The Scottish Government has recently unveiled its long-awaited proposal for financing and delivering major public projects in Scotland. The initiative, the Scottish Futures Trust (the SFT), will replace the widely-criticised Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and heralds a golden opportunity for the delivery of high quality projects which represent value for money for the taxpayer ...
The possibility of buying real estate rests normally on the capacity of an individual or company to acquire debt, reason why credit entities play an essential role in the success of the real estate market. Lately, we have noticed that in addition to the traditional loan guaranteed by a mortgage, there is an offer for loans guaranteed by a security trust ...
The False Claims Act (“FCA”) is one of the most powerful anti-fraud weapons available to the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). It permits treble damages and makes penalties available for each false claim the defendant submitted to a federal payor. The DOJ effectively deployed the FCA against mortgage lenders in the aftermath of the sub-prime lending crisis to obtain, in some cases, billion-dollar settlements ...
Facts This month, the Inner House (Scottish appeal court) handed down judgment in Van Oord UK Ltd v Dragados UK Ltd, an appeal from the commercial court concerning the interpretation of an NEC3 contract for the dredging of Nigg Bay, part of the Aberdeen Harbour Expansion Project. Dragados Ltd, the main contractor (and Defender and Respondent) was employed by Aberdeen Harbour Board and subcontracted all dredging works to Van Oord Ltd, the Pursuer/Reclaimer ...
From gyms, pools, gardens and co-working spaces to group litter picking, charity fund raising and book clubs, the build to rent (BTR) sector is founded on the provision of social value and community. The over-arching purpose of BTR is to create thriving communities of tenants whose willingness to utilise space and engage with neighbours goes beyond the mere occupation of a building ...
In a judgment handed down on February 16, 2021, in a case involving former de facto spouses, the Superior Court dismissed an interlocutory injunction filed by the plaintiff seeking the eviction of the defendant from what had been their common residence. After having lived together in a de facto union for 32 years, the parties separated. The plaintiff, sole owner of the family residence, left the residence while the defendant continued to live there ...
FIRE SAFETY ACTThe Fire Safety Act (the “Act”) came into force on September 1, 2000. Its purpose is to implement organizational arrangements pertaining to fire safety within the regional county municipalities (“RCMs”) and major urban centres in Quebec. Section 8 of the Act requires them to establish a fire safety cover plan (a “Plan”) which must then be approved by the Minister of Public Security ...
On November 21st, the Supreme Court of Canada released a crucial decision on the interpretation of the “faulty or improper design” exclusion in all-risks builders’ insurance policies. By a bare (4 to 3) majority, the Court adopted a comparative standard requiring insurers to show that an impugned design failed to meet “the highest standards of the day” for the exclusion to apply ...
On June 29, 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada, in a decision written by Judges McLachlin and Abella, reinstated the judgment of the Supreme Court of British Columbia and set aside the $100,000 award for punitive damages of the Court of Appeal. At the same time, it upheld the judgment rendered by the two lower courts and condemned Sun Life to pay the insured $20,000 in compensatory damages for mental distress caused by the breach of the disability insurance contract ...
On February 18 last, the Supreme Court of Canada1 denied leave to appeal in the matter of Intact Compagnie d’assurance c. 9221-2133 Québec inc.2, thus confirming the principles applicable to the duty of the insured to collaborate ...
Standard real estate brokerage contracts generally stipulate the obligation for the seller to pay a commission to the broker in the event that an agreement for the sale of the property occurs during the term of the brokerage contract or where the seller voluntarily prevents the free performance of the contract. It is not unusual, even in the absence of an actual sale, that real estate brokers claim the payment of the commission stipulated in the brokerage contract ...
The highest court in Massachusetts held in Allmerica Financial Corp. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, 449 Mass. 621, 2007 Mass. LEXIS 519 (Aug. 6, 2007), that a “follow form” excess insurer is not obligated to fund a settlement negotiated by the primary insurer ...
Covid-19 continues to affect businesses negatively. We have previously written about a few important considerations for tenants in connection with the extraordinary situation we are in. As mentioned in that article, if the tenant, on its own initiative, is forced to shut the business it conducts on the premises, the tenant is generally still obligated to pay rent as usual ...
In The Euromoney Global Insurance Handbook 2004, Delphi & Co worked on the Swedish Ministry of Justice’s bill for a new Insurance Contract Act, which was heavily criticised in Sweden at the time. On May 19, 2004, after more than 10 years of processing, the Swedish Government presented a slightly modified bill for the Swedish Parliament (“the Bill”) ...
The Tenant Farming Commissioner’s Code of Practice on the Conduct of Rent Reviews contains a useful summary of the law applicable to rent reviews and provides recommended steps for the conduct of the rent review itself. If the rent can’t be agreed by simple discussion or exchange of letters then the Code of Practice sets out a timetable that the parties should follow unless both parties have agreed otherwise ...
Not something a landlord wants to hear. But what does it mean? Before a landlord can consider what remedial action is available against a defaulting tenant, it needs to understand the reason for the default. Where a tenant is insolvent, the precise nature of that insolvency needs to be established ...
Insurance contracts, like any other type of contract, require informed consent by all signatories. This concept is especially relevant considering that an insurance contract is an example of uberrimae fidei, i.e. an agreement requiring the utmost and the most absolute good faith when one party is disclosing facts that could influence the other party?s decision. In other words, policyholders are held to a high degree of honesty when providing their insurers with information ...
From Dominic Cummings to Nicola Sturgeon, 2023 was a noisy, headline-grabbing year for the UK’s public inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic. What’s coming in 2024? And what does it mean for businesses? In terms of media exposure, the first full year in the life of the UK’s official Covid-19 Inquiry was a resounding success ...
