Mortgage Broker is the magazine of the Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association and showcases the multi-billion dollar mortgage-broking industry to all levels of government, associated organizations and other interested individuals.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/505959
MortgageBroker mbabc.ca spring 2015 | 43 limitationperiods BY samantha gale Limitation periods balance the plaintiff's need to access justice and the defendant's need to close off potential liabilities There has been a new Limitation Act in British Columbia for almost two years, and the courts are starting to render some decisions that clarify the new limitation rules (see page 46). e new Act creates some significant changes to the window of time, following a loss, within which a plaintiff can bring a cause of action against a defendant in B.C. It will have implications for real estate developers, mortgage lenders and real estate professionals, including mortgage brokers. One significant goal of the new Act is to make the real estate construction industry and other businesses more competitive as shorter and more precise limitation periods will result in an ability to predict litigation exposure with greater accuracy. In addition, narrower limitation periods will, in all likelihood, significantly reduce litigation costs and liabilities. Simpler and better understood limitation periods are intended to seek a balance between the plaintiff 's need to access justice and the defendant's need to close off potential, unknown liabilities. However, potential plaintiffs will need to be more decisive about their litigation decisions and take faster action when opting to proceed with a claim. Here is an explanation of why. In a nutshell, limitation periods put a cap on the length of time since the occurrence of an event that people have to pursue a legal claim in the court system. e most significant change is that under the former Limitation Act, there were a variety of limitation periods ranging from two to 10 years. Now, for most civil claims (subject to limitation periods contained in specific statutes and some specific exemptions in the new Act) there is just one two year limitation period requiring that civil claims be brought within two years of the facts constituting a claim becoming known to a plaintiff. Changing limitation periods from between two and 10 years to just one two-year period represents a dramatic shi in the civil justice system. In addition, there is another critical change in the new legislation. Under the former Act, the running of time for a limitation period could be postponed or interrupted with the occurrence of a number of different events – culminating in an ultimate limitation period of 30 years. No claim can ever be brought for any reason aer an ultimate limitation period has expired. is 30-year ultimate limitation period has now been cut in half to just 15 years! e reduction in the ultimate limitation period will clearly create more certainty in the construction industry and other businesses with civil claims exposure. Here are some examples of how the new limitation period provisions work. e two year rule: A mortgage broker provides negligent advice to a client in September 2013 which gives rise to a cause of action, but the client does not act upon the advice until September 2015. e client experiences a loss one year later in September 2016, but only becomes aware of the loss in September 2017 aer reviewing mortgage files with a new mortgage broker. Can the client sue the original mortgage broker for negligence? e answer is yes, the client can bring an action against the mortgage broker up until September 2019, as that is two years from the date in which the client discovered the damages from the potentially negligent advice. Any claim aer September 2019 would then be statute barred. New Limitation Periods Could Significantly Reduce Litigation Costs and Liabilities