Digest: Naber v Calidon Equipment Leasing (Calidon Financial Services Inc.), 2018 SKQB 84

• Date: March 09, 2018

Reported as: 2018 SKQB 84

Docket Number: QB17465 , QBG 2/18 JCM

Court: Court of Queen's Bench

Date: 2018-03-09

Judges:

• Zuk

Subjects:

• Statutes- Interpretation � The Saskatchewan Farm Security Act, Section 53, Section 61

Digest: The applicants entered into a series of lease agreements in which the respondent leased farm equipment and grain bins to them over a term of 60 months with an option to purchase the equipment at a residual value. The applicants fell into arrears in the amount of $458,000. In July 2017, the respondent began enforcement proceedings to take possession of the equipment under The Saskatchewan Farm Security Act. The applicants proposed making an immediate payment of $35,000, followed by another of $50,000 by May 1st, to secure an adjournment of the enforcement proceedings to May 1, 2018. They requested a further adjournment from May to September as they intend to catch up on all of the arrears once they had completed the 2018 harvest. The respondent had no interest in extending the time for payment and argued that any delay would jeopardize its ability to market the equipment in advance of the 2018 spring seeding operations. The applicants had been experiencing difficulties since 2013 due to crop losses due to weather or the impact of the lack of railway cars available to ship grain. Their ability to pay the arrears was based only on the presumption that the 2018 crop would produce sufficient income to cover debts.
HELD: The application was dismissed. The court had the discretion under s. 53 of the Act to grant temporary relief arising from a farmer�s temporary inability to pay. In this case, the court found that the applicants� financial hardship was not temporary in nature nor was their request for relief from forfeiture for...