Spotlight on Toolkits for mortgage instruction and homelessness

  • November 04, 2019

The CBA is a resource for the practice of law. The Real Property Section has updated the Mortgage Instructions Toolkit, which offers advise to residential real estate lawyers on seven new subjects. Meanwhile, the Municipal Law Section launched a legal guide to help combat homelessness.  

Tackling Homelessness: A Legal Guide for Municipal Governments

Homelessness is a serious problem in Canada. At least 235,000 Canadians experience some form of homelessness each year and an estimated 35,000 Canadians experience homelessness on a given night.

Although municipalities are the level of government that most often interacts with people without adequate housing, municipalities often do not have adequate resources or expertise to manage the range of issues involved. Solutions often depend on cooperation with other levels of government and community organizations. Nevertheless, municipalities must understand the options and powers that they do – and do not – possess.

The Municipal Law Section is comprised of lawyers with expertise in municipalities, land use control and town planning, and the intersection of municipal issues with provincial and federal laws.

The homelessness legal guide addresses the following:

As with other CBA Toolkits, additions and updates will be made over time to the guide.

Mortgage Instructions Toolkit

In recent years, lender instructions pertaining to real estate matters have increased in scope. Lawyers may find themselves under pressure to give opinions and assume responsibility for matters outside their areas of expertise. The result is a significant increase in potential liability for practitioners.

The Mortgage Instructions Toolkit is a practical resource to help residential real estate lawyers respond to common lender instruction requests.

Seven new topics were added to the Mortgage Instructions Toolkit in early October.

Learn more about the CBA’s Practice Tools.