BILL 80

An Act to Amend the Enforcement of Money Judgments Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:

1 Section 1 of the Enforcement of Money Judgments Act, chapter 23 of the Acts of New Brunswick, 2013, is amended

(a)  by repealing the definition “sell”;

(b)  by repealing the definition “serve” and substituting the following:

“serve” means serve (signifier)

(a)  by any means that constitutes personal service under the Rules of Court,

(b)  by substituted service as ordered by the court, and

(c)  by any prescribed means of service.

(c)  in the definition “notice of seizure” by striking out “paragraph 58(1)(b)” and substituting “subsection 58(1)”;

(d)  by adding the following definition in alphabetical order:

“registered judgment”, when used in a provision that applies to land, personal property and valuable rights, means (jugement enregistré)

(a)  in relation to registered land, a judgment registered in accordance with the Land Titles Act,

(b)  in relation to unregistered land, a judgment registered in accordance with the Registry Act, and

(c)  in relation to personal property and valuable rights, a judgment in respect of which a notice of judgment has been registered in accordance with the Personal Property Security Act.

2 Subsection 10(1) of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

10( 1) On application by the sheriff or an interested party, the court may determine and give directions in respect of any matter or issue that arises under this Act, including any matter or issue that this Act refers to as being determined by a sheriff or that arises in relation to directions given by a sheriff under section 60.

3 Subsection 16(3) of the Act is amended by striking out “and judgment is given” and substituting “and the claimant obtains judgment”.

4 Paragraph 25(c) of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

(c)  by filing or registering under that Act an order of the court referred to in paragraph 23(1)(c) of this Act, or

5 Subsection 28(3) of the English version of the Act is amended by striking out the comma after “subsection (2)”.

6 Subsection 31(2) of the Act is amended by adding “from the judgment debtor, directly or indirectly,” after “valuable right”.

7 Section 32 of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

Expiry of Registration

32 When the registration of a judgment ceases to be effective under section 22, the property that is bound by the registration ceases to be bound, unless the property has been seized by a sheriff.

8 Subsection 46(1) of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

46( 1) A sheriff may terminate an enforcement instruction by delivering a notice in writing to the instructing creditor

(a)  if enforcement action has been taken and enough property has been recovered to satisfy the judgment,

(b)  if enforcement action has been taken or partial payment has been received and the sheriff considers that the judgment has been as fully enforced as is reasonably practicable,

(c)  if the judgment debtor and judgment creditor have agreed to a payment arrangement,

(d)  if the sheriff is unable to locate any property of the judgment debtor that can be realized in order to satisfy the judgment, or

(e)  if the registration of the judgment in the Personal Property Registry has ceased to be effective under section 22.

9 Section 49 of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

Expiry of Registration

49 If the registration of a judgment in the Personal Property Registry ceases to be effective under section 22 after the judgment creditor has delivered an enforcement instruction,

(a)  enforcement of the judgment may continue in relation to any property that the sheriff has seized,

(b)  the sheriff shall not seize further property, and

(c)  if the judgment debtor or another person is making recurring payments to the sheriff in respect of the judgment, the obligation to make those payments ceases.

10 Subsection 58(1) of the Act is amended

(a)  in paragraph (b) by adding “in the prescribed form” after “notice of seizure”;

(b)  in paragraph (c) by adding “in the prescribed form” after “notice of seizure”.

11 The heading “Dispute” preceding section 63 of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

Objection

12 Section 63 of the Act is amended

(a)  by repealing subsection (1) and substituting the following:

63( 1) A person who claims to own or have an unregistered interest in any property seized by the sheriff, or who objects to a seizure for any other reason, shall notify the sheriff and the judgment debtor without delay.

(b)  by repealing subsection (2) and substituting the following:

63( 2) The sheriff may require the person who made the objection to produce evidence and may require the judgment debtor to respond to the objection and evidence.

(c)  by repealing subsection (3) and substituting the following:

63( 3) The sheriff shall determine whether the objection is valid and shall notify the person who made the objection and the judgment debtor.

13 Paragraph 64(1)(b) of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

(b)  that the property is exempt, or has no value, or that realizing its value would be unduly complicated or expensive,

14 Subsection 65(1) of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

65( 1) The sheriff may take any action in relation to seized property that the judgment debtor could take, and may realize its value by any form of sale, collection or other transaction.

15 Section 69 of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

Payment by instructing creditor

69 The sheriff may require the instructing creditor

(a)  to pay in advance or give security for part or all of any expenditure that the sheriff expects to incur when enforcing the judgment, and

(b)  to provide an indemnity in relation to any action the sheriff proposes to take when enforcing the judgment.

16 Subsection 72(2) of the French version of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

72( 2) S’il entend vendre les récoltes ou les objets fixés à demeure séparément du bien-fonds, le shérif en donne avis à quiconque semble, d’après le registre foncier, être titulaire d’un intérêt sur le bien-fonds, à l’exception du débiteur judiciaire.

17 Paragraph 86(5)(b) of the English version of the Act is amended by striking out “judgement” and substituting “judgment”.

18 Section 91 of the Act is amended

(a)  in subsection (1)

( i) in paragraph (a) by adding “and is discharged or released by the enforcement action” after “registered judgment”;

( ii) in paragraph (d) by adding “or (d)” after “paragraph (c)”;

(b)  by repealing subsection (2) and substituting the following:

91( 2) No payment shall be made to a registered creditor who has not delivered an enforcement instruction or, subject to subsection (3), who delivers an enforcement instruction after the sheriff gives notice to the instructing creditor under subsection 46(1).

(c)  by adding after subsection (2) the following:

91( 3) If enforcement proceeds remain after the instructing creditor is paid under paragraph (1)(e) and a registered creditor has delivered an enforcement instruction after the sheriff gave notice under subsection 46(1), the sheriff may

(a)  pay the registered creditor as a person entitled under paragraph (1)(f), or

(b)  retain the remaining enforcement proceeds as enforcement proceeds of the registered creditor’s enforcement instruction.

19 The heading “Payment to sheriff” preceding section 99 of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

Payment of amount recovered

20 Subsection 99(1) of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

99( 1) The receiver shall pay the amount recovered through the receivership, less the receiver’s costs, fees and expenses,

(a)  to the sheriff, if a sheriff applied for the appointment of the receiver under subsection 95(1), or

(b)  as directed by the court, if a registered creditor applied for the appointment of the receiver under subsection 95(1).