1000 plain-language Q&As about real estate. Browse below, or search the whole library.
Home insurance is not typically adjusted on a residential statement of adjustments in Ontario. Unlike property taxes or condo maintenance fees — which…
Read the full answer →A certificate of pending litigation is a notice registered against a property's title that flags an active lawsuit claiming an interest in, or…
Read the full answer →A Certificate of Property Use is a tool the environment ministry can issue under the Environmental Protection Act to place ongoing, legally binding…
Read the full answer →Many Ontario law firms will accept a certified cheque or bank draft, but increasingly firms prefer or require a wire transfer instead, largely because…
Read the full answer →A chain of title is the complete sequence of recorded ownership transfers for a property, stretching back through time. Each link in the chain is a…
Read the full answer →Often, yes, and it involves two separate questions that are easy to conflate. First, zoning: municipal zoning by-laws under the Planning Act determine…
Read the full answer →Fixtures are items permanently attached to the property that are presumed to be included in the sale unless specifically excluded — think built-in…
Read the full answer →Cheque-based fraud in real estate can happen in a few ways, including a fraudster intercepting mail or physical delivery of a cheque, altering the…
Read the full answer →"Clear title" means the property comes to you free of mortgages, liens, court judgments, and other financial encumbrances — and free of any adverse…
Read the full answer →A closing does not necessarily need to stall completely just because a non-resident seller's clearance certificate has not yet arrived from the CRA.…
Read the full answer →Ontario's electronic registration system operates within set daily windows, so a transfer that is not registered before that day's cutoff generally…
Read the full answer →Per-diem (per-day) adjustments in Ontario real estate closings are calculated by dividing the annual or monthly amount of the item being adjusted by…
Read the full answer →The closing date is the day title transfers and you take possession of the property. It is a negotiable term in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, and…
Read the full answer →On closing day in Ontario, you need to deliver the funds your lawyer requires to complete the purchase. These funds cover the balance of the purchase…
Read the full answer →Not automatically, even if the shortfall seems trivial compared to the overall purchase price. Lawyers work from precise trust accounting requirements…
Read the full answer →Closing in escrow means the lawyers exchange the closing documents and funds, but hold them back from being finalized and released until a specific…
Read the full answer →Yes, the statement of adjustments for a new construction purchase in Ontario is typically more complex than for a resale purchase. Both types of…
Read the full answer →Title insurance is not a legal requirement for an Ontario closing, so a deal can technically close without a policy in place. In practice, though, most…
Read the full answer →CMHC MLI Select is a mortgage loan insurance program aimed at larger multi-unit rental buildings, generally used for financing purpose-built rental…
Read the full answer →Joining a non-profit housing co-op generally involves an application and review process run by the co-op itself, rather than the kind of credit check…
Read the full answer →Housing charges, the co-op equivalent of rent, aren't governed by the same Residential Tenancies Act rent rules that apply to ordinary landlords and…
Read the full answer →If a non-profit housing co-op corporation is wound up, members lose their membership and occupancy rights as part of the dissolution process, since…
Read the full answer →Not in the way real property passes through an estate. A co-op membership is generally personal to the member and tied to their individual approval by…
Read the full answer →Non-profit housing co-ops in Ontario are generally excluded from the Residential Tenancies Act, which is why ending a member's occupancy doesn't go…
Read the full answer →Rent-geared-to-income, often called RGI, is a subsidy that ties a member's housing charge to their household income rather than to the co-op's full…
Read the full answer →Generally not without the co-op's approval, and often not at all. Non-profit housing co-ops are built around the idea that members actually live in…
Read the full answer →A co-op member's occupancy rights come from their membership and occupancy agreement with the co-op corporation, which entitles them to live in a…
Read the full answer →In Ontario, co-owners of a property (whether joint tenants or tenants in common) each have the right to use and occupy the entire property, not just…
Read the full answer →A co-ownership agreement is not legally required, but it is strongly recommended any time you buy property with someone who is not your spouse. Without…
Read the full answer →What happens to a deceased co-owner's share of property depends on whether you held the property as joint tenants or as tenants in common. If you were…
Read the full answer →No — when two or more people buy a property together in Ontario, a single owner's title insurance policy covers all the registered owners named in it.…
Read the full answer →A standard lease sets out the tenancy relationship between the landlord and the tenant or tenants named on it, and this is the document that determines…
Read the full answer →A residential agreement of purchase and sale is usually a short, standardized form with a handful of negotiated conditions, such as financing, a home…
Read the full answer →This question actually involves two different kinds of assignment that are easy to mix up. When the building itself is sold to a new owner, that's an…
Read the full answer →Yes. A lease, including any properly documented option to renew, is a property interest that runs with the land, so when the building is sold, the new…
Read the full answer →A recourse commercial mortgage lets the lender pursue the borrower personally, and any guarantors, for a shortfall if the property is sold on default…
Read the full answer →Yes, commercial real estate transactions in Ontario typically involve a more complex statement of adjustments than residential purchases. The…
Read the full answer →A residential appraisal leans heavily on comparable sales, meaning what similar homes nearby have recently sold for, because most homes are bought for…
Read the full answer →Vacant units shift real risk onto a buyer that a fully leased property doesn't carry. The most obvious is lost income, since vacant space generates no…
Read the full answer →Yes, and it's one of the more overlooked steps in commercial due diligence. A rent roll tells a buyer what a tenant is supposed to be paying, but it…
Read the full answer →A vendor take-back (VTB) mortgage is a financing arrangement where the seller, instead of receiving the full purchase price in cash at closing, agrees…
Read the full answer →A committee of adjustment is generally made up of members appointed by municipal council, often local residents rather than elected councillors…
Read the full answer →While Ontario real estate lawyers prepare statements of adjustments carefully, errors do occur. Catching them before funds are exchanged protects both…
Read the full answer →Yes, this is one of the main ways a common-law partner who isn't on title can claim an interest in a shared home, since they don't have the automatic…
Read the full answer →No. The Family Law Act's specific matrimonial home protections, including the requirement that both spouses consent before the home is sold or…
Read the full answer →A Community Planning Permit System is an optional planning tool some Ontario municipalities have adopted under the Planning Act that combines what…
Read the full answer →What you can recover depends heavily on who actually caused the delay and what losses it caused you. If another party to the transaction, such as the…
Read the full answer →If a condition in your Agreement of Purchase and Sale cannot be satisfied — for example, your financing was not approved or the home inspection…
Read the full answer →When a seller triggers the escape clause, they are telling you that another buyer has submitted an acceptable offer and that you must decide — within…
Read the full answer →A conditional offer contains one or more conditions that must be satisfied or waived before the deal becomes binding. Common conditions include…
Read the full answer →Yes, a committee of adjustment generally has the authority to approve a minor variance subject to specific conditions, rather than only having a…
Read the full answer →Every Ontario condominium corporation must hold an annual general meeting (AGM) of unit owners under the Condominium Act, 1998. As a unit owner, you…
Read the full answer →This is a genuine risk worth taking seriously. Under the Condominium Act framework, unpaid common expenses generally create a lien against the unit…
Read the full answer →Balcony maintenance responsibility in an Ontario condominium depends entirely on how the balcony is classified in the declaration and what maintenance…
Read the full answer →Common expenses — often called maintenance fees or condo fees — cover the condominium corporation's cost of running the building and maintaining the…
Read the full answer →The Condominium Act, 1998 does not grant condominium corporations direct authority to levy monetary fines against owners the way a municipality can…
Read the full answer →Yes. Under the Condominium Act, 1998, unit owners have the right to examine certain records of the condominium corporation. The categories of records…
Read the full answer →Under the Condominium Act, 1998, every director of a condominium corporation must act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of…
Read the full answer →Disputes between condo residents — typically involving noise, smoke, smells, or rule violations — are generally governed by the condominium's rules and…
Read the full answer →Installing hardwood or hard-surface flooring in an Ontario condo frequently requires the corporation's approval, and many corporations impose strict…
Read the full answer →Ontario's Condominium Act, 1998 requires every condominium corporation to maintain property insurance on the units and common elements for their…
Read the full answer →Yes. The Condominium Act, 1998 gives condominium corporations a powerful collection tool: they can register a lien against your unit for unpaid common…
Read the full answer →If a neighbour in your condo building is causing noise that breaches the corporation's rules or constitutes a nuisance, your first step is to put your…
Read the full answer →Not always — and this is a frequently misunderstood point. In Ontario condominiums, parking spaces and storage lockers can be structured in three…
Read the full answer →Yes, an Ontario condominium corporation can restrict or prohibit pets through a provision in its declaration or its rules. A pet prohibition in the…
Read the full answer →A condominium property management company is hired by the corporation's board of directors to handle the day-to-day administration of the building.…
Read the full answer →In Ontario, each condominium unit is assessed and taxed separately as an individual property. The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC)…
Read the full answer →Whether you need corporation approval depends on what you're renovating and what your governing documents say. Under the Condominium Act, 1998, you…
Read the full answer →Ontario law limits how much a condominium corporation can restrict a unit owner's right to lease their unit. Under amendments to the Condominium Act,…
Read the full answer →Ontario condominiums have a three-tier set of governing documents, each with different purposes and different thresholds to change. The declaration is…
Read the full answer →Whether you can list your Ontario condo on short-term rental platforms depends on three overlapping layers of regulation: the municipality's zoning…
Read the full answer →A special assessment is a one-time charge levied by the condominium corporation on unit owners when the reserve fund or operating fund runs short of…
Read the full answer →In Ontario, a status certificate is a document that a condominium corporation must provide upon request. It sets out the financial and legal health of…
Read the full answer →The Condominium Act, 1998 gives buyers the right to make their agreement conditional on the review of a status certificate — and in practice this is…
Read the full answer →A condo status certificate in Ontario is a detailed package — often dozens of pages — that reveals the financial and legal state of the condominium…
Read the full answer →Under the Condominium Act, 1998, any person may request a status certificate from a condominium corporation, and the corporation must comply. This…
Read the full answer →A turnover meeting is the point at which control of a new condominium corporation passes from the developer to the unit owners. Under the Condominium…
Read the full answer →The choice between a condo and a freehold home involves financial and lifestyle factors that only you can weigh. From a legal and ownership…
Read the full answer →When you close on an Ontario condominium purchase, your real estate lawyer will provide a reporting letter that summarizes the transaction and confirms…
Read the full answer →Ontario's Condominium Act, 1998 is the provincial statute that governs the creation, governance, and management of condominiums. It establishes several…
Read the full answer →No, the reserve fund balance is not adjusted on the statement of adjustments when buying a resale condo in Ontario. The reserve fund belongs to the…
Read the full answer →The Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program offers property tax relief on portions of Ontario land recognized as ecologically significant, such as…
Read the full answer →Buried construction debris, such as old foundation material, demolished building remnants, or fill containing waste, is generally the current owner's…
Read the full answer →A construction lien is a legal claim registered against your property by a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier who has not been paid for work or…
Read the full answer →As the current owner, you are generally the one responsible for addressing contaminated soil discovered on your own property, even if the contamination…
Read the full answer →Converting an existing rental building into condominium units means creating a condominium corporation under the Condominium Act, 1998, which governs…
Read the full answer →Converting a single-family home into a legal duplex generally requires confirming the property's zoning actually permits a second unit, then obtaining…
Read the full answer →There's a filing fee required to bring an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal, and that fee, along with any related administrative charges, is set and…
Read the full answer →Under the Condominium Act, 1998, a condominium corporation can charge a fee for preparing a status certificate. The maximum fee is set by regulation…
Read the full answer →There's no fixed price, since the actual cost depends on the specific circumstances of the easement being created, but it generally involves a few…
Read the full answer →When a court is asked to approve a sale in a receivership or similar insolvency proceeding, it is generally not looking for proof that the absolute…
Read the full answer →On an Ontario statement of adjustments, a "credit to buyer" is money that reduces the amount the buyer has to pay at closing. A "credit to seller" is…
Read the full answer →You generally cannot pay a down payment directly in cryptocurrency; real estate closings in Ontario move on standard Canadian-dollar funds through…
Read the full answer →Ontario's disclosure rules are generally built around physical conditions that make a home unsafe or unfit to live in, not around a property's history…
Read the full answer →Yes, this is a real possibility, and it is one of the reasons power of sale purchases carry more uncertainty than an ordinary transaction right up…
Read the full answer →If a lender exercises its power of sale in Ontario and the sale proceeds are insufficient to repay the outstanding mortgage balance plus the lender's…
Read the full answer →Not freely, even though it's technically "your side" of the wall. Because a shared wall in a semi-detached home structurally supports both units at…
Read the full answer →Yes, a demolition control bylaw is a separate tool some Ontario municipalities use, distinct from heritage designation, to regulate the demolition of…
Read the full answer →Demolishing a heritage-designated building involves a distinct process beyond an ordinary demolition permit, since the Ontario Heritage Act requires…
Read the full answer →Yes, potentially. Under Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act, a person who qualifies as a dependant of the deceased can apply to the court for support…
Read the full answer →Links go to the official consolidated text. Legislation changes — confirm you are reading the current version.
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