Legal Blog

House Area

Lamba v. Mitchell 2021 Ont SCJ

An MLS listing stated that the interior of the house was approximately 2,500 to 3,000 ft.² The property brochure noted a main floor area of 2155 ft.² and a lower floor area of 665 ft.² The purchaser, who was a real estate agent, gave evidence that, on an MLS listing, only the above grade area of the house should be referenced and that, since he did not have the property brochure when he and his spouse signed the agreement of purchase and sale, he expected that he was buying a house that had a main floor area of at least 2,500 ft.² After the agreement, he was given the brochure. He then refused to close, stating that the area of the house was not as advertised. The judge agreed that the error in the listing exceeded a fair and reasonable approximation of the proper main floor area, but, in this case, he decided that the purchasers, who had inspected the house and were sophisticated, were well aware of the actual size and layout of the house and were not misled about the area. Accordingly, he decided that the discrepancy between the actual and the misstated area did not constitute a material misrepresentation that would have affected the purchasers’ decision to enter into the agreement. The purchasers’ $20,000 deposit was forfeited.

Written by Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.