The common rule of thumb among the legal community is “don’t sign one”. That’s basically good advice, but it may be a little out of date. The basic SPIS document …
Contract Start Time
Question: Precisely, when does a contract start to run? When does the clause time actually start? Assume an offer is going on via fax. The Seller is in a different …
Comparing the Commission Clauses in 3 Agreements
There are three basic forms of commission agreements with sellers. They are slightly different. The Listing is agency, the Customer Service agreement is non-agency and the second non agency arrangement …
Commission Sharing Agreements
Real estate agents often work in small teams, or align themselves with others for specific projects. Here’s an example of an arrangement between John and Robert. John’s brother William is …
SPIS and the Entire Agreement Clause
In 2007, the purchasers Adam and Olga Soboczynski bought a house in London, Ontario from Don and Louise Beauchamp. They had owned the house since 2001 and had not experienced …
Two Reasons for the Deposit
There are actually two basic reasons for a deposit in a real estate transaction: 1) to constitute security for payment, and 2) to establish a pre-estimate of the damages in …
Proper Completion of Confirmation of Acceptance
Since we know that there is a problem signing the current version of the Confirmation of Acceptance, how should the statement be handled? It looks like you have the following …
Lawyer’s Approval: What Clause to Use?
You have already decided to include in an Offer “subject to lawyer’s approval”, but what particular clause do you want? Case law seems to suggest that in Ontario, a general …
Lawyer’s Approval: Legal Terms, Business Terms, or Both?
In a number of cases, a clause will be included in an Offer “subject to lawyer’s approval”. But, just exactly what does that mean? The answer, unfortunately is far from …
Negligent Misrepresentations and the Law
In Ontario, there are two bodies of law which must be considered in respect to misrepresentations: contract and tort. Contract If the misrepresentation is serious enough, then the victim may …