A look back at important housing and consumer topics in 2022, including household debt, rent increases and housing affordability. If this year has taught us anything, housing and consumer law issues are more important than ever. We began the year hearing about soaring house prices throughout … [Read more...]
DIY Home Improvements: What’s the law?
Doing your own home renovations means understanding the legal requirements, such as permits, and the consequences of doing poor work. You own your own home and decide to do some renovations. You get a couple of quotes from local contractors and are in shock over what it all adds up to. You think to … [Read more...]
Neighbour Disputes: Encroaching people, trees, and smoke
Sharing a property line with someone else can lead to disputes. Here's a few common neighbour disputes and what you can do about them. Neighbours are an inevitable part of life. Unless you’ve managed to escape somewhere far off the grid! Sometimes, neighbours become great friends. Other times, the … [Read more...]
Rights Within Your Property: Did you know?
Your property rights when it comes to property boundaries, fences, airspace, peaceful enjoyment, and encroachments. Ever wonder whether your fence defines property boundaries and whether there are laws about fences? Do you know what you own and control on your property? How about neighborhood … [Read more...]
Drinking in City Parks: Changes to Alberta’s liquor laws
In 2021, pilot programs in Edmonton and Calgary allowed public drinking in certain parks. What did we learn and how has drinking culture changed? To help Albertans endure the pandemic, the Government of Alberta passed the Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Amendment Act 2020, which allowed Albertans to … [Read more...]
Housing Affordability in Review
With November being housing month, it seems like the right time to reflect on the current housing affordability situation. In November 2018, we featured an article covering the housing affordability experience in British Columbia and Ontario, with a focus on Vancouver and Toronto. Both provinces … [Read more...]
Mould and Rental Properties
Caselaw suggests mould can be a deficiency that affects whether a property is fit for living in. But who's responsible for it? We recently heard about a tricky situation involving mould in a rental property. During a property inspection, the landlord found severe mould in the unit. The tenant … [Read more...]
Condominium Bylaws and Rules: 5 things to know
On January 1, 2020, revised condominium governance regulations came into effect in Alberta. This article is part of a multi-part article series on Alberta’s new condominium regulations. This article provides a quick summary of the top five things you need to know about bylaws and rules. 1. … [Read more...]
Property Laws You’ve Maybe Never Heard Of
Did you know that each province in Canada has different property laws? Property laws deal with buying and selling land, dividing property at the end of a relationship, property liens and claims, registering interests in property, buying and selling goods, inheritances, etc. The reason for each … [Read more...]
A Tale of Two Cities: Residential property assessments and appeals in Calgary and Vancouver
Commercial and residential property taxes are by far the largest source of revenue for Canadian municipalities – about one third of the budgets in large cities. Other revenue streams include provincial grants and licenses, permits and user fees. Residential accommodation is taxed on market-based … [Read more...]
