Case information

Hypothecs — Default in payment — Forced surrender — Abusive, vexatious and quarrelsome litigant — Applicant challenging respondent’s application for forced surrender — Whether there is res judicata in this case — Whether judgment ordering forced surrender can validly be based on extinguished hypothec and loan contract not published with land register, without compromising integrity of Quebec land registration system or security of real estate transactions in Canada — Circumstances in which party can be declared quarrelsome litigant without clear evidence of abuse, without adversarial debate and without sufficient grounds, without it constituting violation of rights guaranteed by ss. 7 and 15 of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and principles of natural justice — Whether court of appeal can refuse to consider questions of pure law raised on appeal, particularly as regards res judicata and access to justice, without committing error of law warranting intervention of this Court.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

The respondent, the Bank of Nova Scotia, granted a mortgage loan to the applicant, Pierre Joseph Ulysse. On two occasions, Mr. Ulysse found himself in default of repaying the sums due. The Bank therefore filed a first application for forced surrender in 2019, then again in 2021. The first application was settled in February 2020 through a transaction by which Mr. Ulysse paid the instalments then due on the loan. With respect to the second application, Mr. Ulysse opposed it. He argued that the payment made in February 2020 extinguished not only the whole debt but also the hypothec charging his immovable. He thus argued that the second application for forced surrender was unfounded. The Bank also filed an application for Mr. Ulysse to be declared an abusive, vexatious and quarrelsome litigant. The Quebec Superior Court allowed the application for forced surrender in part, extended the time to vacate the immovable from 5 to 30 days, and declared Mr. Ulysse an abusive, vexatious and quarrelsome litigant, while limiting the conclusions sought by the Bank. Mr. Ulysse brought an appeal, which the Quebec Court of Appeal dismissed at the request of the Bank.