Legal Blog

Limitations – Acknowledgement

Lev v. Serebrennikov 2016 Ont SCJ

An acknowledgement of a debt will extend the limitation period if the acknowledgement is in writing and signed by the maker or the maker’s agent. Part payment is the equivalent of an acknowledgement. In this case, the promissory note was signed by a corporation and its individual owner. The corporation made the partial payment, not the owner. However, the court held that payment on the note was an acknowledgement by both the corporation and the individual because (i) all of the creditor’s dealings were with the individual and there was no indication that the corporation was owned by anyone other than the individual; and (ii) the individual signed the corporate cheque. The court also held that an email from the individual was enough to extend the limitation period even though the email was not signed. The email was sent by the individual from his own email address and his name was on the email.

Written by Jonathan Speigel Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.