Winning in Quebec small claims court no guarantee of seeing award

A Quebec consumer protection group says the province's small claims court is failing the public.

Many people who take a case to the Small Claims Division of the Court of Quebec believe once a judgment is made in their favour, they will automatically get their money.

However, litigants are responsible for collecting their own damages, said Yannick Labelle, a consumer protection analyst with Quebec's Union des Consommateurs – and it can be a long and costly process to collect from a defendant, sometimes amounting to more than the award itself.

"Even if you win, you've won the battle but not the war," said Labelle.

Some debtors "will use any loophole that we leave open in the system to delay," said Labelle.

"If they can delay, they'll get you that way. You will eventually give up."

Up to plaintiff to chase down award

Stefan Kambiz Behfar has experienced the frustration of long delays.

Earlier this year, he sued a Montreal-based developer over land Behfar had agreed to sell in Pointe–Saint-Charles.

He claimed the developer had stalled for months, ultimately cancelling an agreement to purchase the property.

Behfar said he lost money and other potential buyers during that time. He sued the developer for $15,000 – the maximum award.

The defendant did not appear at the hearing, so the judge ruled in default and awarded Behfar $6,610.73, including interest. 

"I thought everyone had to respect the judge's decision," said Behfar. "I sent him a message on his cell phone asking him to pay me, and he said, 'So funny, do whatever you want to do, call a lawyer.'"

Until 1995, the province employed bailiffs to enforce small claims court judgments, but that program was cut as an austerity measure. Now, successful litigants who don't receive payment from a defendant have to initiate enforcement proceedings themselves.

When the developer didn't pay, Behfar paid out of pocket for a writ of seizure and hired a bailiff to try and seize movable property from two different addresses.

One of the locations was empty and the other, a sales office for a condo development, didn't have enough property to make it worth the effort.

The bailiff then suggested hiring a detective to find an alternate address.

"I can't really employ a detective to find an address because how much money will I have to pay?" said Behfar.

"Time and money-wise, I have already spent more than the $7,000 for this whole process."

Starting from scratch

And it may have been all for nothing.

In October, the Quebec small claims court notified Behfar that the defendant had asked for the judgment to be revoked because he had been unable to appear at the hearing.

A new hearing was granted, to be held in 2016.

A lawyer for the developer said he's not trying to avoid paying. In fact, he said, he will pay if the judge determines he is responsible.

However, Behfar said he feels as if he's back at square one, more than two years after the developer's initial promise to purchase his property.

"I don't see any way I can get my money," said Behfar.

He has lost such faith in the system, he isn't sure he'll show up at the hearing.