C. Milne

The plaintiff mortgagor defaulted on a development loan, leading the defendant mortgagee to sell the subject property under a power of sale.

The plaintiff brought an action alleging the sale was improvident and that the property was sold at a grossly undervalued price to a pre-selected purchaser.

The court reviewed the marketing efforts, which included obtaining multiple independent appraisals and hiring a specialized commercial real estate broker.

The court found that the defendant took reasonable precautions to obtain the true market value of the property and that the plaintiff failed to prove a higher price could have been obtained.

The action was dismissed with costs fixed at $330,000.

The applicants brought an application for a stay of proceedings, arguing their s. 11(b) Charter rights were violated due to unreasonable delay.

The total delay from charge to the anticipated end of trial was 43.5 months.

After deducting 5.5 months of defence waiver and 6 months for exceptional circumstances (Crown illness and underestimation of trial time), the net delay was 32 months.

The court found the case was not particularly complex and the remaining delay exceeded the 30-month Jordan ceiling.

The application was granted and a stay of proceedings was entered.