In Ontario regular civil court operations have been largely
suspended since mid-March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One
consequence of this has been the temporary postponement of
adjudication of disputes involving real estate during what would
otherwise be the torrid activity of the Spring market. Without the
availability of the courts, parties may be unable to market or
develop properties, and sales may be delayed or jeopardized
entirely. A few cases that have been decided in recent weeks show
how courts are dealing with disputes where an urgent order is
required, particularly where a sale or other deadline has been
affected by the current circumstances.
In Ali v. Tariq, 2020 ONSC 1740 (CanLII), a property
owner brought an urgent motion to lift a writ of seizure and sale
registered against a property that was scheduled to be sold the
following day. The Court agreed that the writ should be lifted so
that the sale could proceed but ordered that sufficient funds
