Question: Why do we insist on a Mutual Release when a deposit was never paid? The Agreement of Purchase and Sale already says it becomes “null and void” if a …
Lot Falls Short of “more or less”: Deposit Returned
The Ontario Court of Appeal released a decision about a deposit on 12 December 2018 in Hosseinzadeh v. Pringle. The case is rather straightforward. The parties were troubled over the …
More on Deposits
(Ontario) Question: I’m trying to find information about deposits. If schedule B says certified or draft, and a personal cheque is dropped off, can it be refused? What about sending …
3 Reasons for the Deposit
The deposit is not consideration in a transaction. It’s not like the nominal “$2.00 and other good and valuable consideration that is used for a Transfer”. The Deposit is designed …
20% Deposit is Good
The Ontario Court of Appeal just had an opportunity to consider the size of a deposit in an agreement. If it’s too large, it might be struck down as a …
Deposit Too Large to be Forfeited
On occasion, a deposit can be too large. Then, it becomes something of a penalty if it’s lost. The Court has the right to grant “relief from forfeiture” when it’s …
The Basic Law about Deposits in Ontario
Although the issue comes up from time to time, the leading case on the subject of deposits is De Palma v Runnymede (1949) in the Ontario Court of Appeal. The …
Buyer Defaults, but Seller is Cautious
The Buyer is about to default on the deal. The Seller will let them out of the deal and give them their deposit back as long as deal #2 closes …
When Does a Seller have to Mitigate in a Defaulted Real Estate Transaction?
This is an interesting question and hundreds of thousands of dollars can turn on the answer. Recently, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice had to consider that question. The Buyers, …
Deposit is Irrelevant to Contract Formation in Ontario
The concept of a deposit is irrelevant to contract formation. It is just purely and simply another term in the contract. In fact, it’s not even a necessary term. There …