Richard Macklin and Wei Jiang have successfully appealed a Superior Court Ruling in the case of Arista Homes (Richmond Hill) Inc. v. Rahnama, 2022 ONCA 759.
This Court of Appeal Ruling dated November 7, 2022, addresses the law on damages for cases where a purchaser is at fault for a breach of a home purchase contract.
As noted by the Court of Appeal (per Fairburn A.C.J.O., Doherty and Lauwers JJ.A.), the key figure for the damages calculation is the value of the home, according to what it is sold for on the date of resale to a subsequent purchaser (see paragraph 9 of the Ruling).
Other Ontario damages law cases had suggested requiring different evidence (“expert” valuation), and a different date (the date the purchaser failed to close).
In our case, the Appeal Court varied the Lower Court Ruling such that damages owed to our client will include a higher “loss of bargain” amount, plus the forfeited deposit, interest and other damages. The total award to our client will be roughly $500,000.