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REAL ESTATE time she learns the deal has fallen through. A purchaser's lawyer should make every effort to negotiate such clauses out of the contract and there is a good chance of being successful in a bad market in which a bank would have difficulty selling the property at all with this condition in the agreement, suggests McCarten. As the market improves, banks purchase price, but there's a lot more danger and the lawyer has to do a lot more work in particular on the contract and understanding it." — PAUL MCCARTEN, BORDEN LADNER GERVAIS LLP might take a tougher negotiating stand, he adds. Another huge concern that should set off all alarm bells is a contract that doesn't make any representation or warranty about vacant possession, says McCarten. He notes it is extremely difficult to get judges to kick people out of their homes without a huge court pro- cess. A covenant to deliver vacant posses- sion should be almost a requirement for making an agreement, he says. Furthermore, the power of sale does not give lenders any right to sell any of the contents of a house, including such items as curtains, light fixtures, fridge, and stove. "It could be a surprise and you don't want to buy a house with a bunch of stuff in it that somebody's going to come along and rip out," says McCarten. Since banks typically make no repre- sentation about work orders, zoning, or the condition of the property, it is abso- lutely essential for the purchaser's lawyer either to do a lot of searches before an agreement is signed or to make the agree- ment conditional upon obtaining a satis- factory result in all these searches. In some cases, warns McCarten, even the legal description of the property might be wrong, as there could be incorrect state- ments about the lot size or easements. "The bank is selling the property as is, where is," he says. Freelance business writer Kevin Marron can be reached at kevin@kevinmarron.com ntitled-1 1 "It might be a great I'll be a little late for dinner, dear. Value your time? Then you'll value our technology! Industry leader in legal software for real estate, corporate and estates for over a decade The choice of 2500 law firms, The Conveyancer generates required documents (including lender forms), tracks undertakings, exchanges data with Teraview® (ON) and SPIN (AB) and integrates with four title insurers. Comprehensive corporate records software tracks changes and generates prescribed forms, registers, ledgers, share certificates, resolutions, minutes, correspondence, etc. Integrated e-filing and extracts. The Estate Administration module automates Rule 74/75 forms plus scores of letters and documents. The Estate Accounting module simplifies recording of financial transactions, and generates reports in "passing of accounts" format. Tel: 416.322.6111 Toll-free: 1.866.367.7648 www.doprocess.com FROM COAST TO COAST BASICS is the largest 100% Canadian Office Products Buying organization and is more than ready to serve Canadian Businesses with all their Office Product needs from Coast to Coast. NATIONAL ACCOUNT PROGRAM • Next Day Delivery to MAJOR City Centres across Canada • Consistent Product Offering with a National Catalogue • Highly Competitive and Consistent Pricing • Quality Basics Branded Products • Save Shipping Costs with Local Distribution Western Canada Contact: Brennan Thomson brennan.thomson@supremebasics.com For more information contact Central Canada Contact: John Trevisan john_trevisan@dyedurham.ca A ST TO A NATIONAL CO 0 % CANAD EACH 100% CANADIAN OWNED AND OPERATED A NETWORK OF DEALERS I Quebec/Atlantic Canada Contact: Peter Lai plai@crites-riddell.com www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com M AY 2009 21 4/14/09 8:21:17 AM S T 1 0 O A N AND JUST AROND THE CORNER C