Somex: Desjardins redirected the rents in April and got a receiver in October

When the manager that Caisse Desjardins de Québec had put in charge of collecting the rents at 710 route des Rivières in Lévis reported to the Caisse on April 30, 2026, the building's indoor pool was not finished, and neither were the pool and terrace on its roof. The common rooms, the lounges, the indoor golf and the personalized wine cellar were not working, so a $75 monthly credit was being applied to every lease. Floors 2 to 5 were finished and delivered, but several of their units could not be let, because most of the tenants who had signed leases on floors 6 to 12, which were not complete, had been moved into them temporarily. In all, only 30% of the units were finished, and no ventilation worked in the indoor garage. Those are the findings of Sylvie Racine of Gestion Supra (1998) inc., as she solemnly affirmed them in the Caisse's motion for a receiver, per the Receivership Motion, Oct. 6, 2026, paras. 32–34 and Declaration of S. Racine.

The building is Somex, a rental project of more than 200 units on 13 storeys, built with the Caisse's loans by 9452-4618 Québec inc., a company with its head office in Laval that works in residential development and construction. Construction began in June 2022 and delivery was first planned for June 2024, according to the motion's account of a consultant's report, per the Receivership Motion, Oct. 6, 2026, p. 1 and paras. 3, 7, 21. On October 13, 2026, on the Caisse's motion under s. 243 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, Justice Véronique Boucher of the Superior Court of Québec, Commercial Division (district of Québec, No. 200-11-031160-263), appointed Ernst & Young Inc. receiver of all of the company's property, the building included, per the Receivership Order, Oct. 13, 2026, paras. 11, 13.

A term loan in six tranches

The Caisse's financing, accepted by the company on March 8, 2023, was a revolving credit of up to $1,500,000 and a term loan of $57,805,783.91, divided for administrative purposes only into six tranches of $9,634,297.32 because the Caisse's computer system cannot carry a loan above $9,999,999.99. Immovable and movable hypothecs for both amounts, registered on March 9 and 10, 2023, charge, among other things, the building, the movables used to operate or build it, and the company's sales-tax refunds and input tax credits. Twelve guarantors, six individuals and six companies, gave specific guarantees for both amounts. The directors are Hugo Kirallah and André Trudel. At September 11, 2026, according to the Caisse's account statements, the company owed it at least $58,727,985.41, and $393,321.10 in late loan payments remained unpaid; with no payment since, the motion says, the arrears had reached approximately $591,000, per the Receivership Motion, Oct. 6, 2026, paras. 4, 6, 8–10, 87(d) and nn. 1, 8.

What the company undertook, in the Caisse's account

Accepting a notice of default and offer of forbearance on February 18, 2025, the company acknowledged being in default, among other reasons because construction legal hypothecs totalling $9,250,281.07 had been registered against the building, and undertook to have them struck by August 31 and to inject the funds needed to finish the work. A second notice followed on March 24. The motion says it came because the company was already in default of the first, and to take account of a report DeRico Experts-Conseils S.E.N.C. was about to issue, which put the additional equity needed to complete the project at $9,556,697. Accepting it, the company acknowledged being in default, among other reasons over hypothecs that now totalled $9,679,832.62, and undertook to inject the $9,556,697 and have the hypothecs struck, both by May 31, 2025, and to hand over its registers of shareholders and securities and its share certificates "in order to validate their conformity with the structure presented to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation" [translation], per the Receivership Motion, Oct. 6, 2026, paras. 15–19.

DeRico's report of April 7, 2025, addressed to the Caisse, is sealed, but the motion summarizes it: 68 of 223 units leased, 30% of the total, and 40 occupied; only 71 units, 32%, "ready for habitation" [translation], while direct costs had reached 93% of the revised budget; and a total cost to complete that substantially exceeded the balance available under the loan, so that funds from the company and the guarantors were required, per the Receivership Motion, Oct. 6, 2026, paras. 20–21 and the Receivership Order, Oct. 13, 2026, para. 51.

According to the motion's summary of a June 3, 2025 letter from the Caisse's lawyers, the company had by then made no injection of funds, its late payments stood at $355,485.21, and "the debtor's corporate structure was not in conformity with the corporate structure presented to CMHC" [translation]. The motion's text does not describe the difference. On December 4, 2025 the Caisse served a prior notice of exercise of a hypothecary right of sale under judicial control, under the Civil Code of Québec, together with a notice under s. 244 of the BIA. It put the amount due at $58,562,483.18 and the construction hypothecs at $14,132,574.81, and listed among the defaults the unmade injection and the company's refusal or neglect to provide its share registers, a complete list of signed leases and an updated budget, among other documents. A March 12, 2026 letter put the hypothecs at $15,083,732.86 at March 3 and listed the redemption of a shareholder's shares without the Caisse's prior written consent, contrary to the credit agreement, per the Receivership Motion, Oct. 6, 2026, paras. 22–23, 25–28.

The motion's schedule lists fourteen construction legal hypothecs registered against the building between December 12, 2024 and September 29, 2026, the largest 9319-5345 Québec inc.'s, at $564,137.92; eleven are followed by a prior notice of exercise for a sale under judicial control. Some of the claims behind those hypothecs have been paid, the motion says, out of loan money placed in the trust account of Langlois Avocats under an escrow agreement of May 12, 2025, which is sealed, and Langlois still holds part of it. Coffrages L.D. inc. separately holds a $1,650,000 movable hypothec on the company's rights in $1,650,000 deposited in the trust account of Lavery, De Billy, under a January 13, 2025 agreement to substitute other security for a legal hypothec, per the Receivership Motion, Oct. 6, 2026, paras. 11–14 and n. 2 and the Receivership Order, Oct. 13, 2026, para. 51.

The rents, the keys and 27 units

On or about April 13, 2026, the Caisse served every tenant and the company with a notice withdrawing the company's authorization to collect the rents, and the tenants were told to pay Gestion Supra, represented by Ms. Racine. She was told that after a new property manager arrived on April 1, the project director and the building's concierge had left. Separately, the building's last known property manager began on May 25, per the Receivership Motion, Oct. 6, 2026, paras. 30–32, 35, 38.

Ms. Racine's monthly reports to the Caisse are sealed; the motion summarizes them. The May report found twelve lease copies missing, and the rental status of 27 units unknown because they could not be entered, which prevented any step to collect from or relet them. By the June report Gestion Supra had still not received keys to the building or the code to its key box, and had not obtained the last known manager's cooperation to reach the 27 units. The July and August reports say those problems remained, per the Receivership Motion, Oct. 6, 2026, paras. 49–50, 52–57.