When you sell your home, you are usually required to provide what is called clear title—that is, the legal title to your home must be free of any encumbrances such as mortgages or restrictive covenants. This requirement is so common that it forms a part of the standard contract of purchase and sale. But what happens when a whole community has restrictive covenants on its properties?
In a British Columbia Supreme Court decision that came down in early 2018, our lawyer John D. Whyte successfully defended a property purchaser who refused to complete the sale because there was a restrictive covenant on the title to the property. The problem? Every home in that area had a restrictive covenant on title. A case note on the implications of this case can be found here, along with the full decision. Contact us if you have any questions about how restrictive covenants may affect your real estate transactions.