Real estate law · FAQs
The questions we get most often, grouped by topic. If yours is not here, send it to us — chances are someone else has asked it before.
Working with us
Send us the contract (or, if you have not signed yet, the property address, the price, and the closing date) and tell us whether you are the buyer, the seller, or refinancing. We will reply with a flat-fee quote and a list of what we need to open the file. Most enquiries get a reply within one business day.
For purchases and sales, we usually need at least 5 business days from the day the file lands with us. These aren't set in stone — the timeline shifts with complexity and lender requirements. If your timeline is shorter, please call us so we can evaluate the file case by case.
Not usually. Most residential files run by phone, email, and electronic signing. Some signings — certain affidavits, some lender requirements — need to be in person. Our office is at 1300 – 1500 West Georgia Street in Vancouver and we are happy to meet there when it makes sense.
Across Metro Vancouver — Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Richmond, Port Moody, and the surrounding municipalities. We are happy to act on files outside that area where the file fits our practice; we will be honest if it does not.
English and Farsi.
Money
Our flat fees on transactions under $2,000,000: $1,400 for a purchase without a mortgage, $1,600 for a purchase with one mortgage, $1,200 for a cash sale, $1,500 for a refinance with one payout, and $100 for each additional mortgage discharge. Above $2 million, on First Nations Lands, or on complex multi-title files, we quote on the matter.
Charges paid to parties other than us — government registration fees, title insurance, property tax certificates, strata documents, insurance binders. We collect these from you and pay them out at closing; they are billed at cost and are not part of our legal fee. Typical total on a residential purchase: $750 to $1,000.
No. PTT is a tax payable to the Province on most title transfers, paid by the buyer at closing. It is calculated separately and remitted on your behalf. Our flat fee covers the work of calculating, claiming exemptions, and remitting — but not the tax itself.
By bank draft, certified cheque, or wire transfer. We send you a statement of adjustments a few days before closing showing the precise amount required; you arrange to send the funds to our trust account before the closing date. We do not accept cash or personal cheque for closing funds.
The transaction
Completion date is the day title transfers and money changes hands — the legal closing of the deal. Possession date is the day the buyer takes physical possession (gets the keys), usually one business day after completion. Adjustment date is the day used to apportion property taxes, strata fees, and other periodic charges between buyer and seller — usually the same as the completion date but occasionally different. The contract specifies all three.
A detailed accounting we prepare showing exactly what is owed at closing. On a buyer's statement: purchase price, deposit credit, property tax adjustments, strata fee adjustments, our fee, government charges, third-party costs, Property Transfer Tax — totalled to a single figure you owe at closing. On a seller's statement: purchase price received, deposit credit out, mortgage payouts, our fee, adjustments — totalled to your net proceeds.
On a typical purchase: you pay us your closing funds (the difference between your mortgage advance and the purchase price plus closing costs); your lender wires the mortgage funds to us; we send the purchase price to the seller's lawyer; the seller's lawyer pays out the seller's mortgage, takes their fee, and sends the net to the seller. The whole sequence usually completes within a single business day.
Title insurance is a one-time premium policy that protects against title defects discovered after closing — fraud, encroachments, undisclosed liens, certain survey issues. Most institutional lenders require a lender title insurance policy (the buyer pays for it). Owner title insurance is usually optional but recommended on most files: the cost is modest and the protection is meaningful.
When things go wrong
Once subjects are removed, the contract is binding. If a party fails to complete, the non-defaulting party can sue for damages, the deposit may be forfeit (or returned, depending on who defaulted), and Certificates of Pending Litigation can be filed against title. These situations are time-sensitive — call us the day you suspect a deal is going sideways, not the week after.
It happens — a re-appraisal that comes in low, a job change discovered in the final review, a credit issue that surfaces. Once subjects are removed, you are bound by the contract regardless of your financing. Options include: emergency financing through a private lender, asking for a short extension (the seller does not have to grant it), or facing the consequences of failure to complete. Calling us early is essential.
It depends on whether the seller knew about it, whether it was disclosed, and what the contract says. If the seller knew about a hidden defect that affects habitability or value, you may have a claim for damages — sometimes substantial. The first step is documentation: when the defect was discovered, what you have done about it, what the inspection report and Property Disclosure Statement said. Bring those to a lawyer; do not start renovations or remediation that destroys evidence.
Yes, in defined circumstances. A CPL is a registration on title warning of an ongoing court action affecting the property. It freezes the property until the case resolves or the CPL is cancelled. To file one validly, the underlying lawsuit has to assert an interest in the land itself — not just a money claim. CPLs are common in failed real estate deals and certain marriage breakdowns.
Send it to us. If it is something we should add to this page, we will.