353 St. Paul: eight offers for an empty Brantford medical building

From 1991 until 2012 the land near the corner of St. Paul Avenue and St. George Street in Brantford was registered to a company called Medical Arts of Brantford Limited; 2607315 Ontario Inc. took title on November 30, 2017, eight days after it was incorporated, per the Motion Record, Sept. 4, 2026, Tab 2, App. C, pp. 65–66. The receiver now selling the building calls it "a longstanding medical arts building": two storeys, 16,690 square feet in approximately 19 units, on a 1.38-acre lot with a large paved parking area, per the First Report of the Receiver, Sept. 3, 2026, paras. 3, 18, 20. The listing Avison Young put up in April places it within approximately 350 metres of Brantford General Hospital, "in the heart of the city's established medical corridor," and describes it as fully vacant, per the Motion Record, Tab 2, App. F, p. 85.

When Bricks Damiani Inc. was appointed receiver on January 29, 2026, three tenants remained, and the receiver says it was told that others had left in 2025 "due to inadequate or absent property management and upkeep expected for a building of this nature." One of the three had no written lease, only a verbal month-to-month arrangement with Sarmad Ganni, the company's sole director and officer. A second told the receiver, verbally and in writing, that he never signed a lease or indemnity agreement with the company and that the signatures on the occupancy documentation were forged; the third disputed the lease documentation the receiver held. On May 21 the receiver wrote to the director about what the tenants had said and asked for the leases and any acceptances or amendments, then followed up on May 26. It says he has not responded, and all three tenants have since left, per the First Report, paras. 19, 21, 24–26.

The receiver now has a buyer. On September 17, 2026 it will ask the Ontario Superior Court of Justice at Hamilton to approve a sale to Victoria Professional Centre Inc., vest the building in it free of the charges and liens on title, keep the price sealed, approve both firms' fees, and authorize distributions to the applicant, Tandia Financial Credit Union Limited, up to what it is owed, per the Amended Notice of Motion, Sept. 4, 2026, paras. 1–2.

A forbearance that never began

Tandia's application under s. 243(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and s. 101 of the Courts of Justice Act is dated July 16, 2025. Its vice-president of commercial services, Dawood Khan, describes the debtor as a holding company "whose only material asset is the commercial, income generating Real Property," with tenants "primarily in the medical and healthcare services." Tandia lent it $2,200,000 under a commitment letter of December 19, 2022 to refinance the property, secured by a registered charge and the director's unlimited guarantee. Payments were delinquent from November 9, 2024, Mr. Khan deposes, and there were reporting defaults on year-end financial statements, the rent roll and confirmation of tax payments. Tandia also counted as defaults two registrations it says were made without its notice or consent: a $1,000,000 charge to 2288865 Ontario Inc. on March 6, 2024, and a $169,500 construction lien by HAB Creative Housing Corp. on August 30, 2024. After a default letter, an exit letter and demands on May 6, 2025 for $2,271,690.05, the parties signed a forbearance agreement on June 5, 2025. It was not to take effect until Tandia received a $5,000 forbearance fee, which Mr. Khan says never arrived despite multiple follow-ups, and nothing was paid toward $104,118.18 in arrears. The company had, however, signed a consent to a receiver that took effect on delivery, per the Affidavit of Dawood Khan, July 8, 2025, paras. 5, 7–8, 13–14, 17–25.

Why the application waited six months

Returnable July 29, 2025, the application was heard on January 29, 2026. A supplemental affidavit by Muzzamal Zulfiqar of Tandia gives two reasons. A party related to 2288865 Ontario Inc., the second mortgagee, had approached Tandia wanting to buy the property as a stalking horse bidder in a court-supervised sale, and no binding agreement came of it. And Tandia's counsel had found a problem with Tandia's own charge: when it was registered the debtor also owned an abutting parcel, and neither was a whole lot on a plan of subdivision, which "appeared to constitute a contravention of the Planning Act (Ontario) by way of an unintentional merger of the parcels, threatening the validity of Tandia's Charge." Through its title insurer, Tandia obtained a certificate of validation from the City of Brantford's Committee of Adjustment on October 2, 2025, per the Affidavit of Muzzamal Zulfiqar, Jan. 16, 2026, paras. 3–8.

Meanwhile, the affidavit says, Tandia had "little to no insight" into the debtor's finances or leases and "real concerns about the state of the Real Property and eroding value of the building." A city property standards order of July 10, 2025 found the roof leaking and "causing water to pool in multiple areas of the building," and the furnace leaking, per the Affidavit of Muzzamal Zulfiqar, Jan. 16, 2026, paras. 10–11 and Ex. C. The city registered the order on title two days before the hearing, per the First Report, para. 8.

The respondent took no position, and Justice Krawchenko granted the order, per the Motion Record, Tab 2, App. B (Endorsement), paras. 2–4. At HAB's request, and with Tandia's agreement, it suspends the time period in s. 37 of the Construction Act for HAB's lien action, restarting it 30 days after the stay is lifted or modified or as the court directs, per the Receivership Order, Jan. 29, 2026, paras. 10–11.

Two weeks later the receiver's statutory notice to creditors valued the company's cash, its receivables and rent arrears, and its land and building at "Unknown" each, and gave the reason: "The Receiver has not been provided with information or access to books and records of the Company." With no list of unsecured creditors, it entered the five it knew of, the Canada Revenue Agency among them, at $1 apiece. The secured column held Tandia at $2,179,059 as at January 12, 2026, the second mortgagee's $1,000,000 charge, HAB's lien and $120,054 in city property tax arrears, per the Notice and Statement of Receiver, Feb. 11, 2026, pp. 1–3.

Seven months of care and maintenance

The receiver hired Richmond Advisory Services to manage the property, changed locks and redirected the utilities. It commissioned fire safety and elevator inspections, had the roof inspected and quoted, approved repairs inside and in the parking lot, and arranged snow removal and cleaning. For buyers it ordered a building condition assessment and a Phase 1 environmental site assessment, and it commissioned an appraisal from Antec Appraisal Group dated May 5, 2026. It also "made written requests to Ganni in respect of the Debtor and tenants, which requests went unanswered," per the First Report, para. 22.

Rents, the report says, were insufficient to cover protective disbursements, and the debtor had no surplus funds. Tandia advanced $125,000 under a receiver's borrowing certificate. To August 31, receipts of $172,562, including that advance and $41,846 in rent, against disbursements of $90,935, $33,693 of them for repairs and maintenance, left $81,626 in the estate, per the First Report, paras. 74–77 and the Motion Record, Tab 2, App. O, p. 207.