AFA Law
Automatically compiled listing. Details may contain errors.1 lawyer · City of Toronto
One of 2,276 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 453 handling Real Estate Law.
Free consultation
Free consultationAbout AFA Law
AFA Law is a Toronto firm built around commercial real estate: buying and selling commercial property, financing it, leasing it, and corporate matters. Estate planning and residential real estate round out the practice. Much of the day-to-day work is acting for lenders on commercial mortgages secured by multi-residential, retail, industrial and mixed-use buildings, CMHC-insured loans among them.
Anthony F. Aiello founded the firm and was called to the Ontario Bar in 2019. Clients include institutional and private lenders, borrowers, property owners, landlords and tenants. Anthony holds an LL.M. in Business Law (Osgoode Hall Law School) and an LL.B. (University of Birmingham), and is a Toronto Lawyers Association member.
The letters in the firm's name are its founder's initials, and they double as a nod to how it prices work: alternative fee arrangements shaped to the work, with scope and cost discussed at the outset. Those arrangements are available on some matters. Ellen M., the firm's law clerk, supports Anthony on the firm's lending, leasing and real estate work, and on a live transaction is frequently who clients hear from first.
The office is in Commerce Court, in the middle of Toronto's financial district. A short, free phone call usually settles whether AFA Law suits the matter and what it would take.
Practice areas
Commercial mortgage financing
AFA Law acts for lenders and borrowers across Ontario on conventional and CMHC-insured commercial mortgages, acquisition loans, refinancings and take-outs, MLI Select deals included, on multi-residential, commercial and mixed-use property. Its role is set for each retainer, and acting for both kinds of client never means representing both sides of one financing.
Commercial property purchases and sales
AFA Law works for purchasers, vendors, developers and lenders on commercial deals in Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario. Alongside purchase agreements, the work covers buying and selling land, severances, Planning Act compliance, and registering plans of subdivision and condominium.
Commercial leasing
Landlords and tenants both come to AFA Law for office, retail and industrial leases anywhere in Ontario, with Anthony F. Aiello drafting, reviewing and negotiating offers to lease, new leases and amendments. Files run from tenant inducements, allowances and fixturing periods to estoppel certificates, non-disturbance agreements and the conditions a lender sets.
Residential real estate
On the residential side, AFA Law closes freehold and condo purchases, sales and refinancings across Ontario for buyers, sellers and lenders. That includes reviewing status certificates on condo purchases and handling land transfer tax, among them the first-time buyer rules and Toronto's municipal tax.
Corporate and commercial
Owner-managed businesses and their principals turn to AFA Law on how a company is set up, financed and eventually sold: incorporations under the Ontario Business Corporations Act or federally, holding and operating structures, share and asset sales, and franchising work that covers disclosure obligations. Anthony also advises private funds on investing and financing.
Wills, trusts and estates
AFA Law prepares wills, including multiple wills when probate planning calls for them, as well as continuing powers of attorney for property, powers of attorney for personal care, and both inter vivos and testamentary trusts.
Fees & payment
Free consultationHow AFA Law works
Clients work directly with the lawyer handling their file, with no file handler in between, and the firm aims to return calls the same day wherever it can. Advice is pitched at the commercial goal and the closing date as well as the legal risk. When a risk is worth taking, the firm will say so and explain its reasoning instead of just documenting it and leaving the call to the client.
On corporate files the goal is practical drafting that holds up once the transaction is live, not paperwork that reads nicely but doesn't fit the deal. Nothing starts until an engagement letter is signed and any retainer required is in hand, and the firm treats that as a rule rather than a formality.
Milestones & recognition
- In February 2024 Anthony F. Aiello wrote a paper and spoke at a Law Society of Ontario commercial leasing program on how lease damage and destruction clauses interact with insurance and indemnities.
Affiliations & connections
- Toronto Lawyers Association: Anthony F. Aiello, founder of AFA Law, is a member of the Toronto Lawyers Association.
Who handles what
The neighbourhood
Commerce Court West stands at the south-west corner of Bay and King, part of the Commerce Court complex. Pei Cobb Freed & Partners designed the 57-storey glass and stainless steel tower with Page and Steele, and it went up in 1972, holding the title of Canada's tallest building until 1976. Its neighbour, Commerce Court North, opened in 1931 as the Canadian Bank of Commerce's head office and has been protected under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act since 1991.
By the mid-1800s, the block of King Street West between Bay and Yonge was known as bankers' row, and the 1972 plaza at the centre of the complex was laid out by I.M. Pei & Partners as a forecourt for its four buildings. The tower links straight into the PATH, and King subway station is two minutes away on foot.
Frequently asked questions
- Does AFA Law handle CMHC-insured MLI Select refinancings?
- AFA Law acts on CMHC-insured transactions, MLI Select refinancings and take-outs among them, as well as conventional commercial mortgages, and acting as lender's counsel on commercial mortgage financings is a large part of the practice. On a lender's file, the work carries from the commitment letter to the final reporting letter, covering title and corporate due diligence, security and funding along the way.
- Can AFA Law review an offer to lease for my Toronto shop or office before I sign it?
- AFA Law reviews offers and draft leases while terms are still being negotiated, and it also looks at leases that are already signed. If a signing deadline is looming, flag it in your first enquiry so the firm can confirm it's available in time.
- Can AFA Law handle my commercial property purchase and the borrower-side mortgage on one retainer?
- AFA Law practises in both commercial acquisitions and mortgage financing. Where it's appropriate, and subject to conflicts, a single retainer can cover the purchase together with the borrower-side financing.
- What happens on AFA Law's fifteen to twenty minute introductory call?
- AFA Law's first call runs fifteen to twenty minutes by phone, with no charge and no obligation. You explain the deal or the problem, and the firm tells you what the work involves, roughly what it'll cost and whether it's a good fit. If it is, you get the scope in writing plus a price: a fixed fee when the job can be defined that tightly, hourly billing when it truly can't.
- Can AFA Law plan my estate around my company or real estate portfolio?
- AFA Law treats the estate plan and the corporate structure as one problem for clients whose main asset is a company or a portfolio of real property, and it works on the two together. The firm also revisits and refreshes existing wills when life or the business changes, such as a marriage, a separation or a new child.
- Can I sign AFA Law documents by video instead of coming to Commerce Court West?
- AFA Law can arrange signings in person or by video wherever the document allows it, and most of its files can be dealt with without ever coming in. Meetings at the office are by appointment.
- How quickly does AFA Law answer an enquiry sent through its contact form?
- AFA Law commits to answering written enquiries within one business day. A phone call is still the quickest way in, and anything urgent should go by phone to (416) 363-0717.
Where to find them
Commerce Court West, 199 Bay Street, Suite 1930, Toronto, ON M5L 1G2 · 416-363-0717
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