Selkirk man sues Winnipeg businessman over alleged fraudulent land transfer

A man who claims he unknowingly signed over his property in Selkirk to a Winnipeg businessman is taking the case to court.

Kenneth Russell Bear filed a statement of claim with the Court of Queen's Bench earlier this month against Richard Boon and a numbered company Boon owns, claiming Boon defrauded him.

Bear claims Boon approached him in fall 2015 when Bear's home was set to be sold off in a tax sale. Bear had fallen on financial difficulties and failed to pay property tax on the home in Selkirk, about 35 kilometres northeastof  Winnipeg.

'Vulnerable' client did not understand documents

The lawsuit states Boon presented Bear with several documents at that time — which Bear signed without legal advice — that transferred ownership of the property to Boon.

However, Bear claims, Boon told him he would pay off his taxes as a loan, and Bear would retain ownership of the property as he made payments.

The accusations have not been proven in court.

"[Bear] did not understand that he was transferring title to [Boon]," the court document alleges. "Nor did he understand he was renting the property from the defendants. He believed he was repaying his tax arrears rather than paying rent."

The statement alleges Boon exploited Bear's vulnerability. The document says Bear has difficulty reading or understanding complex verbal instruction, as well as hearing and visual impairment.

"Ken was vulnerable, did not understand the documents presented to him, and he was inexperienced in real estate and legal matters," the document says.

Reached over the phone last week, Boon said Bear knew what he was signing but declined further comment.

Businessman named in other cases

Bear's lawyer, Blake Hamm, declined to comment as the matter is before the courts.

Bear is seeking an order putting the home back in his name, as well as damages and legal costs.

This isn't the first time Boon has been accused of misleading desperate homeowners into signing over their land titles.

Several Winnipeg homeowners have transferred titles of their homes to Boon and his associated companies for more than a decade. Many of the deals have resulted in lawsuits.

In November 2018, a Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench judge awarded Venni and Rosa Sartor ownership of their home, which they signed over to Boon in 2007. Justice Colleen Suche ordered Boon to pay the couple $30,000 in punitive damages plus court costs.

At the time, Boon admitted he found out about the Sartors' looming foreclosure by going through records at the land registry office.

In April 2018, a Manitoba Court of Appeal upheld a judge's 2015 decision to allow Shawn and Roxanne Brown to buy back their home from Boon, after he tried to sell it while they were still living in it.

In 2006, Manitoba's land registry office said Boon had talked 69 people into transferring ownership of their homes over to him in exchange for help paying their mortgages over the six previous years.

That year the land registry office simply stopped processing Boon's land transfers — preventing him from taking ownership — after determining many of Boon's clients didn't understand what they were doing.