How a house sale repair clause led to a law suit

[Toronto Star]

Real estate law: Be careful about how you word repair clause in home sale contract, or you might end up in court.

Most home sale deals are conditional on the buyer being satisfied with an inspection. If the inspector finds problems that are big enough, the buyer usually wants them corrected in order to go through with the deal.

As the following case shows, if you are not careful about how you word the repair clause, you might end up in court.

In June, 2004 Mark Rosenhek agreed to pay Elizabeth and Angelo Breda $1.995 million for their house on Doncliffe Dr. in Toronto. The Bredas had built the home in 1997 and lived there for seven years before putting it up for sale.

The agreement was conditional on a home inspection. The home had two spots where the roof was flat, not sloped and the inspector noticed that water was pooling on the flat roof area. He noted the pooling could later lead to leaks.

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