J. Kulathungam

Following the dismissal of the corporate defendants' motion to set aside default judgments, the plaintiff and an added party sought costs.

They requested substantial indemnity costs and costs payable personally by the corporate director who authorized the motion.

The court found no reprehensible conduct to justify elevated costs and held it lacked authority to order costs against the director personally without proper notice.

The added party was denied costs as he lacked full party or intervener status.

The plaintiff was awarded partial indemnity costs fixed at $27,838.23 after reductions for excessive preparation time.

The corporate defendants brought a motion to set aside two default judgments obtained by the plaintiff landlord for arrears of rent and damages under a commercial lease.

The motion was brought by a director of the corporate defendants pursuant to leave granted under the Business Corporations Act.

The court applied the five-factor test for setting aside a default judgment and found that the defendants failed to bring the motion promptly after learning of the judgments, failed to provide a plausible explanation for the delay in setting the motion down for a hearing, and failed to establish an arguable defence on the merits.

The motion was dismissed.