ABSTRACT
Facts: Mr Kelemen and his wife, the appellants, owned the property, a house situated on seven acres on a ravine in southwest Edmonton. There was a sign on it giving the name of the real estate company for whom he worked and his name. Mr El-Homeira, one of the respondents, saw the sign and called Kelemen. El-Homeira was a restaurant owner who told Kelemen he did not read or write English. ElHomeira said that he wanted to involve Mr Rudge, a realtor he knew and trusted but Kelemen refused to have Rudge involved. Kelemen offered to take the El-Homeiras to see a friend of his who ‘was a good guy and he’ll help you’. Kelemen then set up a meeting for El-Homeira with Mr Runka, a realtor who worked with him. At that meeting, Runka said the property was worth over a million dollars and had greater potential value. El-Homeira did not contact Rudge and entered into the contract to purchase the property. The purchase price of $710,000 was paid with some cash, the equity in the ElHomeira home and a mortgage back to the Kelemens. Approximately three years later, when the ElHomeiras confirmed by an appraisal that they had paid too much for the property, they ceased making mortgage payments and were sued by the Kelemens. The El-Homeiras counterclaimed on the basis of deceit and fraudulent misrepresentation.
