Legal Blog

Small Claims Court Jurisdiction

Canaccede Credit LP v. Shulz-Hallihan 2021 Ont SCJ

A creditor bought many files from a bank and then started to collect on them. It commenced actions in the Superior Court for amounts claimed that were far below the Small Claims Court $35,000 jurisdiction. It had difficulties in serving the defendants in three of them and moved for an order for substituted service. The motion judge allowed the order, but transferred the claims to the Small Claims Courts in which the defendant reside. He held that the Superior Court actions were an abuse of process. The claim of the creditor’s lawyer that “All creditors do this” was neither backed up by evidence nor persuasive to the judge.

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