Legal Blog:

Time Start

We have written about construction limitations issues before (see newsletters of January 2004 and November 2008) and, in addition to this newsletter, will no doubt do so again. The latest case, Hugh Munroe Construction Ltd. v. Moschuk, a 2012 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, discusses when a limitation period starts to run.

Priority (2)

Some people never learn. Payment into court is a means by which construction financing and payments are allowed to flow down the construction ladder. They do not, and should not, suddenly make the payor liable to pay more money than would have been due had the money or security not been paid into court. The latest case to test this proposition is Basic Drywall inc. v. 1539304 Ontario Inc., a 2012 decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Guarantee

 We know that the garden variety of a guarantee of an obligation is governed by the Limitations Act, 2002 (the “Act”). In effect, a two-year limitation period applies. What happens when the guarantee is contained in a mortgage? Does the Act apply or does the Real Property Limitations Act (the “RPLA”) apply? The RPLA stipulates a ten-year limitation period. The question was answered in Equitable Trust Company v. 2062277 Ontario Inc., a 2012 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Release (2)

So What

 Often we see defences to collection actions that relate to matters that the defendant feels important, but that are irrelevant to the action. At that point, we have to obtain the relevant documentation and bring a motion for summary judgment. Of course, we are not the only law firm that does this. A similar situation arose in CIBC v. Nazareth, a 2011 decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Oddities

We thought that we might alert you to a couple of the more unusual cases that jumped out at us.