The defendant moved to vacate Certificates of Pending Litigation obtained by the plaintiff on an ex parte basis over two properties.
The court held that a party seeking ex parte relief must make full and frank disclosure of all material facts.
The plaintiff failed to disclose a prior divorce settlement in which he had disclaimed any trust interest in the properties and misrepresented the contents of a lawyer’s letter regarding potential sale of the land.
These omissions and misrepresentations were material and could have influenced the original ex parte decision.
The court therefore set aside the order permitting the certificates, but required that 50% of the gross sale proceeds of the properties be paid into court as security pending resolution of the ownership dispute.
