The court dismissed the property owners' motion to vacate a subcontractor's construction lien upon posting reduced security, finding triable issues regarding the prime contract price, extras, and set-offs.
The Owners (Jeffrey and Rachel Nagashima) brought a motion under s. 44(2) of the Construction Act to vacate Cancore Production Ltd.'s construction lien against their property by posting reduced security, specifically the basic statutory holdback of $38,000.
Cancore opposed any reduction.
The court dismissed the Owners' motion, finding they failed to convincingly demonstrate that their maximum liability to Cancore would be less than the full lien amount.
The Master found triable issues regarding the prime contract price, the extent of agreed extras, and the validity of claimed set-offs for incomplete and deficient work, concluding that the Owners had not met their evidentiary onus to justify a reduction in security.
