Court of Appeal for Ontario

Date: 2019-12-05 Docket: C66867

Judges: Watt, Hourigan and Trotter JJ.A.

Between

Flor Narvaez, Estnar Limited and Narsach Property Management Inc. Plaintiffs (Respondents)

and

Julio Muzlera, Dyana Driscoll, Giovanni Buemi, Royal LePage Realty Plus, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. Defendant (Appellant)

Counsel

Mauro Marchioni, for the appellant

David Fenig and Frank Loreto, for the respondents

Heard and Released

Heard and released orally: November 29, 2019

On appeal from the judgment of Justice McSweeney of the Superior Court of Justice, dated April 2, 2019.

Reasons for Decision

[1] The respondents obtained a default judgment against the appellant. The motion judge declined to set aside the judgment. On appeal, the appellant submits the motion judge erred because the judgment was irregularly obtained.

[2] The claim arose from two real estate transactions in which the respondents were the purchasers and the appellant was the vendor of the properties. The respondents alleged that after the deals closed, they discovered that the property taxes for the properties were higher than detailed in the MLS listings.

[3] The statement of claim included a claim against the appellant and the other defendants for negligent misrepresentation. It also included a plea that, but for the misrepresentations, the respondents would not have entered into the transactions.

[4] This was a sufficient basis to grant default judgment. Therefore, the judgment was not irregularly obtained.

[5] The appeal is dismissed. Costs are to the respondents in the amount of $10,000, inclusive of fees, disbursements and all applicable taxes.

"David Watt J.A."

"C.W. Hourigan J.A."

"G.T. Trotter J.A."