YOU GOT SERVED

What to do if you have received a court claim in Ontario

By: Inderpreet Suri

Many condominium corporations, directors, management companies and managers get sued in Ontario. When this happens, important timelines come into play. Sometimes, by the time the claim is dealt with or a lawyer is contacted, it is too late. Important deadlines may be missed. This article provides some basic information about what to  do if you are served with  a court claim in Ontario.

Served with what?

If you receive (in other words, get "served" with) a document titled "Statement of Claim" or "Plaintiff's Claim", it means that you have received notice of a legal proceeding and must  take steps immediately .

A Statement of Claim or a  Plaintiff's Claim is a document that starts a legal action in an Ontario court. Whether a legal action is started by a Statement of Claim or a Plaintiff's Claim depends on the amount of damages claimed  (for example, a claim solely for damages in the amount of $35,000 or below must be commenced in Small Claims Court) or the remedy being asked for.

A Statement of Claim or Plaintiff's Claim will also state who is suing (i.e. who the plaintiff or plaintiffs are) and who is being sued (i.e. who the defendant or defendants are), and contain details about the facts and allegations – in other words, the plaintiff's explanation of why he/she thinks they are entitled to receive what they are seeking through the claim.

What you should do

If you are served with a Statement of Claim or a Plaintiff's Claim, you should deal with it immediately and contact a lawyer.

You may have been  served with the document because you are a representative of the condominium corporation, a company that is being sued, or because you yourself are being sued.

Also, because a Statement of Claim or a Plaintiff's Claim are originating documents (in that they start legal actions) and are extremely important, they are required to be personally served on the defendant or defendants (with a few exceptions). Getting personally served means the document is hand-delivered by one person to another person. If they are not, it is not considered proper service by the courts. Your lawyer can provide you with more information about this.

From the date that you properly receive the claim, you have 20 days to serve a defence on the plaintiff (or the plaintiff's lawyer if there is one) and file a copy of the defence with the affidavit of service in court. As a note, giving a copy of a document to the other side is called “service”, and giving a copy to the court is called “filing”. In the case of a Superior Court Statement of Claim, you can obtain an extra 10 days to serve/file your defence by serving and filing a notice of intent to defend within 20 days.These matters should be dealt with by the corporation’s lawyer. It is typically beyond the expertise of most managers and board members.

Consequences

If a defence is not filed within the deadline, the plaintiff will be able to "note you in default". This means that you will be deemed to have admitted the facts and allegations contained in the Statement of Claim or Plaintiff's Claim and will lose your right to defend the claim. The Plaintiff can then seek further orders directing you to pay damages or do certain things as noted in the claim. Failing to deal with a claim, if you are served with one, may be considered negligent behaviour for which you might be held personally accountable.

If you have been served with a claim, contact your lawyer immediately. A quick call can set you on the right path to deal with this.