A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision, Rabinowitz v. 2528061 Ontario Inc., 2026 ONCA 21, was allowed in part, as the Court upheld a lower court’s decision not to grant specific performance in a failed commercial real estate transaction, while also finding that the 12% interest charged under a mortgage did not infringe the Interest Act. Despite finding that the seller had repudiated the agreement of purchase and sale, the trial judge declined to grant specific performance. Specific performance is an equitable, discretionary remedy grounded firmly in the facts of the case. The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge correctly applied the governing principles to determine that the purchaser did not meet the burden of demonstrating that: 1) The property was unique; and 2) Damages would be an inadequate remedy. Regarding the mortgage issue, the sixth-month mortgage was given 0% interest, then 12% thereafter with no tying of … Read More
Toronto Lawyers for Mortgage Defaults – Assessing your Bank’s Bill
Once a mortgage has been defaulted on, banks and other mortgage lenders will often charge mortgagors (you-the borrower and their customer) exorbitant and excessive fees, whether it be intentional or not. Time and again, we have seen these fees levied at exponentially greater amounts than lenders are reasonably entitled to charge under the circumstances. The charging of such unreasonably high fees has not been viewed favourably by the courts. In the midst of Covid-19 related complications and with other financial difficulties remaining on the horizon, many property owners have been unable to continue to pay their mortgages on a consistent basis. One difficulty that presents itself for home owners in this type of situation is the ability of their mortgage lenders to sell their properties via “power of sale” proceedings. A power of sale is meant to pay off secured mortgage lenders for the amount that they are owed under … Read More