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LEGAL ENFORCEMENTS & ACCOUNT RECOVERY
Will my Judgment Expire and is it too late for me to enforce or collect?
You have got a Judgment in Ontario, and now you are wondering how long you have to collect. Maybe you have been sitting on a Judgment, and wondering if it is still valid? When do Judgments expire? Do they expire at all? If you have a Judgment in Ontario, you should know your rights, and the answers to the above.
Firstly, the short answer is that a Judgment does not expire. So, if you have a dusty judgment paper somewhere in your closet, or living room drawer, and you have been thinking about cashing in on that Judgment, the good news is that you can! According to Section 16(1)(b) of the Limitations Act 2002, a Judgment does not expire! Keep reading though because the answer is not as straight forward as YES!
Unfortunately, the law is a complex system with a lot of gray area, and never a black and white solution. Therefore, although your Judgment does not expire, some enforcement requests require Leave of the Courts to enforce after 6 years!
What is Leave of the Courts? Leave of the Courts means you must have permission of the courts to enforce a Judgment that is over 6 years for some enforcement procedures such as Garnishments and Writ of Seizure and Sales of Land.
You can obtain Leave of the Courts through a Motion. It is best to consider hiring a competent Lawyer or Paralegal to produce a motion to the courts for leave. Legal Enforcements & Account Recovery Paralegals L.E.A.R can advise on what evidence and steps are required to obtain Leave for enforcement. It is always a good idea to ensure you have the legal evidence and rights before submitting a motion. If your motion is denied, your ability to collect the judgment could be impaired.
Therefore, in theory a Judgment does not expire, but for some enforcement mechanisms, you must obtain Leave of the Court to proceed. Now, what if you do not have a judgment, does your right to obtain a judgment expire?
Absolutely yes! The Limitations Act 2002 governs when you cannot obtain a judgment on a file anymore. The general rule of thumb is that you cannot obtain a judgment for a matter that is older than 2 years from the date you discovered the wrong. In layman terms, if you were injured or wronged on a certain date, you have two years from that date to obtain a judgment. However, like above, the law is not black and white, and many issues can affect the last date for which you can go to court and obtain a judgment.
Does this mean I should Act Quickly?
Yes, you should always act as soon as possible to obtain a judgment for a slew of reasons. Evidence starts to disappear immediately, and if left too long, you could risk not having any evidence to prove your matter to get a judgment. Another issue is that the Defendant may skip town, move, or disappear making it impossible to serve the Defendant to start the litigation process.
Therefore, even though a judgment does not expire, your legal ability to obtain a judgment is based on a finite amount of time, and it is not savable if you cross that time limit.
In addition, your ability to enforce a judgment requires additional steps after 6 years. Additional steps result in a delay in enforcement procedures, and the possibility that your motion may be denied.
It is good practice, and it is always our recommendation to collect on a judgment as soon as possible. It is your money, why wait, and let the defendant spend the money you could be collecting. If you are having troubles collecting your judgment, we have solutions at L.E.A.R and we urge you to get in touch with us.
Our trained legal professional, private investigators and enforcement team work hard collecting money for creditors every day, and we have solutions to help you too! Get in touch with us before you need Leave of the Courts to enforce a judgment, and if you do not have a judgment, act within the 2 years to ensure your debts can be legally enforced without expiry!
When you are serious about finding someone or recovering your money call us at 289-302-3210 or send us an email at Info@LegalEnforcements.ca and we will develop a solutions package for you.
Visit our other helpful Enforcement Tips at https://www.legalenforcement.ca/blog
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