James Omri Katz

The plaintiff sought summary judgment against the defendant for breach of commercial leases.

The defendant argued that the leases were signed on behalf of her corporation and raised defenses of set-off and promissory estoppel.

The court found that the defendant signed the leases in her personal capacity, as there was no evidence to support corporate adoption or proper corporate naming on the contracts as required by the Canada Business Act.

The court also rejected the defenses of set-off and promissory estoppel, finding that the plaintiff had mitigated damages.

Summary judgment was granted in favor of the plaintiff for unpaid rent and real estate commissions.

A condominium unit owner applied for a declaration that a certificate of lien registered by the condominium corporation against her unit was invalid.

The corporation had added legal costs incurred for obtaining advice in defending Small Claims Court actions commenced by the owner to the owner's common expenses and registered a lien under the Condominium Act, 1998.

The court interpreted the condominium declaration strictly and held that the indemnity clause permitted recovery only where the corporation took legal action against an owner and incurred costs in enforcing compliance.

Because the owner had commenced the actions and no costs award had been granted to the corporation, the declaration did not authorize recovery of the legal advice costs as common expenses.

The lien was therefore invalid and ordered discharged.