Court orders Canadian homebuyer to forfeit $70,000 deposit and pay $35,000

A Canadian court has ordered a homebuyer to forfeit her $70,000 deposit after she failed to complete a $1.388 million property purchase in Vaughan, Ontario. Reesa Garber had agreed to buy the property from Sharon and Alexander Laraia, with the transaction scheduled to close on July 16, 2024. However, after waiving the financing condition, she later told the sellers that she could not secure the mortgage needed to complete the purchase.She also asked them to terminate the agreement and relist the property to limit potential losses. According to the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that her emails amounted to an anticipatory breach of contract and ruled that the sellers were entitled to keep the deposit.Why a $1.38 million home purchase in Vaughan turned into a buyer-seller disputeThe property at 81 Littleriver Court in Vaughan was marketed for sale by Catherine Artenosi, a realtor with Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Centre. Garber, who was a registered real estate agent in Ontario, submitted an offer on April 28, 2024, to buy the property for $1,388,000. The sellers accepted the offer. The agreement required a $70,000 deposit upon acceptance and set July 16, 2024, as the completion date.The purchase was initially conditional on financing until May 3, 2024.