Background: Matthew John Walton entered into contracts with Aspen Road Development Corp., represented by Tyler and Lauren Ovington, to purchase two strata lots. Walton was unable to assign one of the contracts, leading to a dispute over a deposit amounting to $101,696, which he claimed was signed over under duress.

Legal Issues: The primary legal issues revolved around the alleged breach of contract and misrepresentation by the defendants, and whether a default judgment against them should be set aside. Defendants argued that a verbal settlement had occurred, which negated the need for a formal response to the civil claim.

Held: The court examined whether the defendants demonstrated a credible defense worthy of investigation and assessed their conduct post-judgment. It found that negotiations on the settlement were inconclusive and did not meet all required legal standards to overturn the default judgment.

Costs/Damages Awarded: Justice Veenstra dismissed the application to set aside the default judgment, emphasizing the defendants' liquidation of assets and lack of concrete steps to resolve the claim post-judgment. The court awarded costs in favor of Walton, with the total costs and awards amounting to the judgment sum of $101,696 plus legal costs under Scale B.