Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• Two related plaintiffs sued a real estate purchaser over a delayed closing that disrupted a coordinated family home-buying plan.
   
• Absence of a contractual relationship between one plaintiff and the defendant proved fatal to her individual claim.
   
• Default proceedings occurred because no representative of the defendant appeared at the hearing.
   
• Quantified losses included lost rental income, moving and storage costs, and non-pecuniary damages for stress.
   
• Judicial discretion regarding moral damages was exercised in favour of the successful plaintiff given the documented hardship.
   
• Interest and the additional indemnity under article 1619 of the Civil Code of Québec were ordered to run from a specified date.
   

Facts of the case

Sarah Tremblay and her mother, Chantal Grégoire, planned to purchase a home together so that they and Ms. Grégoire's grandchildren could live under one roof. This plan depended on both women selling their existing properties, with the purchases and sales required to be tightly coordinated. Ms. Tremblay secured a buyer for her property, and Ms. Grégoire accepted an offer to purchase from Le 125 Bouthillier inc. for hers. The defendant, however, failed to close on the date Ms. Grégoire had selected. Relying on the accepted offer, Ms. Grégoire and Ms. Tremblay had already committed to purchasing a house in L'Acadie, and the defendant's delay forced adjustments to that plan. The sale ultimately closed two months late, during which time Ms. Grégoire, and to a lesser extent Ms. Tremblay, bore the consequences of the defendant's non-performance. At the hearing, no representative appeared on behalf of the defendant, and the Court proceeded by default.

Policy and legislative provisions at issue

The dispute centred on the contractual relationship and obligations arising from the accepted offer to purchase between Ms. Grégoire and Le 125 Bouthillier inc., which the defendant failed to honour by not closing on the agreed date. The judgment also engaged article 1619 of the Civil Code of Québec, which governs the additional indemnity applied to interest owed on amounts awarded by a court.

Reasoning and analysis

The Court distinguished between the two plaintiffs based on their respective relationships with the defendant. Ms. Tremblay's claim could not succeed because she had no contractual relationship with the defendant, and the defendant owed her no obligation. Ms. Grégoire's claim, by contrast, rested on a straightforward contractual foundation: an accepted offer to purchase and obligations that the defendant did not respect, exposing it to liability for damages. The Court accepted Ms. Grégoire's explanations for each head of claim. It found she lost $2,000 in rent after allowing her tenant to vacate on the original possession date, only for possession to be delayed by two months at $1,000 per month. It further accepted moving expenses of $3,154.23, incurred because the delay required an additional move and additional storage. On the claim for $5,000 in moral damages, the Court characterized these as non-pecuniary and noted that while it is typically cautious in awarding such damages, the circumstances here justified an exception, citing the intense stress Ms. Grégoire displayed at the current and a prior hearing, and the fact that she lived in cramped quarters with her daughter and grandchildren for several weeks over the holiday period because the plan was stalled by the defendant's conduct. The Court noted, without reducing the damages awarded, that the defendant had at least borne the costs of a bridge loan required during the waiting period, though that amount was not claimed and had no bearing on the moral damages award.

Ruling and overall outcome

The Court allowed Ms. Grégoire's claim and ordered Le 125 Bouthillier inc. to pay her $13,455.27, together with legal costs and interest plus the additional indemnity under article 1619 of the Civil Code of Québec, running from November 6, 2024 [the judgment does not itemize how the $13,455.27 total breaks down beyond the $2,000 rent, $3,154.23 moving costs, and $5,000 moral damages explicitly identified — a remaining $3,301.04 is unaccounted for in the reasons, though paragraph [11] references unquantified taxes, insurance, and other costs borne during the period]. Ms. Tremblay's claim was dismissed, without legal costs.