David Ridley

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 plaintiff sold a gasoline station to the defendants and took back a VTB mortgage and a promissory note.

The defendants stopped making payments, alleging the plaintiff misrepresented the station's financial performance and failed to complete a drive-through as undertaken.

The court found no misrepresentation, as the financial information provided was not materially inaccurate and the defendants waived their due diligence conditions.

However, the court found the plaintiff breached its undertaking to complete the drive-through and awarded the defendants an $80,000 offset against the amounts owing under the VTB mortgage.

The plaintiff was granted judgment for the balance owing and possession of the property.