protect purchasers.

On occasion, an action will be successful dealing with the Seller’s knowledge, but, that’s rare, and it arises because the Seller put in an insurance claim and obtained quotes. Otherwise, how can the Buyer prove what the Seller knew or didn’t know?

Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker

www.OntarioRealEstateSource.com

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