REAL ESTATE LITIGATION

When real estate transactions break down, the financial and legal consequences can be significant. Ontario law imposes strict timelines for seeking remedies in these cases, making timely legal advice critical to protecting your rights.

Our experienced real estate litigation lawyers represent buyers, sellers, commercial landlords, commercial tenants and co-owners in a wide range of real estate disputes, including:

• Commercial purchase and sale disputes – buyers or sellers who refuse or fail to close, and claims for damages or the deposit.
• Commercial Landlord and Tenant disputes – lease breaches, rent arrears, termination, distress and relief from forfeiture.
• Certificate of pending litigation disputes – registering, defending or discharging a CPL to protect an interest in land while a claim proceeds.
• Specific performance claims – asking the court to order a reluctant party to complete the sale, particularly for unique or commercial property.
• Co-ownership and partition disputes – disputes between co-owners, including applications to force the sale of jointly held property.
• Real estate commission disputes – claims by and against real estate brokerages over commissions.

We start by identifying what you need most: completing the deal, recovering money, or protecting your interest in the property. Where urgency matters, we move quickly for interim relief such as a certificate of pending litigation or an injunction to stop a sale or transfer.

Where a negotiated resolution makes sense, we pursue it. Where it doesn’t, we build the evidentiary record for court: the agreement of purchase and sale, correspondence, appraisals, and expert evidence on value and damages. Throughout, we give you a candid assessment of cost, risk and what a realistic outcome looks like.

What happens if a buyer refuses to close in Ontario? The seller can generally keep the deposit and sue for any further loss, such as a lower resale price and carrying costs. The seller must take reasonable steps to resell the property to limit that loss.

Can I force the other party to complete the sale? Sometimes. Courts order specific performance where damages would not be an adequate remedy, which usually requires showing the property has some unique value to you. It is more common in commercial than residential cases.

What is a certificate of pending litigation? A CPL is a court order registered on title that warns others a claim to the land is in progress. It effectively prevents a sale or mortgage while the case proceeds, so courts grant it only where there is a genuine claim to an interest in the land.

We are experienced trial lawyers. We know how to get emergency court orders when time is critical, build strong cases when the matter goes to trial, and we give you honest advice about what’s actually worth fighting for.

Call us at 416.901.9984 or email info@pintoshekib.ca for a confidential consultation.