Real estate dispute dating back to 1960s resolved in B.C.

A dispute over a real estate transaction that began more than 60 years ago has been resolved in B.C. Supreme Court.

In a decision delivered orally on March 12 and posted online this week, Justice David A. Crerar ruled that the full purchase price for a four-unit apartment building in Port Moody had been paid, and that the property should be transferred to its new owner.

The building in question, located on St. Georges Street in Port Moody, near the city’s downtown, was built in 1954, according to BC Assessment. Its assessed value as of July 1, 2023, was more than $1.9 million. 

The purchase

In 1961, according to the court decision, owner George May sold the property to Olive Clitheroe “through an agreement for sale of land.”

Under the agreement, which was registered on the title of the property, May would remain the building’s owner until the full purchase price was paid. That price was $18,700, with $3,500 paid up front and the rest – plus interest – paid in $100 monthly installments until Nov. 16, 1976.

Adjusted for inflation, the original purchase price equates to just $189,143.95 in 2024 dollars.

According to Crerar’s decision, the agreement called for the purchaser to be responsible for “paying all taxes and utilities for the property, and for keeping the property insured.” The purchaser was also entitled to collect rent on the building’s apartments.

In 1966, Clitheroe sold her rights to the property to Jim Montalbetti, who paid her an assignment fee and took over the payments on the original price.

Montalbetti later assigned the agreement again in 1971, this time to his family company Gooder Holdings (1968) Ltd.

Each of these assignments was registered against the property’s title,