Pursuing a case in Court requires thorough planning and research to avoid potential pitfalls. Unfortunately, many may fall victim to deceit and may end up pursuing a contractor dispute case, fraud litigation case or even a debt recovery case in Court. In Ontario, the Court provides a relatively streamlined process for resolving disputes. Nevertheless, it’s imperative to gather information to increase the odds of success of collecting your money, and avoid losing more money compared to potential gains.
Before pursuing any legal case, it is important to complete research on if you will be in a position to collect your judgment and legal fees. This is because once you win in Court, it is your responsibility to make the effort to collect your money. If the losing individual or company does not voluntarily pay the judgment, you may need to take steps to collect your money such as registering a writ in the area that the title is held in property and/or filing the correct documents so that funds in that individuals or company bank account may be frozen and provided to you.
If you place a writ on property, you can take steps to start to sell it to pay your judgment in six months. Please take note that the writ will expire after six years and as such, it must be renewed.
You can also complete and file the appropriate documentation in order for a percentage of the individual’s salary to be garnished and sent to you.
Tanya recently discussed the importance of researching on if you will collect on your judgment before you sue on CBC, which is a national television station.
The link to the video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcWaRTYGrlE and online article is https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/morning-brief-november-13-2023-1.7024817.
The problem is if you sue an individual or company and you win and you are not paid, you may not ever receive payment if that individual or company does not hold title in property or is not employed. To find out bank account information so funds may be garnished, a private detective may need to be hired or you may need to cross examine the defendant to obtain that information in a proceeding called an examination in aid of execution. A clever defendant may provide that bank account information in that examination, then transfer the funds and close that account so that you don’t receive anything when the funds are garnished. The defendant then may again open another bank account because you don’t have that information.
Avoidance of paying a judgment by changing title in property and bank accounts with the goal to avoid paying you may lead you to become successful in a contempt motion, which is a court proceeding where the defendant may be imprisoned. The disadvantage is there is a high financial cost to win this proceeding and sometimes by the time that the decision is made, the defendant may have fled the country. Walker Law was successful with getting an order for the majority of its legal costs to be paid in a contempt motion for its client in the amount of $59,301.55.
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It is Your Responsibility to Monitor Ownership of Property
When title to property is discovered before the lawsuit is filed, it is important to monitor it from time to time to ensure that the owner doesn’t sell it or transfer title to a relative, another company or friend for very little in funds, i.e. $2.00. If this occurs, then you may not be able to easily cause the property to be sold once you win in Court. Walker Law has successfully obtained Court orders to freeze further transfer of property when this was done.
Conducting thorough research about your potential to collect fund before you initiate legal proceedings in Ontario Court is a vital step in protecting your interests and minimizing potential losses. By understanding the probability that you will collect your money, you can make an informed decisions to a successfully resolve your legal dispute. If you are interested in resolving a contract dispute, or debt recovery Walker Law’s lawyers can help.
Tags: Debt Recovery