Price Waterhouse Ltd. v. Royal Trust Corp. of Canada, (1987) 78 N.S.R.(2d) 4 (CA)

• Judge: Hart, Jones and Macdonald, JJ.A.
• Court: Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (Canada)
• Case Date: March 05, 1987
• Jurisdiction: Nova Scotia
• Citations: (1987), 78 N.S.R.(2d) 4 (CA)

Price Waterhouse v. Royal Trust (1987), 78 N.S.R.(2d) 4 (CA);

    193 A.P.R. 4

MLB headnote and full text

Price Waterhouse Limited v. Royal Trust Corporation of Canada

(S.C.A. No. 01698)

Indexed As: Price Waterhouse Ltd. v. Royal Trust Corp. of Canada

Nova Scotia Supreme Court

Appeal Division

Hart, Jones and Macdonald, JJ.A.

March 5, 1987.

Summary:

Matthews executed a chattel mortgage in favour of Royal Trust to secure a $7,100.00 loan. The chattel was described as "one used 1984 Nissan". Matthews, unable to pay the loan, delivered possession to Royal Trust. Matthews then made a voluntary assignment in bankruptcy. The trustee in bankruptcy applied to set aside the chattel mortgage on the ground that the chattel was not sufficiently described under s. 4 of the Bills of Sale Act.

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Trial Division, in a judgment not reported in this series of reports, dismissed the application. The court acknowledged that the description may be defective, but found the chattel mortgage valid as between Royal Trust and the trustee. The trustee appealed.

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Appeal Division, allowed the appeal. The court held that the chattel mortgage was void for all purposes for lack of a sufficient description. Therefore, the chattel remained the property of the bankrupt and the chattel or the sales proceeds, if it was sold, vested in the trustee.

Chattel Mortgages and Bills of Sale - Topic 1183

Validity - Essential elements - Description of chattels - Sufficiency of - Section 4 of the Bills of Sale Act required that a chattel be sufficiently described so that it could be readily and easily known and distinguished - A chattel mortgage described a chattel as "one used 1984 Nissan" - There was no mention of model, type, serial number or licence plate number - The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal held that the chattel mortgage was void for noncompliance with s. 4, because the description was insufficient to allow the chattel to be readily and easily identified.

Cases Noticed:

Re Smith's Estates (1980), 40 N.S.R.(2d) 707; 73 A.P.R. 707, consd. [para. 9].

Royal Bank v. A.G. of Canada (1978), 26 N.S.R.(2d) 352; 40 A.P.R. 352, refd to. [para. 12].

Federal Savings Credit Union v. Alchorn and Dorey (1984), 61 N.S.R.(2d) 217; 133 A.P.R. 217, refd to. [para. 13].

Re Crichton Enterprises Limited (1980), 38 N.S.R.(2d) 348; 69 A.P.R. 348, refd to. [para. 19].

Statutes Noticed:

Bills of Sale Act, R.S.N.S. 1967, c. 23, sect. 4 [para. 11]; sect. 13 [para. 21].

Counsel:

Dale W. Dunlop, for the appellant;

E.A.N. Blackburn, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard on January 22, 1987, before Hart, Jones and Macdonald, JJ.A., of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Appeal Division.

On March 5, 1987, Hart, J.A., delivered the following judgment for the Court of Appeal.