Does the doctrine of "caveat emptor” apply where the vendor fails to disclose dangerous latent defects?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Potter and Paragallo v. Montpetit et al., 2013 BCPC 129 (CanLII):

As thereafter noted in Cardwell v. Perthen at paragraph 24, “caveat emptor will not apply where the vendor fails to disclose dangerous latent defects.” Accordingly the distinction “between patent and latent defects is central to a vendor’s obligation of disclosure under this doctrine.”

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