The Vendors and Purchasers Act: Settling an Ontario Title Dispute Short of a Lawsuit
How a short, rarely-amended statute and your OREA Form 100 handle a title requisition — from signing to appeal.
What does Ontario’s Vendors and Purchasers Act actually let a buyer or seller do?
Under the Vendors and Purchasers Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. V.2), a seller or buyer of a real or leasehold estate — or their representative — can apply to the Superior Court of Justice for a decision on any requisition or objection, any claim for compensation, or any other question arising out of or connected with the sale contract. The court can make whatever order it considers just, and its order can be appealed to the Divisional Court. One question is carved out: the application cannot decide whether the contract itself exists or is valid — that question has to be resolved some other way.
Source: Vendors and Purchasers Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.2, s. 3 (Ontario e-Laws, current to September 23, 2026)
I’m Arthur Zhao, a Toronto real estate broker. Here is a quiet piece of Ontario law: a statute whose default terms attach to every contract for the sale of land in the province, yet whose most recent amendment shown on Ontario e-Laws dates back to 2006. The Vendors and Purchasers Act is short, old, and easy to overlook, but it hands both the buyer and the seller a specific tool for the moment a deal snags on the title. The clearest way to see where it fits is to walk a single transaction from signing toward closing and watch each piece come into play at its own point on the timeline.
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Signing: where the deal’s title rules come from
Form 100, the parties have agreed otherwise on these points, so those printed clauses govern and section 4’s defaults simply do not apply. Treat section 4 as the backstop for a home-made or bare-bones agreement, not the rulebook for a standard resale.Before the Requisition Date: searching title
ℹ️The exact deadlines and mechanics in your own deal come from the contract you signed, not from this article. Before you rely on any of the defaults above, read the Requisition Date and the title paragraphs in your own Agreement of Purchase and Sale.
The written requisition
requisition (also called an objection). A requisition is simply a formal, written demand that the seller fix or explain a title problem before closing. Doing it in writing, and by the deadline, is not a formality: both the Act’s defaults and Form 100 treat only a valid, on-time objection as one the seller is obliged to answer.The seller’s response
💡 My own read: in a standard resale it is the title clauses you signed in Form 100 — not the Act’s section 4 defaults — that decide how a requisition plays out, so the first thing to read is your own contract’s title paragraphs. Section 3 reads differently: it is not written as a default term that applies only when the contract is silent, but as a standing statutory route for either side to ask a court to decide the disagreement.
When you still can’t agree: the section 3 application
apply to the Superior Court of Justice, at any time and from time to time, for a decision on any requisition or objection, any claim for compensation, or any other question arising out of or connected with the contract; the court may make whatever order it considers just. An application of this kind asks a judge to rule on a defined question, rather than an action (a conventional lawsuit) that tries the whole dispute. One boundary is written right into the section: it expressly does not reach a question affecting whether the contract itself exists or is valid — that has to go the ordinary litigation route.🚨This walks through the statute and the standard form only. Whether a specific requisition is valid, whether it goes to the root of title, and whether a section 3 application is the right move are legal questions that turn on your facts — take your own situation to a real estate lawyer or paralegal.
If you disagree with the decision: the appeal
- Vendors and Purchasers Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.2 — ss. 1, 3 and 4 (Ontario e-Laws, consolidation from June 22, 2006; current to September 23, 2026)
- OREA Form 100, Agreement of Purchase and Sale — paragraph 8 (Title Search / Requisition Date) and paragraph 10 (Title)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which court hears a Vendors and Purchasers Act application, and can the decision be appealed?
The application goes to the Superior Court of Justice. Under section 3(2), an order made under section 3 can then be appealed to the Divisional Court.
Can I use section 3 to sort out a money dispute, not just a title problem?
Yes. Section 3(1) reaches any requisition or objection, any claim for compensation, and any other question arising out of or connected with the contract. The one thing it cannot decide is whether the contract itself exists or is valid.
Does the Act override what my purchase agreement already says?
Your signed agreement comes first. Section 4 supplies default terms only where the contract is silent, and a standard OREA Form 100 has already agreed otherwise on most title points — so for a normal resale those printed clauses govern. Section 3 is different in kind: it is not worded as a default term, and the Act does not make it subject to what the contract says — it is a statutory right to apply to court.
How old is this law, and is it still in force?
It is the Vendors and Purchasers Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.2, consolidated from June 22, 2006 and shown as current to September 23, 2026 on Ontario e-Laws. The most recent amendment shown on e-Laws is from 2006 (S.O. 2006, c. 19, Sched. C).
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