The recent decision of Intergulf Investment Corporation v. 0954704 B.C. Ltd. from the British Columbia Court of Appeal (Court of Appeal) serves as a reminder to buyers and sellers of real estate, and their agents, to exercise care when drafting purchase and sale agreements. It should also help put to rest an outdated and unnecessary practice of writing the purchase…

Effective January 1, 2019, developers marketing real estate development properties located in British Columbia will be subject to new information collection, reporting, and document retention requirements with respect to assignments of purchase agreements. Developers currently undertaking (or planning to undertake) a new development must ensure their purchase agreements comply with the new requirements. These changes follow the province’s passage of…

On June 20, 2018, the B.C. Ministry of Finance released a white paper on draft legislation that will require reporting on beneficial ownership of land in B.C. The draft legislation, titled the Land Owner Transparency Act (LOTA), follows the government’s announcement in the 2018 budget that it intends to collect and make available information about beneficial ownership of land in…

In its recent decision, JBP Developments Ltd. v. Li, the Supreme Court of British Columbia (Court) reminded sellers of real estate and their advisers about the basic obligation to transfer clear title to the property for sale. Sellers of real estate should ensure that purchase and sale agreements are carefully drafted and include terms clearly setting out what title restrictions…

The NDP government in B.C. handed down its first full budget on February 20, 2018 and there were a number of initiatives that will affect the cost of acquisition and disposition of real property in B.C. Most of these initiatives are described in the Government’s 30-Point Plan for a Fairer Housing Market, which will not only affect residential property, but…