Law Times

Law Times • June 20, 2016 Page 3 www.lawtimesnews.com Amendments to Repair and Storage Lien Act under fire BY ALEX ROBINSON Law Times N ew amendments to rules in the Repair and Storage Lien Act look- ing to curtail abuse on the part of mechanics, who issue liens against owners, should go further, some lawyers say. Under s. 15 of the act, mech- anics and storers can file a lien when their services go unpaid af- ter they repair or store a vehicle. The amendments, set to go into effect July 1, are meant to help protect consumers, insur- ance companies, and financiers against unfair and excessive costs, but some lawyers say the legislation does not go far enough to protect their clients. "I think financiers are going to end up in a poorer position to dispute some of these repairs, unless, of course, you can qual- ify that as something that is fair value," says Adam Nathanson, a commercial litigator with Kronis Rotsztain Margles Cappel LLP, who represents financiers. When a vehicle is towed to a storage facility, one of the chan- ges to the legislation requires a storer claiming a lien on a vehicle to notify the owner that he or she is in possession of the car within 15 days of receiving it. Before, mechanics were only required to alert the interested party that they had the vehicle within 60 days, which meant fi- nanciers could rack up large bills in the meantime if the garage or tow truck company was char- ging a daily fee for storage. Under the old legislation, a mechanic who receives a towed vehicle in need of repairs from someone other than the owner could charge to store the car for up to 60 days before he or she even attempted to get in touch with the car's financiers. "Owners and other interest- ed persons like lien holders will now have a right to be informed of storage, repair costs, and relat- ed liens more quickly," says Mar- vin Huberman, a Toronto lawyer who specializes in commercial litigation. He says the amend- ments are a good step forward. "Before, the storer wouldn't have to tell you until after 60 days when there's already now 60 days of costs and expenses re- lated to that. . . . That really does reduce associated costs. So that's viewed as a good thing." Nathanson, however, says the amendment does not go far enough. He says it provides pro- tections to owners whose cars are towed to storage facilities without their knowledge, but in situations in which the owner agrees to costs beforehand and does not pay, financiers can be stuck with the bill. "Thereafter, it is a very dif- ficult decision for a financier to make to pay the bill or dispute it, especially if the storer is al- lowed to continuously accrue storage charges without the fi- nancier's knowledge or consent, with these amounts eating into any available equity within the vehicle," he says. Nathanson says storage claimants should be required to search for all interested parties of a vehicle within 15 days to make sure financiers do not end up with excessive costs. Once storers or mechanics alert interested parties to the fact they have registered a lien on the vehicle, they have 15 days to either pay it or dispute it in court. New methods of delivering documents under the RSLA could make that deadline harder for financiers, Nathanson says. Previously, documents were only sent through mail or sub- mitted in person, but once the amendments go into effect, fax and e-mail will be acceptable. Nathanson says this will be problematic because it will short- en the amount of time financiers will have to respond to a lien. When sent in the mail, docu- ments were considered received 10 days after they were sent, but with e-mail and fax, they will be considered received a business day after they were sent. LT NEWS CORRECTION The June 13 edition of Law Times stated that Brooke MacKenzie, of MacKenzie Barristers, finished a one- year leave of absence after articling for two years with McCarthy Tétrault LLP. However, she articled with the firm for a 10-month period before being called to the bar. She then practiced with McCarthy Tétrault for three years, including a one-year leave of absence. Law Times regrets the error. Adam Nathanson says amendments to the Repair and Storage Lien Act do not go far enough. Access the most up-to-date information on the latest developments in family law. New in this edition • Service of documents – O. Reg. 140/15 amending the Family Law Rules to allow service of documents through an electronic document exchange and service by email (June 10, 2015) • Definition of "child's residence" – 2014, c. 11, Sched. 6, s. 2 amending the Child and Family Services Act to include child care centre (December 31, 2015) • Children in need of protection – 2014, c. 11, Sched. 6, s. 2 amending the Child and Family Services Act, revising the list of persons with a duty to report (December 31, 2015) • Missing or incorrect information – SOR/2015-156 amending the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings Regulations, requires the central registry to determine whether any information is missing or incorrect, and if it is, to request that the registrar provide the central registry with the missing or correct information (June 17, 2015) New Edition Consolidated Ontario Family Law Statutes and Regulations 2016-2017 Consulting Editor: Brahm D. 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