Summary

Keywords

Property - Fiduciary duty - Property — Real estate — Fiduciary duty — Causation — Whether the correct test for materiality is determined by what a reasonable person in the position of the agent would consider to likely influence the conduct of the principal — Whether the fiduciary’s duty of disclosure is limited to everything known respecting the subject matter of the contract or whether there is a broader duty to disclose information that is material to the fiduciary relationship — What is the requisite causal link between a breach of fiduciary duty and remedy, and what role do limiting factors used at common law play.

Summary

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The applicant, Mr. Wang, is a businessman who used the services of the respondent realtors to purchase three side by side properties in British Columbia. The applicant subsequently resold the properties at a substantial profit, but utilized a different realtor, in breach of the exclusive listing agreement he had with the respondent, Vancouver Home Park Realty Ltd. During the course of their relationship, the applicant agreed to pay Home Park a bonus of $300,000 if Home Park could assemble all three properties for him, which they did. At the conclusion of the transactions, however, the applicant took the position that the respondents had committed several significant breaches of fiduciary duty owed to him, and sued for recovery of the $300,000 bonus. Home Park sued for recovery of the commission owed pursuant to the exclusive listing agreement. The trial judge dismissed the applicant’s claim and allowed the claim of Home Park. The Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s subsequent appeal.