Definition : Fraud

  Article 1726 paragraph 1 of  the Civil Code of Quebec, provides that " The seller is bound to warrant the buyer that the property and its accessories are, at the time of the sale, free of latent defects which render it unfit for the use for which it was intended or which so diminish its usefulness that the buyer would not have bought it or paid so high a price if he had been aware of them. In other words, the latent defect prevents the buyer from enjoying, as he was entitled to expect, the property sold and its accessories.  However, the purchase cannot be done blindly, as the buyer must exercise caution and diligence in the purchase process.  Thus, a defect that was denounced by the seller at the time of the sale is not covered by the legal guarantee since the buyer then acquired the property knowingly. A buyer must therefore be particularly attentive to the representations and declarations of a seller, as well as to the documentation given by the latter before the sale

An apartment held in divided co-ownership caught your attention. You seriously consider buying it, but before making a commitment, you would like more information about the neighborhood. To obtain additional information to that supplied by the co-owner seller, it will often be necessary to conduct your own survey. This is important on account of the possibility of abnormal neighborhood annoyances caused by noise, odors and smoke, the main cause of co-owners’ conflicts.