In a recent case, the Divisional Court of Ontario had to hear an appeal from a case, where the Buyer claimed that she was not obligated to complete the transaction.
The reason, apparently, was that the “carpet was stained”.
In Ashrafi v. Carraro on 31 October 2019, the Divisional Court concluded that a stain on the carpet would be insufficient.
Naturally, this was an appeal from Small Claims Court, otherwise the Superior Court of Justice (Divisional Court) would never have been considering such a claim.
How did the case get there?
Actually, the trial Judge in Small Claims Court made a mistake. She failed to give credit in the calculation of the Seller’s damages for the deposit. There are numerous cases on point going back to 1840, and in the Ontario Court of Appeal in Azzarello v. Shawqi. On that point, the Buyer was successful on the appeal.
So, now we know “for sure”: if there are stains on the carpet, the Buyer will still have to close the deal.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker