This kind of situation, which at first glance seems far-fetched, nevertheless happens every day in Quebec.
This is what the Association des consommateurs pour la qualité dans la construction (ACQC), a non-profit organization dedicated to defending consumer interests, discovered by combining various data. His analysis established that 200 legal mortgages are registered each year in Quebec for an amount of $ 15,000 or less and that there are nearly 300 annually for an amount of $ 25,000 or less.
And that, only in the residential renovation sector.
What exactly is a legal mortgage? It is a mechanism whose objective is to guarantee those who take part in the construction or renovation of a building to be paid. By depositing a legal mortgage on a property, the contractor, worker or architect, for example, begins the process leading to the legal sale of the property in order to recover what is owed.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, THE PRESS
“By depositing a legal mortgage on a property, the contractor, worker or architect, for example, begins the process leading to the legal sale of the property in order to recover its due,” explains our columnist.
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The ACQC deplores that the legal mortgage is “used as a means of pressure by entrepreneurs to bend the consumer during a dispute, often in an abusive manner”.
In his opinion, if a consumer finds that their ceramic is improperly laid, the case should instead end up in small claims court.
A legal mortgage can be registered on your property for a debt of any amount. But often it doesn’t go that far.
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“It doesn’t look like the construction industry is leading the world by the nose! We could lose our house and end up on the street, ”Pauline * tells me.
The lady is discouraged by the services of a company which was to install a working gas fireplace for her. The device she was sold was rather incompatible with her space, to the point of being a potential source of fire, she says. She refused to pay for the home until the problems – there were others – were not resolved.
A few days later, the couple received a letter giving them a week to pay off their debt, otherwise a legal mortgage would be registered on their property. “We didn’t really know what it was at the time. And there, we stress, the pressure rises, what is it? We’re trying to contact lawyers. ”
The couple decided to pay. “We have been threatened! “, Indignant Pauline, who plans to bring the case to small claims.
Monique * and her husband received the same kind of letter, but for a sum of just over $ 1,500. Their contractor had damaged two items in their house, and they were waiting for them to be repaired before paying him the last dollars owed after work of about $ 20,000.
Judging that his work was done, the contractor claimed the last payment. “We sent the check by registered mail immediately. This threat has made us very nervous and very worried. […] It was so stressful that even if he asked me for $ 10,000, I think I would have paid, ”says Monique.
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The director general of the ACQC, Marc-André Harnois, judges that the legal construction mortgage is a disproportionate means compared to the amounts often in dispute during renovations. And as a result, the client loses his bargaining power.
It’s hard not to agree with him.
The discrepancy between the large number of registrations and the very low number of corresponding proceedings before the courts corroborates that the legal mortgage is used as a terribly effective means of pressure on the consumer and that the latter, most of the time, chooses to pay, whether justified or not.
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Marc-André Harnois, Director General of ACQC
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But it is also important to remember that the mechanism exists for a reason: that construction workers have a right in the event of non-payment, explains Jean-Patrick Dallaire, lawyer specializing in construction law at Langlois Avocats. “The exercise of a right is not a threat,” he insists.
It is true that plumbers and carpenters have the right like everyone else to be paid for their work. And that all the small claims left and right can end up taking a heavy toll on their bottom line. We must not forget that there are also insolvent clients and other ultra-picky ones who will never be satisfied.
At the same time, the system can surely be improved for those small and medium disputes… which end up causing great stress.
In the hope of changing the legislation, the ACQC has just launched a petition that can be signed on the website of the National Assembly. I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow.
* Fictitious names to protect our sources
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