Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• The plaintiff paid $14,400 for landscaping work on his residential parking area, but the contractor completed only a very small portion before abandoning the site.
   
• A settlement agreement (Exhibit P-8) required the company's representative, Leonardo Ariel Silva Perez, to pay $16,400 in three instalments from January to March 2026, an obligation he undertook personally.
   
• After Mr. Perez paid only part of that amount, his mother, Idamis Perez Cruz, signed a parallel agreement (Exhibit P-6) binding herself solidarily to perform his obligations if they went unperformed.
   
• Under P-6, the balance still owed to the plaintiff stood at $10,180.
   
• None of the defendants appeared at the hearing despite repeated calls over the intercom, and the court noted their default.
   
• Relying on the plaintiff's testimony and the duly signed agreements providing for solidarity, the court granted the claim.
   

Facts of the case

Gertilus Luckner paid Aménagement Horizon LS inc. a total of $14,400, covering in full the amounts the company required to carry out landscaping work on his residential parking area. The company completed only a very small portion of the work, then abandoned the site without further communication. Mr. Luckner had a formal notice sent to the company and its representatives. He later reached an agreement with the company's representative, Leonardo Ariel Silva Perez, who is listed in the case heading as Leonardo Daniel Silva Perez. When Mr. Perez paid part of the agreed sum and then defaulted on his remaining obligations, Mr. Luckner entered into a second agreement with Mr. Perez's mother, Idamis Perez Cruz. He then sued the company, Mr. Perez and Ms. Perez Cruz in the Small Claims Division of the Court of Québec in Laval, asking that they be ordered solidarily to pay him $10,180.

Policy and legislative provisions at issue

Under the first agreement, filed as Exhibit P-8, Mr. Perez was to pay Mr. Luckner $16,400 in three instalments between January and March 2026. The parties agreed to end their dispute on condition that this agreement be fully performed, and Mr. Perez personally undertook to carry out the obligations it set out. Exhibit P-6, which the court described as a parallel agreement, bound Ms. Perez Cruz solidarily to perform the P-8 obligations if they were not performed, and it recorded the balance owing to Mr. Luckner as $10,180. Apart from these agreements, the judgment refers only to the additional indemnity provided for in the Civil Code of Québec, without citing a specific article.

Reasoning and analysis

None of the defendants appeared at the hearing, despite being called several times over the intercom, and the court noted their default. In granting the claim, the court relied on the claim as presented, the evidence adduced, including Mr. Luckner's testimony, and the agreements duly signed by the parties together with the solidarity they provide for. The judgment contains no further analysis of the agreements or of each defendant's individual liability.

Ruling and overall outcome

The court granted the claim and ordered Aménagement Horizon LS inc., Mr. Perez and Ms. Perez Cruz solidarily to pay Mr. Luckner $10,180, with interest at the legal rate from March 10, 2026, and the additional indemnity provided for in the Civil Code of Québec. Court costs of $241 were awarded on top of that sum. Mr. Luckner succeeded in full, obtaining judgment for the entire balance he claimed; the judgment does not state a dollar figure for the interest or the additional indemnity.