York Condominium Corporation No. 301 v. James, 2014 ONSC 2638
Decision Date: May 5, 2014
http://canlii.ca/t/g6tps
Carleton Condominium Corporation No. 348 v. Chevalier, 2014 ONSC 3859
Decision Date: June 25, 2014
http://canlii.ca/t/g7mrr
These are two recent cases in which a judge has ordered the sale of a unit and the eviction of its mentally ill owner. In both cases, the owners failed to comply with several previous orders and their actions presented numerous health and safety issues for other residents, staff, contractors and visitors. In both cases, the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee was called in to safeguard the interests of the respondents. And in both cases, the condominium corporations incurred extra costs for enhanced security because of the respondents.
Comment: These are sad and difficult cases for everyone involved.
A warning about investment fraud and identity theft:
This past month also brought the dismissal of the appeal in the convictions of Andrei Khatchatourov and Natalya Reznik (R. v. Khatchatourov, 2014 ONCA 464, http://canlii.ca/t/g7g1h). Khatchatourov and Reznik (a paralegal) were found guilty of multiple mortgage financing frauds. Their strategy was to gain the trust of recent immigrants from Russia and Ukraine, involve them in condominium “investment” schemes, then use their identities to obtain mortgage financing, take title to properties and obtain mortgage advances from banks. The individuals who were targeted lost money and in one case, lost their home and were driven to bankruptcy. The financial institutions involved lost over one million dollars, ultimately reimbursed by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
So a friendly word of caution: If an investment opportunity sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Seek independent legal advice before signing contracts, and never sign something you haven’t read or don’t understand. A consultation with a lawyer might seem expensive, but failing to get good advice might cost you much more in the end.