In the News: Canadian real estate markets hit hard by pandemic

“Across Canada about 65,000 homes traded hands in the first two months of the year, and many of those sales are now closing in a completely different environment than when the deals were made.
Vancouver real estate lawyer Ken Pazder is already seeing the fallout.
He says some clients are wondering if they have to close on deals made before the pandemic.
He has to tell them that, under the law, a deal is still a deal.
“You’re not going to be able to say ‘I don’t want to close because I’ve just lost my job, I don’t want to close because my company is shutting down or I have to shut down my business.’ That’s not going to be a legal excuse that would fly in the courts.”
In addition, his landlord clients are facing other legal issues, including tenants who suddenly aren’t paying rent.
Further complicating the situation is so-called vacant possession — a legal obligation to ensure that a sold property is in a state fit to be occupied, which can include requiring tenants to vacate when the new owner takes possession.
A moratorium on evictions in B.C. means those provisions can’t be enforced in all situations, leaving some new owners unable to access homes they have purchased.”

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