05/15/2018
Good morning,
As we have now reviewed over 8,500 titles in the last year alone, with almost 50,000 charges in our library, we have come across a few that should be of concern to potential buyers, and their realtors.
We have seen:
1. Covenants in the Fraser Valley, which notifies everyone that the lands are in close proximity to farm area that may subject to noises, smell or other nuisance;
2. Covenants which contain requirements on a Lot Owner to preserve and maintain the view from an adjacent Lot, which includes the removal of any obstruction including any building, chimney, structure, trees or other growth which projects above the inclined plane;
3. Easements advising potential buyers that an owner of Lands nearby operates a food processing facility and despite its intention to use reasonable efforts to minimize nuisance arising from operation of its facility, there may be noise, vibration, odor, dust or litter;
4. Easements which restrict Lot Owners from constructing, extending or locating a fence unless the fence is located along a lot line and is no more than 2 meters in height;
5. Covenants prohibiting the parking area to be converted to habitable space;
6. Covenants whereby the owners acknowledge that the lands are in close proximity to farm area and farm operation, so would be subject to potential farm related activities which may expose the lands to noise & smells associated with normal farm practices;
In addition to these, a recent legal update course I attended noted:
1. A Covenant that linked titles together, so they cannot be transferred alone;
2. A Covenant allowing the Municipality to require the homeowners to install sprinklers at a later date (at a cost of $7,000 per home); and
3. Finally, a Covenant on a church property stating the cross and stained glass must stay, but the Buyer was an Islamic church – certainly no use for the two items.
I think you get the message. Non-financial charges need to be reviewed BEFORE subject removal. The only way to do so is to have the charge reviewed and explained to your client. Of course for those Lower Mainland realtors this can be outsourced to www.terrafirmareview.com.
Don’t let your client fall victim to something as shown in the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP4Bq6nxPfA.
Once again, thank you for accepting our emails and for any files you send to us.
Just a reminder, while I try to answer all questions sent my way, priority is given to those who are active referral partners.
Tony Spagnuolo, Barrister & Solicitor
Terra Firma has partnered with B.C.’s leading real estate law firm, Spagnuolo & Company, to provide realtors from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board with unlimited monthly title reviews, including a legal opinion on each non-financial charge, for a l...
