The applicants sought an ex parte order to dispense with service and discharge a registered notice of security interest held by the respondent, Viva Financial Corporation (VFC), on their residential property.
The security interest related to a carbon filter and water softener system installed by VFC, which the applicants claimed was faulty and for which VFC became unresponsive.
The court declined to grant the order, finding that proceeding ex parte was inappropriate as VFC could be served by mail to its last registered address, and a potentially affected non-party, Simply Smart Home (SSH), also needed to be served.
Furthermore, the court held that the statutory provisions relied upon by the applicants (sections 1 and 12(3) of the Mortgages Act and subsection 102(1) of the Land Titles Act) did not apply because the applicants did not intend to pay off the secured obligation, which is a precondition for relief under those sections.
The application was adjourned sine die to allow the applicants to properly serve VFC and SSH and reframe their application.