Okosun v. Minniti, 2021 ONSC 565

CITATION: Okosun v. Minniti, 2021 ONSC 565

COURT FILE NO.: 78/19

Brampton

DATE: 20210122

SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE – ONTARIO – DIVISIONAL COURT

RE: Okosun v. Minniti

BEFORE: D.L. Corbett J.

DATE: January 22, 2021

HEARD: In Writing January 21, 2021

COSTS ENDORSEMENT

D.L. Corbett J.

[1] The tenants abandoned their appeal in this court on September 29, 2020.

[2] The respondent landlord is entitled to her costs of this appeal. That is the effect of starting and then abandoning an appeal.

[3] The appeal was never perfected and the landlord was not called upon to incur expense to file responding materials.

[4] The parties argued a motion before Ricchetti J. (as he then was). In his decision dated March 2, 2020, Ricchetti J. directed that costs of that motion be dealt with by the court hearing the appeal. The landlord obtained substantial relief on that motion. The landlord is entitled to recover costs for that motion on abandonment of the appeal.

[5] There was a further motion, before Daley J., in September 2020. The tenants largely prevailed on that motion but were in default of their payment obligations at the time. Daley J. did not make an order as to costs and did not reserve those costs to this court.

[6] I fix the costs payable to the landlord for the motion before Ricchetti J. at $1,500 on a partial indemnity basis. I consider this a conservative figure, but I did not receive an itemized bill of costs that specified the costs claimed specifically for this motion. I decline to award further costs for the appeal, since I am not satisfied that any were incurred by the landlord, apart from the costs of the motion before Daley J., for which no costs are awarded.

[7] In her materials, the landlord went on in detail about the long history of the matter before the Landlord and Tenant Board and during the course of the appeal. In the responding materials, the tenants responded in kind. I appreciate that both sides feel strongly about those things, but they are largely beside the point on the issue of costs of an abandoned appeal in this court. If a party brings an appeal and abandons it, the other side is entitled to partial indemnity costs. These costs are to indemnify the successful party, partially, for the out of pocket costs of defending an appeal that has been abandoned unilaterally by the other side. They are not a punishment, or compensation for the entire conflict between the parties

[8] The landlord has not established that it incurred material costs in this appeal, other than those associated with the motion before Ricchetti J. – the other matters of which the landlord complains in her materials does not change this fact.

[9] Order to go that the tenants shall pay the landlord costs of the appeal, including costs of the motion before Ricchetti J., fixed at $1,500, inclusive, payable forthwith.

D.L. Corbett J.

Date: January 22, 2021