25 James Street: a locked elevator shaft and a receiver who can sell

On September 9, the day Justice J. E. Mills appointed it interim receiver, Goldhar & Associates Ltd. went to 25 James Street in Georgetown to change the locks, meet the occupants, and tour and photograph the units. Over the following week, in frequent conversations with contractors and with the people living there, it identified and confirmed safety concerns that included second-floor decks without railings at three of the units, third-floor balconies without railings at two, weather-damaged eavestroughs causing improper drainage, an elevator shaft left exposed in one unit, and one unit's gas meter left unsealed. Drywall, kitchens and cabinetry were unfinished. Goldhar put locks on the doors at every point of entry to the exposed shaft and a barrier across its basement level, permanently closed the access door to the one railing-less balcony at an occupied unit, installed a temporary railing at that unit, and sealed the gas meter, per the First Report of the Interim Receiver, Sept. 16, 2026, para. 10(a)–(e), (g).

The lender's own inspectors had reported open elevator shafts and a balcony without a railing in August, and on September 9 Justice Mills appointed Goldhar over the James Street land and both companies' assets for the interval, finding "serious safety concerns that must be addressed," as reported here on September 10, per the Endorsement of Mills J., Sept. 9, 2026, paras. 2–4. On September 22 the same judge replaced that appointment with a full receivership order that has no end date and lets Goldhar sell, per the Receivership Order, Sept. 22, 2026, paras. 2, 3(k).

The case for a receiver without a time limit

Goldhar's First Report, dated September 16 and signed by Clark Lonergan, a senior managing director, was written for the return of Hillmount Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc.'s application six days later. Besides the site work, it records that Goldhar reached out to the companies' sole director about "various treasury items, including bank account details, balances, statements and tenant deposits," per the First Report, Sept. 16, 2026, paras. 3, 10(f).

Goldhar's argument for a full order starts from the statute: it describes its appointment as made under, among other things, s. 47(1) of the BIA, under which an interim receiver serves until a receiver or a trustee takes possession of the property, or until 30 days pass from the appointment or any other period the court specifies. The interim order was therefore, in the report's words, "per the statute, intended to be temporary." The order Hillmount would seek on September 22 was substantially the same, "but for lack of a time limitation regarding the duration of the Receivership Order and authorizing the proposed receiver to sell the Property," and largely consistent with the Commercial List's model receivership order, per the First Report, Sept. 16, 2026, paras. 13–16.

Goldhar called the application "reasonable and appropriate at this time" because the order would let the safety concerns be addressed and remediated, the construction be completed, and the property be properly marketed and realized, on court approval, "to the benefit of all stakeholders." A full order would also benefit the estate without "the time limitations, unnecessary extensions, Court appearances and costs" that come with an interim one, per the First Report, Sept. 16, 2026, paras. 17–18.

As of September 16, Goldhar understood that the company had not given Hillmount "any assurances or scenarios that the Indebtedness would be paid in full in the foreseeable future," on a loan of which $1,077,118.91 was owing on August 26, with per diem interest of $261.10, per the First Report, Sept. 16, 2026, paras. 8(b), 19. Hillmount had already paid $28,777.47 of 271 Ontario's priority payables, the $11,103.27 it remitted to the Town of Halton Hills to clear a tax certificate that put the James Street land in the tax-sale process and $17,674.20 in premiums to keep the property insured after its insurance lapsed. It was concerned, the report says, that its debt "will not be properly realized or the situation will worsen" if it had to keep paying them to preserve its security, per the First Report, Sept. 16, 2026, paras. 8(b), 19–20.

A power to sell, with the lender's consent

The order of Tuesday, September 22 appoints Goldhar receiver, without security, under s. 243(1) of the BIA and s. 101 of the Courts of Justice Act, over the James Street land and all the assets, undertakings and properties of the owner, 2715573 Ontario Inc., and the builder, 2661793 Ontario Inc. Much of it repeats the interim order word for word, down to the powers to complete condominium applications and sign construction and occupancy permit documents in the companies' names, and a Receiver's Charge ranking first, subject only to ss. 14.06(7), 81.4(4) and 81.6(2) of the BIA, per the Receivership Order, Sept. 22, 2026, paras. 2, 3(c), 3(h), 19.