Winning in Quebec small claims court no guarantee of seeing award

A Quebec consumer protection groupsays 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 Quebecbelieveonce 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 anditcan be a long and costlyprocess to collect from a defendant, sometimes amounting tomorethan the award itself.

"Even if you win, you've won the battlebut not the war," saidLabelle.

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

"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 inPointeSaint-Charles.

He claimedthe developer hadstalled for months, ultimately cancellingan agreement to purchase the property.

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

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

"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 employedbailiffs to enforce smallclaims court judgments, but that program was cut as an austerity measure.Now, successful litigantswho don't receive payment from a defendanthave 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 Behfarthat 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 lawyerfor the developer saidhe's not trying to avoid paying. In fact, he said,he will pay if the judge determines he is responsible.

However,Behfar saidhe feels as ifhe'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 inthe system, he isn't sure he'll show up at the hearing.