Definitions for Part

1   In this Part:

"debt or money accruing due", and any expression of similar import, includes wages or salary that would in the ordinary course of employment become due or payable within 7 days after the day on which an affidavit has been sworn under section 3 (2);

"judge" means a judge of the Supreme Court and, for proceedings in the Provincial Court, includes a judge of that court;

"registrar" means a district registrar or deputy district registrar of the Supreme Court and, for proceedings in the Provincial Court under the Small Claims Act, a registrar appointed under section 20 (1) of that Act;

"wages" includes salary, commissions and fees, and any other money payable by an employer to an employee for work or services performed in the course of employment of the employee but does not include deductions from wages made by an employer under an Act of the Legislature of any province or the Parliament of Canada.

Delegation of functions

2   (1) The registrar may authorize a person employed in the registrar's office to exercise any or all of the powers and duties of the registrar under this Part.

(2) A power or duty exercised by a person authorized under subsection (1) is deemed to have been exercised by the registrar.

Attachment procedures and exemptions

3   (1) In this section:

"action" includes a family law case brought by the filing of a notice of family claim and any proceeding brought by the filing of a counterclaim;

"debt due" and "debts due" include debts, obligations and liabilities owing, payable or accruing due and wages that would in the ordinary course of employment become owing, payable or due within 7 days after the date on which an affidavit has been sworn under subsection (2) or subsection (3);

"debts, obligations and liabilities", subject to this Act, does not include an obligation or liability not arising out of trust or contract, unless judgment has been recovered on it against the garnishee but does include, without limitation, all claims and demands of the defendant, judgment debtor, or person liable under the order for payment of money against the garnishee arising out of trusts or contract if the claims and demands could be made available under equitable execution;

"defendant" includes a respondent in a family law case brought by the filing of a notice of family claim and any person against whom a counterclaim is brought in any proceeding;

"plaintiff" includes a claimant in a family law case brought by the filing of a notice of family claim and any person by whom a counterclaim is brought in any proceeding.

(2) A judge or a registrar may, on an application made without notice to any person by

(a) a plaintiff in an action, or

(b) a judgment creditor or person entitled to enforce a judgment or order for the payment of money,

on affidavit by himself or herself or his or her solicitor or some other person aware of the facts, stating,

(c) if a judgment has been recovered or an order made,

(i) that it has been recovered or made, and

(ii) the amount unsatisfied, or

(d) if a judgment has not been recovered,

(i) that an action is pending,

(ii) the time of its commencement,

(iii) the nature of the cause of action,

(iv) the actual amount of the debt, claim or demand, and

(v) that it is justly due and owing, after making all just discounts,

and stating in either case

(e) that any other person, hereafter called the garnishee, is indebted or liable to the defendant, judgment debtor or person liable to satisfy the judgment or order, and is in the jurisdiction of the court, and

(f) with reasonable certainty, the place of residence of the garnishee,

order that all debts due from the garnishee to the defendant, judgment debtor or person liable to satisfy the judgment or order, as the case may be, is attached to the extent necessary to answer the judgment recovered or to be recovered, or the order made, as the case may be.

(3) A similar order for the attachment of debts due from a garnishee to a defendant may be made by a judge or registrar on application by or on behalf of a plaintiff who has

(a) filed an affidavit in or to the effect of Form A in Schedule 1, and

(b) issued a writ or a summons, as the case may be, for the amount of his or her claim against the defendant.

(4) An order must not be made under this Part for the attachment of a debt due to an employee for the employee's salary or wages before a judgment or order for the payment of money has been obtained against the employee in the proceeding.

(5) Except as otherwise provided in this Part, 70% of any wages due by an employer to an employee is exempt from seizure or attachment under a garnishing order issued by a judge or registrar, but the amount of the exemption allowed under this subsection must not be less than

(a) in the case of a person without dependants, $100 per month, or proportionately for a shorter period, and

(b) in the case of a person with one or more dependants, $200 per month, or proportionately for a shorter period.

(6) Subsection (5) (a) does not apply if the debt is contracted for board or lodging and subsection (5) (b) does not apply if

(a) the debt is contracted for board or lodging, and

(b) in the opinion of the judge or registrar, the exemption set out in subsection (5) (b) is not necessary for the support and maintenance of the debtor's dependants.

(7) Despite any other provision of this Part, if the wages of a person are seized or attached under

(a) a court order for support, alimony or maintenance,

(b) a duly executed separation agreement, or

(c) an order under section 18 (2) of the Family Maintenance Enforcement Act,

the exemption allowed to that person is 50% of any wages due if the wages due do not exceed $600 per month and 33 1/3% for wages in excess of  $600 per month but the amount of the exemption allowed under this subsection must not be less than $100 per month, or proportionately for a shorter period.

(8) The definition of "debts, obligations and liabilities" in subsection (1) applies to the use of that expression or the use of any of the words composing it in an order made under this section.

Variation of exemptions

4   (1) A creditor who has proceeded by way of seizure or attachment of wages of a person under section 3, or under any other Act, or a debtor affected by the proceedings, may apply in writing verified under oath to the registrar or, if the proceedings are in the Provincial Court, to a judge of that court, for an increase or reduction, as the case may be, of the amount of exemption allowed under section 3.

(2) The registrar or the judge must, within 3 days after receiving the application under subsection (1), notify the persons affected by the application of the date on which he or she will consider the matter, and the date must not be later than 7 days after the receipt of the application.

(3) On the date set by the registrar or judge, he or she must hear the matter and, after considering all the evidence before him or her and having regard to the circumstances relating to the matter, may make an order

(a) confirming,

(b) increasing, or

(c) reducing,

the exemption allowed under this Part.

(4) An order must not be made by a registrar or a judge under this section if the order

(a) has the effect of increasing the exemption allowed under section 3 to more than 90% of the wages due, or

(b) reduces the wages of an employee,

(i) in the case of a person without dependants or in the case of an order under section 3 (7), to an amount less than $100 per month, or proportionately for a shorter period, and

(ii) in the case of a person with one or more dependants, to an amount less than $200 per month, or proportionately for a shorter period.

(5) A person affected by an order made under subsection (3) may, not later than 14 days from the date of the order, by notice of appeal filed with the appropriate court, appeal the order

(a) in the case of an order of the registrar, to that court, and

(b) in the case of an order of the Provincial Court, to the Supreme Court.

(6) The notice of appeal referred to in subsection (5) must be served by the appellant at least 3 days before the date set for hearing the appeal.

(7) The judge hearing the appeal may confirm or, subject to subsection (4), vary the order appealed from.

Payment by instalment

5   (1) If a garnishing order is made against a defendant or judgment debtor, he or she may apply to the registrar or to the court in which the order is made for a release of the garnishment, and if a judgment has been entered against him or her, for payment of the judgment by instalments.

(2) If, under subsection (1), the registrar or judge considers it just in all the circumstances, he or she may make an order releasing all or part of the garnishment and if he or she does and a judgment has been entered, he or she must set the amounts and terms of payment of the judgment by instalments.

(3) An order under subsection (2) may be made without notice to any person, and the registrar or judge may, if he or she considers it just in view of changed circumstances of the judgment debtor, vary an instalment order at any time on application by the judgment creditor or debtor and on 3 days' notice in writing of the application being given to the other party.

(4) If an instalment order has been made under subsection (2) or (3) and the judgment debtor is not in default under the order, a further garnishing order must not be made concerning the judgment debt.

(5) Promptly after making an order under subsection (2) or (3), the registrar or judge must mail a copy of the order to the judgment creditor and the garnishee, or their agents.

(6) Section 4 (5), (6) and (7) applies to an appeal from an order made under subsection (2) or (3) of this section.

(7) If an order is made under this section by a registrar or judge on an appeal providing for the release of a garnishing order and payment of the judgment by instalments, the order is terminated

(a) if the judgment debtor is in default of paying any of the instalments ordered for more than 5 days, or

(b) by the issue of a garnishing order against the judgment debtor in a cause of action other than that for which the instalment payments were ordered.

Attachments of money owing by government to public servants

6   (1) In this section:

"agent of the government" means a board or commission, whether incorporated or not, all the members of which, or all the board of directors or board of managers of which,

(a) are appointed by an Act, or by, or on the recommendation of, the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and

(b) in the carrying out of their duties are, directly or indirectly, responsible to the government;

"public servant" means an officer, clerk or employee holding office or employed in or under any ministry, branch, office, institution or service of the executive government of British Columbia, at a salary or for wages payable from the public money of British Columbia, within the meaning of section 1 of the Financial Administration Act, and includes an employee of an agent of the government.

(2) Money owing, payable or accruing due from the government, or from an agent of the government, or from any board or commission appointed by or acting under the government as salary or wages to any public servant may be attached under this Part the same as money owing, payable or accruing due from any other person, and for that purpose this Part applies, subject to subsection (3), to the government or an agent of the government.

(3) Service of all garnishing orders, notices and process required to be served on the government as garnishee must be effected by serving them on the Deputy Minister of Finance or by leaving them for that deputy minister at his or her office at Victoria and

(a) if the salary or wages of the public servant are usually paid elsewhere than from that office, by also serving it on the board, commission, government agent or officer by or through whom the salary or wages of the public servant are usually paid, and

(b) if the salary or wages of the public servant are payable by an agent of the government, by also serving it on

(i) the chief officer or chair of the agent of the government, or

(ii) the officers by, or through, whom the salary or wages of the public servant are usually paid.

(4) In all proceedings under this Part to which the government, or agent of the government, as garnishee is a party, the court may give a judgment or make an order or direction as to costs in favour of or against the government.

Form of affidavits and orders

7   Affidavits and orders in the forms in Schedule 1, or to similar effect, are sufficient.

Affidavit may be on information and belief

8   (1) An affidavit referred to in section 3 may, as to the indebtedness, obligation or liability of the third person, be made on the information and belief of the deponent.

(2) An affidavit referred to in section 3 need not show or disclose any knowledge of the facts, or the source or nature of any knowledge, or the source or nature of any information or belief of the deponent in any other manner or to any further extent than is indicated by the words contained in the respective forms of affidavits in Schedule 1.

Debts bound from time of service of order

9   (1) Service of a copy of an order that states that debts, obligations or liabilities owing, payable or accruing due to the defendant, judgment debtor or person liable to satisfy the judgment or order are attached or notice of it to the garnishee in a manner the judge or registrar directs, binds the debts, obligations or liabilities in the garnishee's hands from the time of service or notice.

(2) A copy of the garnishing order must be served at once, or within a time allowed by the judge or registrar by memorandum endorsed on the order, on the defendant, judgment debtor or person liable to satisfy the judgment or order.

(3) An order must not be made for payment to the plaintiff or judgment creditor of money paid into court by the garnishee, as provided in section 21, until service of the copy has been proved by affidavit filed.

(4) A copy of a garnishing order issued out of the Provincial Court in respect of a proceeding under the Small Claims Act may be served by mailing a copy to the person to be served by registered mail to the last known post office address of that person.

(5) If it is made to appear to a judge or registrar that prompt personal service of the order on the defendant, judgment debtor or person liable to satisfy the judgment or order cannot be effected, the judge or registrar may make an order for substituted or other service, or for the substitution of notice for service, by letter, public advertisement or otherwise, as may be just.

Amount attached limited to amount due and reasonable costs

10   In the garnishing order, the amount attached is limited to the amount due or claimed to be due by the defendant, judgment debtor or person liable to satisfy the judgment or order, along with a reasonable sum for costs.

When judge may order payment by garnishee with costs

11   If the garnishee does not

(a) at once pay into court the amounts payable for the debts, obligations and liabilities attached or the amount limited by the garnishing order, and does not dispute the debts, obligations and liabilities, or one or more of them claimed to be due, owing or payable from the garnishee to the defendant, judgment debtor or person liable under the judgment or order for the payment of money, or

(b) appear on notice to the garnishee,

then a judge may order the garnishee

(c) to pay into court the amount appearing due from the garnishee, or as much of it as may be sufficient to satisfy the principal judgment or order and the costs of the garnishing proceedings, or an amount estimated to be sufficient to satisfy the judgment expected to be recovered and costs, and also the costs of the garnishing proceedings, or

(d) if judgment has been recovered or an order for the payment of money made, to pay to the person entitled the amount appearing due from the garnishee, or sufficient of it to satisfy the principal judgment or order, and the costs of the garnishing proceedings.

Payment out of court

12   (1) An order must not be made for payment out of court of money paid in by the garnishee or for payment by the garnishee to the person entitled, without notice to the defendant, judgment debtor, or person liable on the principal judgment or order, unless a judge, under special circumstances, dispenses with notice.

(2) If it is made to appear to the judge that prompt personal service of the notice required under subsection (1) cannot be effected, the judge may make an order for substituted or other service, by letter, public advertisement or otherwise, as may be just.

Payment out of court without order

13   (1) Money paid into court under garnishing proceedings may be paid out to a judgment creditor or his or her solicitor without any order of the court if

(a) 10 days' notice of the intended payment out is given to the judgment debtor and the judgment debtor has not, on or before the day on which the 10 days expire, filed notice of his or her intention to dispute the payment out, or

(b) the judgment was obtained by default and 3 months have expired from the day on which the money was paid into court.

(2) Notice of an intended payment out under subsection (1) (a) must be served personally on the judgment debtor, or if an order for substituted or other service has been made under section 9 (5), the notice may be served in the same manner as provided in the order.

(3) Notice of an intended payment out under subsection (1) (a) of money paid into court under a garnishing order issued out of the Provincial Court in respect of a proceeding under the Small Claims Act may be served by mailing a copy to the person to be served by registered mail to the last known post office address of that person.

(4) Money paid into court under garnishing proceedings may be paid out to a plaintiff or his or her solicitor without any order of the court if the consent in writing of the defendant to the payment out is filed with the registrar or judge, setting out the exact amount to be paid out.

(5) Payment out must not be made under subsection (1) or (4) if it is suggested in the course of the garnishing proceedings that the money belongs to or is claimed by a third person, or that any third person has a lien or charge on it.

Execution may issue on order

14   Execution or other proceedings may be taken to enforce the order.

Order may apply to debt not matured

15   If the claim or demand is not due at the time of the attachment, an order may be made for payment of it at maturity, and execution may issue for it when it matures.

If garnishee disputes debt, issue may be tried

16   If the garnishee disputes his or her liability, a judge, instead of making an order for payment into court or otherwise, may order that any issue or question necessary for determining the liability of the garnishee be tried or determined in any manner in which an issue or question in any action may be tried or determined.

Judge may order appearance of third person

17   If, after an order for the attachment of debts, obligations or liabilities has been made, it is suggested by the garnishee that the debt, obligation or liability sought to be attached belongs to or is claimed by a third person, or that a third person has a lien or charge on it, a judge may order the third person to appear and to state the nature and particulars of his or her claim on it.

Order for trial or payment on hearing third person

18   After hearing the allegations of the third person under the order, and of any other person whom the judge, by the same or a subsequent order, may order to appear, or if the third person or other person does not appear when ordered, the judge may order payment by the garnishee, or may order any issue or question to be tried or determined, and may bar the claim of the third person or other person, or may make any other order as the judge sees fit, on terms, in all cases with respect to the lien or charge, if any, of the third person and as to costs, as the judge thinks just and reasonable.

Judge may take evidence in chambers

19   A judge may take evidence on and hear and dispose of summarily, in chambers, any question as to the liability of the garnishee, or as to the claim of a third party or other person, without directing a formal trial of an issue.

Garnishee entitled to costs on complying with order

20   (1) The garnishee on paying into court the amounts payable for the debts, obligations and liabilities attached, or the amount limited by the garnishing order, or on complying with an order of the court made about the debts, obligations or liabilities due or owing by the garnishee, is entitled to his or her costs as between solicitor and client.

(2) The costs, if not ordered to be satisfied in another way, must be paid by the garnishing plaintiff.

(3) This section does not apply if the garnishee unsuccessfully resists payment, either in whole or in part, in which case the judge must deal with the costs.

Payment into court is valid discharge

21   Payment by the garnishee into court of the amounts payable for the debts, obligations and liabilities attached, or the amount limited by the garnishing order or in compliance with an order of a judge, or satisfaction of the order, either by execution, levied or otherwise, under any proceeding as aforesaid, is a valid discharge as against the defendant debtor to the amount paid, levied or otherwise made, although the proceeding may be set aside or the judgment reversed.

Debt attachment book to be kept by registrar

22   (1) Each registrar or judge must keep a debt attachment book, and in that book entries must be made of the garnishing order and all proceedings on it, with names, dates and statements of the amount recovered.

(2) The debt attachment book may be searched and copies of any entries made in it may be taken by a person on application to the registrar or judge.

Procedure is regulated by this Part

23   All matters referred to in sections 1 to 22 are governed by this Part, despite any Rules of Court on the subject.

Procedure in attaching partnership, firm or company debts

24   (1) In addition to all other powers vested in the Supreme Court, a judge or registrar of that court may, on the application of a plaintiff or judgment creditor, on an affidavit similar to an affidavit required under section 3, order that all debts stated by affidavit to be, or believed to be, owing or accruing from a partnership, firm or company to the judgment debtor or defendant are attached to answer the judgment debt or judgment to be recovered.

(2) The same proceedings must be had as an execution against the partnership, firm or company and otherwise as if the order had been made on an individual debtor, and process may issue against the partnership, firm or company in the name of the partnership, firm or company in the same manner as may now be done in any action or other proceeding.

(3) This section applies to proceedings in the Provincial Court.

Service of attaching order on partnership, firm or company

25   Service of the order referred to in section 24 (1) on any member of a partnership, firm or secretary of a company, at its usual place of business, if any, in British Columbia, or on an authorized agent of the partnership, firm or company, is sufficient for all purposes.

Different debts may be included in one order

26   A judge or a registrar may make an order attaching any number of debts owing from different debtors to the judgment debtor or defendant, and the service of a notice of the purport of the order, with information on where the order can be seen, is sufficient to bind the debts in the hands of the garnishees.

Garnishment not to affect employment

27   (1) An employer must not dismiss or demote an employee or terminate a contract of employment of an employee merely because of the service of a garnishing order on the employer issued under this Part for that employee.

(2) An employer who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not more than $500, or to imprisonment for a term of not more than 3 months, or to both.

(3) In addition to the penalty imposed under subsection (2),

(a) the employer must at once reinstate the employee in his or her employment on the terms and conditions that were in effect before the offence, and

(b) the employee is entitled to wages and benefits from the date of the offence to the date of the information and, to the extent ordered by the judge, from the date of the information to reinstatement, but only if the information is sworn within 14 days of the offence.

Definitions and interpretation for Part

28   (1) In this Part:

"judgment" means a judgment or order of a court in a civil proceeding if money is made payable and includes an award in an arbitration proceeding if the award, under the law in force in the state where it was made, has become enforceable in the same manner as a judgment given by a court in that state, but does not include an order for the periodical payment of money as support, alimony or maintenance for a spouse, a former spouse, a reputed spouse, a child or any other dependant of the person against whom the order was made;

"judgment creditor" means the person who obtained the judgment, and includes the person's executors, administrators, successors and assigns;

"judgment debtor" means the person against whom the judgment was given, and includes any person against whom the judgment is enforceable in the state in which it was given;

"original court" in relation to a judgment means the court that gave the judgment;

"registering court", in relation to a judgment, means the court in which the judgment is registered under this Part.

(2) All references in this Part to personal service mean actual delivery of the process, notice or other document to be served, to the person to be served with it personally, and service must not be held not to be personal service merely because the service is effected outside the state of the original court.

Application for registration of judgment

29   (1) If a judgment has been given in a court in a reciprocating state, the judgment creditor may apply to have the judgment registered in the Supreme Court unless

(a) the time for enforcement has expired in the reciprocating state, or

(b) 10 years have expired after the date the judgment became enforceable in the reciprocating state.

(1.1) On application under subsection (1), the Supreme Court may order that the judgment be registered.

(2) An order for registration under this Part may be made without notice to any person in any case in which

(a) the judgment debtor

(i) was personally served with process in the original action, or

(ii) although not personally served, appeared or defended, or attorned or otherwise submitted to the jurisdiction of the original court, and

(b) under the law in force in the state where the judgment was made,

(i) the time in which an appeal may be made against the judgment has expired and no appeal is pending, or

(ii) an appeal has been made and has been disposed of.

(3) In a case to which subsection (2) applies, the application must be accompanied by a certificate issued from the original court and under its seal and signed by a judge or the clerk of that court.

(4) The certificate must be in the form set out in Schedule 2, or to the same effect, and must set out the particulars as to the matters mentioned in it.

(5) In a case to which subsection (2) does not apply, notice of the application for the order as is required by the rules or as the judge considers sufficient must be given to the judgment debtor.

(6) An order for registration must not be made if the court to which the application for registration is made is satisfied that

(a) the original court acted either

(i) without jurisdiction under the conflict of laws rules of the court to which application is made, or

(ii) without authority, under the law in force in the state where the judgment was made, to adjudicate concerning the cause of action or subject matter that resulted in the judgment or concerning the person of the judgment debtor,

(b) the judgment debtor, being a person who was neither carrying on business nor ordinarily resident in the state of the original court, did not voluntarily appear or otherwise submit during the proceedings to the jurisdiction of that court,

(c) the judgment debtor, being the defendant in the proceedings, was not duly served with the process of the original court and did not appear, even though he or she was ordinarily resident or was carrying on business in the state of that court or had agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of that court,

(d) the judgment was obtained by fraud,

(e) an appeal is pending or the time in which an appeal may be taken has not expired,

(f) the judgment was for a cause of action that for reasons of public policy or for some similar reason would not have been entertained by the registering court, or

(g) the judgment debtor would have a good defence if an action were brought on the judgment.

(7) Registration may be effected by filing the order and an exemplification or certified copy of the judgment with the registrar of the court in which the order was made, and the judgment must be entered as a judgment of that court.

(8) If a judgment provides for the payment of money and also contains provisions for other matters, the judgment may only be registered under this Part for the payment of money.

Jurisdiction to issue certificate

30   If the original court is a court in British Columbia, that court has jurisdiction to issue a certificate for registration of a judgment in a reciprocating state.

Application of Foreign Money Claims Act

31   If a judgment sought to be registered under this Act makes payable a sum of money expressed in a currency other than the currency of Canada,

(a) the Foreign Money Claims Act applies to ascertain the amount of Canadian currency payable under it,

(b) the registering court must certify the amount payable under the judgment, in accordance with paragraph (a), on its registration, and

(c) on its registration, the judgment is deemed to be a judgment for the amount so certified.

If judgment is in language other than English

32   (1) If a judgment sought to be registered under this Part is in a language other than the English language, the judgment or the exemplification or certified copy of it, as the case may be, must have attached to it for this Part a translation in the English language approved by the court.

(2) On approval being given under subsection (1), the judgment is deemed to be in the English language.

Effect of registration

33   If a judgment is registered under this Part,

(a) the judgment, from the date of the registration, is of the same effect as if it had been a judgment given originally in the registering court on the date of the registration, and proceedings may be taken on it accordingly, except that if the registration is made under an order made without notice to any person, a sale or other disposition of any property of the judgment debtor must not be made under the judgment before the expiration of one month after the judgment debtor has had notice of the registration or a further period as the registering court may order,

(b) the registering court has the same control and jurisdiction over the judgment as it has over judgments given by itself, and

(c) the reasonable costs of and incidental to the registration of the judgment, including the costs of obtaining an exemplification or certified copy from the original court and of the application for registration, are recoverable in the same manner as if they were sums payable under the judgment if the costs are taxed by the proper officer of the registering court and the officer's certificate is endorsed on the order for registration.

Order sought by one party only

34   (1) If a judgment is registered under an order made without notice to any person

(a) within one month after the registration or within a further period as the registering court may at any time order, notice of the registration must be served on the judgment debtor in the same manner as a notice of civil claim is required to be served, and

(b) the judgment debtor, within one month after he or she has had notice of the registration, may apply to the registering court to have the registration set aside.

(2) On an application under subsection (1) (b), the court may set aside the registration on any of the grounds referred to in section 29 (6) and on terms the court thinks fit.

Rules of Court

35   Rules of Court may be made for practice and procedure, including costs, in proceedings under this Part and, until rules are made under this section, the rules of the registering court, including rules as to costs, apply with the necessary changes.

Exercise of powers

36   Subject to the Rules of Court, any of the powers conferred by this Part on a court may be exercised by that court.

Reciprocating jurisdictions

37   (1) If the Lieutenant Governor in Council is satisfied that reciprocal provisions will be made by a state in or outside Canada for the enforcement of judgments given in British Columbia, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may by order declare that state to be a reciprocating state for this Part.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may revoke an order made under subsection (1), and the state for which the order was made ceases to be a reciprocating state for this Part.

Saving

38   (1) Nothing in this Part deprives a judgment creditor of the right to bring action on the judgment, or on the original cause of action,

(a) after proceedings have been taken under this Part, or

(b) instead of proceedings under this Part.

(2) The taking of proceedings under this Part, whether or not the judgment is registered, does not deprive a judgment creditor of the right to bring action on the judgment or on the original cause of action.

General purpose

39   This Part must be interpreted so as to effect its general purpose of making uniform the law of the provinces that enact it.

Loss or injury caused by asbestos

40   (1) In this section:

"asbestos" means naturally occurring, highly fibrous, heat insulating and chemically inert silicate minerals belonging to either serpentine or amphibole groups and includes chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite, tremolite and actinolite and any other mineral commonly known as asbestos;

"judgment" means

(a) a judgment or order given in a proceeding outside Canada, or

(b) a judgment or order given in another province of Canada resulting from an action on or registration of a judgment or order described in paragraph (a).

(2) Despite this or any other Act or law, if a judgment is given for loss or injury that arises out of exposure to or the use of asbestos that has been mined in British Columbia,

(a) the judgment must not be registered in or enforced by a court, and

(b) a proceeding in respect of the judgment must not be commenced in a court or, if a proceeding was commenced before May 31, 1984, the proceeding must not be continued.

(3) If a person has a cause of action under the domestic law of British Columbia for loss or injury that is suffered outside Canada and arises out of exposure to or the use of asbestos mined in British Columbia, the person may commence an action under the domestic law of British Columbia, even though a judgment has been given in respect of the loss or injury or a proceeding might have been commenced outside Canada for the same relief.

Definition for Part

41   In this Part, "convention" means the Convention for the Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, the English language version of which is set out in Schedule 4.

Convention in force in British Columbia

42   Effective January 1, 1987, the convention is in force in British Columbia and the provisions of the convention are law in British Columbia.

Request to designate British Columbia and courts

43   The Attorney General must

(a) request the government of Canada to designate British Columbia as a province to which the convention extends, and

(b) determine the courts of British Columbia to which application for registration of a judgment given by a court of the United Kingdom may be made and request the government of Canada to designate those courts for the purpose of the convention.

Publication of date and courts

44   The Attorney General must publish in the Gazette the date the convention comes into force in British Columbia and the courts to which application for registration of a judgment given by a court of the United Kingdom may be made.

Regulations

45   The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations that are necessary to carry out the intent and purpose of this Part.

This Part prevails

46   If there is a conflict between this Part and any enactment, this Part prevails.

Definitions for Part

47   In this Part:

"charge" includes an encumbrance on land;

"defendant" includes a defendant or respondent in a proceeding;

"execution" includes an order for sale of land under this Part;

"execution creditor" includes a person in whose name or on whose behalf a writ of execution is issued on a judgment, or in whose favour an order for sale of land has been made under this Part;

"execution debtor" includes a person against whom or against whose property, other than land, a writ of execution is issued on any judgment, or against whose land an order for sale has been made under this Part;

"judgment" includes a judgment, order and decree in an action and a claim established under the Creditor Assistance Act;

"judgment creditor" means a person, whether plaintiff or defendant, who has recovered judgment against another person, and also a person entitled to enforce a judgment;

"judgment debtor" means a person, whether plaintiff or defendant, against whom a judgment has been recovered;

"plaintiff" includes a plaintiff, an appellant and applicant in a proceeding;

"plaintiff", "defendant", "execution creditor", "execution debtor", "purchaser", "mortgagee" and "mortgagor" include not only those persons, but also their real and personal representatives and their assigns, and their respective representatives and their assigns;

"proceeding" means an action, suit, cause, matter, appeal, petition proceeding or requisition proceeding;

"purchaser" includes a purchaser at a sale of land by the sheriff, and other subsequent owners of the land purchased;

"writ of execution" includes a writ of seizure and sale, sequestration and attachment, and any subsequent writ that may issue for giving effect to it, a warrant, order for seizure and sale or other process of execution sued out of the Supreme Court or Provincial Court having jurisdiction to grant and issue warrants or process of execution.

When order is payable

48   (1) If an order has been obtained for a sum of money, the sum is payable immediately unless the court orders otherwise.

(2) The court may provide that an order is payable by instalments or may suspend execution for the time it considers proper.

Repealed

49   [Repealed 2000-24-5.]

How time to be calculated

50   In all cases in which a particular number of days is mentioned in this Part or by any rule or order of court made under this Part for any purpose, it must be calculated, in the absence of any expression to the contrary, exclusive of the first and inclusive of the last day.

No imprisonment for debt

51   A person must not be taken in execution on a judgment.

Court may order preference claim to extent of 3 months' wages

52   (1) In the case of a seizure under a writ of execution against goods or an order made for the sale of land, or in the case of a sale of goods or land by a receiver under an order or decree of court or otherwise, a clerk, servant, labourer or worker, to whom the execution debtor or person against whom the process issues is indebted for salary or wages, may apply, or any 2 or more may join in applying, by summons in chambers, to the court out of which the process issues for an order under subsection (2).

(2) On an application under subsection (1), the court may order that there be retained by the sheriff out of the proceeds, if any, of the execution, or sale, or by the receiver, in preference to the remainder of the claim of the execution creditor, as much as is due or accruing due at the time of the seizure to the clerk, servant, labourer or worker, from the execution debtor for salary or wages, not exceeding 3 months' arrears, and taxed costs of and incidental to the application, after paying the execution creditor his or her costs of obtaining judgment and execution, or of the order for sale of land.

(3) The sheriff or other officer having charge of the execution, or the receiver, must obey an order under subsection (2) on pain of attachment.

Creditor may enforce claim for balance due

53   If after making payment as aforesaid, the amount due to the execution creditor is not realized, the execution creditor is at liberty to enforce his or her claim for any balance that may be due to the execution creditor, by any subsequent process of execution or of enforcing his or her judgment.

Return of writ or order by sheriff

54   In all cases under sections 52 and 53, the sheriff must return the writ of execution or order for sale of land to the court out of which it issues, with a correct account of the appropriation of the proceeds made under the writ or order.

Effect of writ of execution against goods

55   Except as exempted by sections 70 to 79 or as otherwise provided by this Act, all goods, chattels and effects of a judgment debtor are liable to seizure and sale under a writ of execution against goods and chattels.

Land not to be sold under writ of execution against goods

56   Property which for this Part is included under the term "land", as hereafter defined, must not be seized and sold under a writ of execution against goods and chattels.

Interests subject to seizure and sale

57   Any interest that a person has in any of the following may be seized and sold by the sheriff under a writ of execution against goods and chattels of that person:

(a) a mineral title as defined in the Mineral Tenure Act or any mining plant, machinery, personal property or other material placed on the location of a mineral title by the title holder;

(b) a permit, licence or lease as defined in the Coal Act or any mining plant, machinery, personal property or other material placed on the location of a licence or lease by the permittee, licensee or lessee;

(c) a permit, licence or lease as defined in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act or any property placed on the location of a permit, licence or lease by the permittee, licensee or lessee;

(d) a permit or lease as defined in the Geothermal Resources Act or any equipment placed on the location of a permit or lease by a permittee or lessee.

Sheriff empowered to seize money and securities for money

58   A sheriff or other officer to whom a writ of execution is directed must seize and take any money or bank notes, and any cheques, bills of exchange, promissory notes, bonds, specialties or other securities for money, belonging to the execution debtor, and may and must pay and deliver to the execution creditor any money or bank notes that are seized, or a sufficient part of it and must hold any cheques, bills of exchange, promissory notes, bonds, specialties or other securities for money as security for the amount directed by the writ of execution to be levied, or as much of it as has not been otherwise levied and raised, and the sheriff or other officer may sue in his or her own name for the recovery of the sums secured by it, if and when the time of payment of it has arrived.

Payment to or recovery by sheriff to be valid discharge

59   The payment to the sheriff or other officer by the party liable on any cheque, bill of exchange, promissory note, bond, specialty or other security, with or without suit, or the recovery and levying in execution against the party liable, discharges the party liable to the extent of the payment or of recovery and levy in execution, as the case may be, from his or her liability on the cheque, bill of exchange, promissory note, bond, specialty or other security.

Sheriff to satisfy writ of execution and pay surplus to execution debtor

60   (1) The sheriff or other officer must pay over to the execution creditor the money recovered, or that part of it that is sufficient to discharge the amount directed by the writ of execution to be levied.

(2) If, after satisfaction of the amount directed to be levied, together with sheriff's fees, poundage and expenses, any surplus remains in the hands of the sheriff or other officer, it must be paid to the execution debtor.

Sheriff not bound to sue until indemnified against costs

61   (1) A sheriff or other officer is not bound to sue any party liable on a cheque, bill of exchange, promissory note, bond, specialty or other security, unless the execution creditor enters into a bond, with 2 sufficient sureties, for indemnifying the sheriff or other officer from and against all costs and expenses

(a) to be incurred in the prosecution of the proceeding, or

(b) to which the sheriff or other officer may become liable as a result of the prosecution of the proceeding.

(2) The expense of the bond referred to in subsection (1) is to be deducted out of money recovered in the proceeding.

Application of Securities Transfer Act

61.1   If there is a conflict between section 58, 59 or 61 and a provision of the Securities Transfer Act, the provision of the Securities Transfer Act prevails.

Sale of equity of redemption in goods

62   (1) Under a writ of execution against goods, the sheriff or other officer to whom it is directed, may seize and sell the interest or equity of redemption in any goods or chattels of the execution debtor.

(2) A sale under subsection (1) conveys whatever interest the execution debtor had in the goods and chattels at the time of the seizure.

Repealed

63   [Repealed 2007-10-111.]

Seizure of judgment debtor's interest in securities and security entitlements

63.1   (1) In this section and sections 64.1 and 65.1, "endorsement", "entitlement order", "instruction", "issuer", "securities intermediary", "security" and "security entitlement" have the same meanings as in the Securities Transfer Act.

(2) The interest of a judgment debtor in a security or security entitlement may be seized by the sheriff in accordance with sections 47 to 51 of the Securities Transfer Act.

(3) If a seizure under subsection (2) is by notice to an issuer or securities intermediary, the seizure becomes effective when the issuer or securities intermediary has had a reasonable opportunity to act on the seizure, having regard to the time and manner of receipt of the notice.

Repealed

64   [Repealed 2007-10-111.]

Sheriff may deal with seized interests in securities and security entitlements

64.1   (1) If a judgment debtor's interest in a security or security entitlement is seized by a sheriff, the sheriff is deemed to be the appropriate person under the Securities Transfer Act for the purposes of dealing with or disposing of the seized property, and, for the duration of the seizure, the judgment debtor is not the appropriate person under that Act for the purposes of dealing with or disposing of the seized property.

(2) On seizure of a judgment debtor's interest in a security or security entitlement, the sheriff may

(a) do anything that would otherwise have to be done by the judgment debtor, or

(b) execute or endorse any document that would otherwise have to be executed or endorsed by the judgment debtor.

(3) If the sheriff makes or originates an endorsement, instruction or entitlement order as the appropriate person under subsection (1), the sheriff must provide the issuer or securities intermediary with a certificate of the sheriff stating that the sheriff has the authority under this Act to make that endorsement, instruction or entitlement order and any subsequent endorsements, instructions and entitlement orders in respect of the same execution debt.

Repealed

65   [Repealed 2007-10-111.]

Restrictions on transfer of seized security

65.1   (1) In this section, "seized security" means the interest of a judgment debtor in a security that is seized.

(2) This section applies if the interest of a judgment debtor in a security is seized by a sheriff and the jurisdiction that governs the validity of the security under section 44 of the Securities Transfer Act is British Columbia.

(3) Subject to subsection (5), if the transfer of the seized security is restricted by the terms of the security, by a restriction imposed by the issuer or by a unanimous shareholder agreement governed by the law of British Columbia, the sheriff is bound by the restriction.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), if a person would otherwise be entitled to acquire or redeem the seized security for a predetermined price or at a price fixed by reference to a predetermined formula, the person is entitled to acquire or redeem the security.

(5) On application by the sheriff or any interested person, if the Supreme Court considers that a restriction on the transfer of the seized security or a person's entitlement to acquire or redeem the seized security was made with intent to defeat, hinder, delay or defraud creditors or others, the court may make any order that the court considers appropriate regarding the seized security, including an order doing one or more of the following:

(a) directing the method or terms of sale of the seized security, or the method of realizing the value of the seized security other than through sale;

(b) directing the issuer to pay dividends, distributions or interest to the sheriff even though the sheriff is not the registered owner of the security;

(c) directing the issuer to register the transfer of the seized security to a person despite a restriction on the transfer of the security described in subsection (3) or the entitlement of another person to acquire or redeem the security described in subsection (4);

(d) directing that all or part of a unanimous shareholder agreement does not apply to a person who acquires or takes a seized security from the sheriff;

(e) directing that the issuer be dissolved and its proceeds disposed of according to law.

(6) The sheriff may bring an application under section 227 of the Business Corporations Act as if he or she were a shareholder under that section, whether or not an application is brought under subsection (5) of this section.

(7) An application under subsection (5) may be joined with an application for an oppression remedy under section 227 of the Business Corporations Act.

(8) Unless otherwise ordered by the court under subsection (5), a person who acquires or takes a seized security from the sheriff is deemed to be a party to any unanimous shareholder agreement regarding the management of the business and affairs of the issuer or the exercise of voting rights attached to the seized security to which the judgment debtor was a party at the time of the seizure, if the unanimous shareholder agreement contains provisions intended to preclude the judgment debtor from transferring the security except to a person who agrees to be a party to that unanimous shareholder agreement.

(9) Despite subsection (8) and any provision in a unanimous shareholder agreement to the contrary, a person who acquires or takes a seized security from the sheriff is not liable to make any financial contribution to the corporation or provide any guarantee or indemnity of the corporation's debts or obligations.

Repealed

66-69   [Repealed 2007-10-111.]

Definitions for sections 71 to 78

70   In sections 71 to 78, unless the context otherwise requires,

"debtor" includes the personal representative of the debtor if the debtor is dead, and in case of the absence of the debtor, includes any member of the debtor's household;

"value" means the net amount that the goods and chattels may be reasonably expected to realize at a sale of goods and chattels conducted in the manner in which such sales are usually conducted by a sheriff or other officer.

Personal property of debtor

71   (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4) of this section and section 71.2, the following goods and chattels of a debtor, at the option of the debtor, are exempt from forced seizure or sale by any process at law or in equity:

(a) necessary clothing of the debtor and the debtor's dependants;

(b) household furnishings and appliances that are of a value not exceeding a prescribed amount;

(c) one motor vehicle that is of a value not exceeding a prescribed amount;

(d) tools and other personal property of the debtor, not exceeding in value a prescribed amount, that are used by the debtor to earn income from the debtor's occupation;

(e) medical and dental aids that are required by the debtor and the debtor's dependants;

(f) any personal property prescribed by the regulations that is of a value not exceeding a prescribed amount.

(2) This section must not be construed as exempting any property from seizure in satisfaction of a debt incurred for the purpose of acquiring property otherwise exempt under subsection (1).

(3) This section must not be construed as permitting a trader to claim as an exemption any of the goods and merchandise which form a part of the stock and trade of his or her business.

(4) This section does not apply to a corporate debtor.

Principal residence of debtor

71.1   (1) Subject to section 71.2, the principal residence of a debtor is exempt from forced seizure or sale by any process at law or in equity if the value of the debtor's equity in the principal residence does not exceed a prescribed amount.

(2) This section does not apply to

(a) a corporate debtor, or

(b) a debtor who is party to a proceeding in respect of a mortgage.

Property exceeding exempted values

71.2   (1) If the value of the property referred to in section 71 (1) or 71.1 (1) exceeds the prescribed amount of the exemption for the property, that property is subject to seizure and sale under this Act.

(2) If property to which subsection (1) applies is sold under this Act, a sheriff or other officer must, unless otherwise provided by law or by the agreement of all interested parties, distribute any of the proceeds of the sale as follows:

(a) pay firstly to a secured creditor the amount owed by the debtor to the secured creditor if the secured creditor

(i) has, at the time of seizure, a financing statement registered under the Personal Property Security Act, or

(ii) has a charge registered under the Land Title Act;

(b) pay secondly to the debtor an amount not exceeding the prescribed amount of the exemption.

(3) The sum received by the debtor under subsection (2) (b) is exempt from attachment.

(4) This section must not be construed as affecting the priority of a maintenance order under the Family Maintenance Enforcement Act.

(5) The priority of the claim of any person referred to in subsection (2) is not prejudiced by a payment to anyone made in accordance with that subsection.

Registered plans exempt from seizure

71.3   (1) In this section:

"DPSP" means a deferred profit sharing plan as defined in section 147 of the federal Act;

"enforcement process" means

(a) attachment,

(b) garnishment,

(c) execution,

(d) seizure, or

(e) any other remedy or legal process to enforce payment of a debt;

"federal Act" means the Income Tax Act (Canada);

"planholder" means

(a) with respect to a DPSP, a beneficiary under the plan,

(b) with respect to an RRIF, an annuitant as defined in paragraph (a) of the definition of "annuitant" in section 146.3 (1) of the federal Act, and

(c) with respect to an RRSP, an annuitant as defined in paragraph (a) of the definition of "annuitant" in section 146 (1) of the federal Act;

"registered plan" means a DPSP, an RRIF or an RRSP, whether registered before, on or after November 1, 2008;

"RRIF" means a registered retirement income fund as defined in section 146.3 of the federal Act;

"RRSP" means a registered retirement savings plan as defined in section 146 of the federal Act.

(2) Despite any other enactment, all property in a registered plan is exempt from any enforcement process.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply

(a) to property contributed to a registered plan after or within 12 months before the date on which the debt being enforced came due,

(b) to property that has been or is being paid out of a registered plan,

(c) to an enforcement process that is being effected in support of the enforcement of a maintenance order as defined in the Family Maintenance Enforcement Act,

(d) to an enforcement process initiated against a registered plan before November 1, 2008, or

(e) to an enforcement process arising from an order made under the Securities Act.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) (b),

(a) a transfer of property from a registered plan of the planholder

(i) to another registered plan of the planholder, or

(ii) after the death of the planholder, to the planholder's spouse or common-law partner as defined in section 248 of the federal Act who, under the terms of the registered plan, is entitled to receive that property on the planholder's death,

does not constitute a payment of that property out of a registered plan, and

(b) if an enforcement process is pursued against property being paid out of a registered plan of a planholder, that property is deemed, for the purposes of that enforcement process and Part 1 of this Act, to be a debt due to the planholder for or with respect to the salary or wages of the planholder.

(5) Subject to subsection (6), if a provision of this section is inconsistent or in conflict with a provision of another Act, the provision of this section prevails unless the other Act expressly provides that it, or a provision of it, applies despite this section.

(6) Nothing in this section makes any property in a registered plan subject to an enforcement process if that property would not, but for this section, be subject to an enforcement process.

Art exempt from seizure

72   (1) Works of art or other objects of cultural or historical significance brought into British Columbia for temporary public exhibit are exempt from seizure or sale under any process at law or in equity.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply

(a) to execution on a judgment respecting a contract for the transportation or warehousing or exhibition in British Columbia of the work or object, or

(b) to a work or object that is offered for sale.

Procedure for selection of exempt goods

73   (1) A sheriff or other officer seizing the personal property of a debtor under a writ of execution must

(a) allow the debtor to select goods and chattels from the personal property seized, not exceeding in value the exemption under section 71 (1), and

(b) in a form and manner determined by the Director of Debtor Assistance appointed under the Debtor Assistance Act, make every reasonable effort to inform the debtor of the services and advice available under that Act.

(2) A debtor whose personal property has been seized may, within 2 days after the seizure or notice of it, whichever is later, select goods and chattels from the personal property seized, not exceeding in value the exemption under section 71 (1), and then, if a list of the selected articles has not been delivered to the sheriff or other officer by the debtor, the sheriff or other officer must make a written list of articles, and give a copy to the debtor.

(3) The sheriff or other officer must at once, if in his or her opinion the goods and chattels selected do not exceed in value the exemption under section 71 (1), withdraw from possession of them, and they are, and the sheriff or other officer must certify in writing that they are, the goods and chattels exempt under section 71.

Procedure as to value of exempt goods

74   (1) If the sheriff or other officer is of the opinion that the goods and chattels selected by the debtor exceed in value the exemption under section 71 (1), he or she must

(a) within one day after the receipt or making of the list referred to in section 73, notify the debtor to that effect in writing, and

(b) unless within one day more the sheriff or other officer and the debtor agree on the goods and chattels to be exempt, not to exceed in value the exemption under section 71 (1), without delay call on a justice resident in the area, who must at once name an appraiser, whose duty it is to appraise.

(2) The appraiser named under subsection (1) (b) must, when sworn, without delay, appraise the selected goods and chattels in the presence of the debtor, or after one day's notice to the debtor, to be served either personally or tacked up in some conspicuous place where the seized goods are located.

(3) If a claim to exemption has been made and has been admitted or agreed on under subsection (1) (b), or if the goods claimed have been selected and appraised under or at the amount of the exemption under section 71 (1), the sheriff or other officer must withdraw from possession of them, and they are, and the sheriff or other officer must certify in writing that they are, the goods and chattels exempt under section 71.

If goods selected exceed in value the exempt amount

75   If the goods claimed by the debtor are appraised at more than the amount of the exemption under section 71 (1),

(a) the debtor is still allowed his or her option under that section if the debtor claims it,

(b) the appraiser must appraise as much of the claimed goods as will not exceed in value the exempt amount, and

(c) the goods appraised at the exempt amount constitute and must be certified as the exempt goods.

Appraiser's fees

76   (1) If the goods claimed by the debtor are appraised at more than the amount of the exemption under section 71 (1), then the fees of the appraiser, not to exceed a prescribed amount, and his or her expenses of travel for the distance actually and necessarily travelled by the appraiser, not to exceed a prescribed amount, must be levied out of the exempted goods.

(2) If the goods are appraised at an amount equal to or less than the amount of the exemption under section 71 (1), then the sheriff or other officer must pay the fees and expenses of travel of the appraiser, but in the latter case the sheriff or other officer may deduct the sum paid the appraiser from the proceeds of execution, if any, against goods not exempt.

Appraiser's oath

77   An appraiser must, before acting as an appraiser, take and subscribe the following oath before any person authorized to administer an oath, or in the absence of that person, then before any sheriff or sheriff's officer, who may administer it:

I, A.B., having been appointed the appraiser of goods and chattels seized under an execution [or as the case may be], in the suit of ............................................... against [or as the case may be], do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I will faithfully perform the duties of the office without partiality, fear, favour or affection, and that I will appraise the value of the goods and chattels submitted for my appraisal to the best of my ability. So help me God.

Sworn before me at ......................................., [month, day, year].

........................................................, J.P. [or as the case may be].

A.B., Appraiser under Court Order Enforcement Act.

Appeal from appraisal

78   (1) The debtor may appeal from the decision of the appraiser, or from any act of the sheriff or other officer, to the Supreme Court, on giving security for the appeal as a judge of that court may order.

(2) The appeal must be decided summarily and without delay.

Recovery of taxes, rent and other debts

79   Nothing in sections 71 to 76 must be construed as exempting any property

(a) from sale in satisfaction of debts owed to the government, including taxes, or

(b) from distress for rent.

Writs of elegit or fi. fa. land abolished

80   A writ of elegit or writ of fieri facias de terris must not be issued in British Columbia.

Definitions for sections 82 to 112

81   In sections 82 to 112, unless the context otherwise requires,

"judgment" means a judgment, decree or order of the Federal Court of Canada, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court or Provincial Court, or of a judge of any of those courts, or a claim established under the Creditor Assistance Act, by which judgment, decree, order or claim money is payable to any person, and includes an order made under any other Act that entitles a person to register the order in a land title office;

"land" includes every estate, right, title and interest in land, and all real property, both legal and equitable, and of every nature and kind, and any contingent, executory or future interest in it, and a possibility coupled with an interest in the land or real property, whether the object of the gift or limitation of the interest is ascertained or not, and also the right of entry, whether immediate or future and whether vested or contingent, into and on any land, and includes

(a) the respective interests of mortgagor and mortgagee under a valid and subsisting mortgage of land,

(b) the respective interests of vendor and purchaser under a valid and subsisting agreement for the sale and purchase of land,

(c) the interest in land of a joint tenant, whether or not subject to a mortgage, and

(d) the interest in land of a tenant in common,

but does not include the rights of a lien claimant under the Builders Lien Act;

"nonexpiring judgment" means a judgment to which the application of section 83 (1) is, by any other Act, excluded;

"owner" has the same meaning as in the Land Title Act;

"register" has the same meaning as in the Land Title Act;

"registered owner" means registered as an owner under the Land Title Act;

"renewal" means the renewal of the registration of a judgment in accordance with section 91.

Registration of judgment before October 31, 1979

82   (1) Immediately on a judgment being entered or recovered in British Columbia, the judgment may be registered in any or all of the land title offices in British Columbia.

(2) From the time of registering it, the judgment forms a lien and charge on all the land of the judgment debtor in the land title districts in which the judgment is registered, in the same manner as if charged in writing by the judgment debtor under his or her signature and seal.

(3) After the registration of the judgment, the judgment creditor may, if he or she wishes to do so, proceed at once on the lien and charge created by it.

Expiration of lien

83   (1) A judgment, except a nonexpiring judgment including a renewal of it under subsection (3), registered under this Part, at the expiration of 2 years after the registration or last renewal of registration of it, ceases to form a lien or charge on the land of the judgment debtor, or anyone claiming under the judgment debtor, unless before the expiration of 2 years the registration of the judgment is renewed.

(2) A nonexpiring judgment registered before October 31, 1979 expires at the end of 2 years after the Land Title Act came into force, unless renewed under subsection (3).

(3) A judgment creditor, in respect of a nonexpiring judgment, may, at any time within the 2 year period referred to in subsection (2), apply to register a renewal of the judgment.

(4) Sections 86 (4) and (5) and 89 apply to an application under subsection (3).

Registration or renewal before October 31, 1979

84   (1) The registration or renewal of registration of a judgment must be effected by the delivery to the Registrar of Titles at the land title office of a certificate of the judgment under the seal of the court in which it has been entered or recovered, if the court has a seal, and signed by the court or by an officer empowered to grant certificates for proceedings in that court, accompanied by a copy of the certificate of judgment certified by the court or officer and an application of the judgment creditor or his or her solicitor or agent, in accordance with the requirements of the Land Registry Act, to register or renew registration of the judgment.

(2) The Registrar of Titles must write or stamp on the certificate and on the certified copy the day, hour and minute of the delivery of the certificate at his or her office, which time must be the time of the registration or renewal of registration of the judgment, as the case may be, and the Registrar of Titles must then enter it in the register of judgments under the Land Registry Act.

(3) On the entry being made, the certificate of judgment must be returned to the person who delivered it, but the certified copy must be kept in the land title office.

(4) Registration of a judgment under this Part includes the reregistration of it, which may be effected in the same way that a judgment is registered or the registration of it is renewed.

Section 84 limited in time

85   (1) Section 84 does not apply to an application made to register or to renew the registration of a judgment after October 30, 1979.

(2) After the date referred to in subsection (1), the registration or the renewal of registration of a judgment must be in accordance with sections 86 and 91.

Registration of judgments after October 30, 1979

86   (1) In this section, "purchaser" includes lessee or mortgagee.

(2) After October 30, 1979, a judgment entered or obtained in British Columbia may be registered against the title to specified land in any or all of the land title offices in the manner provided in section 88.

(3) From the time of its registration the judgment forms a lien and charge on the land of the judgment debtor specified in the application referred to in section 88 in the same manner as if charged in writing by the judgment debtor under his or her signature and seal,

(a) to the extent of his or her beneficial interest in the land,

(b) if an owner is registered as a personal representative or trustee, to the extent of the interest of a beneficiary who is a judgment debtor, and

(c) subject to the rights of a purchaser who, before the registration of the judgment, has acquired an interest in the land in good faith and for valuable consideration under an instrument not registered at the time of the registration of the judgment.

(4) The time of registration or the renewal of registration of a judgment is the day and hour when the application under section 88 to register the judgment or the renewal of it is received by the registrar.

(5) If a judgment is registered under this section against a particular interest in land of the judgment debtor, and the judgment debtor subsequently acquires a further registered estate or interest in the same land, the registration of the judgment, if subsisting on the register, without any further application or other act on the part of the judgment creditor, is deemed to be enlarged so as to include the beneficial interest of the judgment debtor in that further registered estate or interest.

(6) After registration under this section, the judgment creditor may proceed at once on the lien and charge created by subsection (3).

(7) A judgment creditor is not a bona fide purchaser for value.

(8) A judgment must not be registered against unsurveyed Crown land or Crown land the title to which is not registered under the Land Title Act.

(9) If a judgment creditor has knowledge that the judgment debtor is the beneficial owner of an estate or interest in land, the title to which he or she has not registered, the judgment creditor may, on proof satisfactory to the registrar, apply, in the same manner as an application is made to register any other judgment, to register the judgment against the beneficial estate or interest in the land affected.

(10) Registration of a judgment includes the reregistration of it, and reregistration may be effected in the same manner as a judgment is registered or registration of it is renewed.

Fraudulent Preference Act

87   (1) If the Supreme Court, on application by a judgment creditor under section 9 of the Fraudulent Preference Act, orders that the judgment creditor is entitled to register the judgment against the land in respect of which the application was made or against the judgment debtor's or another person's interest in the land, the judgment creditor may apply to the Registrar of Titles, in the same manner as an application is made to register any other judgment, to register the judgment against the land or interest in the land.

(2) If a judgment is registered on an application made under subsection (1), the Registrar of Titles must, by registered mail, send a notice in the prescribed form together with a copy of the certificate of judgment to every owner of the land against which the judgment has been registered and to the judgment debtor.

Application to register judgment

88   (1) After October 30, 1979, a judgment creditor may apply under the Land Title Act to register, against the title to specified land, a judgment or a renewal of the registration of a judgment, in the same manner as a charge is registered by delivering to the registrar a certificate of judgment or, if permitted by an enactment, a copy of an order, which is included in the words "certificate of judgment".

(2) In subsection (1), "judgment creditor" includes, in a proper case, the clerk of the Provincial Court acting on behalf of the judgment creditor.

(3) A certificate of judgment must be

(a) sealed with the seal of the court in which the judgment was entered or recovered, and

(b) signed by the registrar of the court.

(4) A judgment entered or obtained in the Provincial Court is sufficient for registration purposes if it is certified to be a true copy by the clerk or judge of that court.

(5) A photocopy, satisfactory to the registrar, of a certificate of judgment registered under this section, may be received by the registrar in support of an application under the Land Title Act to register

(a) the judgment against other specified land, or

(b) a renewal of a judgment,

in the same manner and with the same effect as if the original certificate were produced.

Notice to owner

89   (1) In this section, "owner" includes a person alleged by the judgment creditor to be a judgment debtor and to have acquired from or through a registered owner, by transfer, transmission or otherwise, an estate or interest in the land in question.

(2) The registrar, on completion of a registration under section 88 must, by registered mail, send to the owner against whose title the judgment has been registered a notice in the prescribed form, together with a copy of the certificate of judgment.

(3) Except as provided in section 91 (4), subsection (2) does not apply to a renewal of a judgment.

(4) If no reply is received from the owner as provided in the notice, no further act by the registrar is required in respect of the notice.

(5) If the owner alleges that he or she is not the judgment debtor referred to in the certificate of judgment, the registrar must make further inquiry or investigation the registrar considers necessary or advisable and, for that purpose, the registrar may

(a) take evidence under oath or otherwise,

(b) require the production of records, and

(c) decide whether or not the owner is, in fact, the judgment debtor and whether the judgment does or does not affect the land described.

(6) If the registrar is satisfied from the evidence taken under subsection (5) that the owner is not the same person as the judgment debtor, the registrar must make an order accordingly.

(7) The registrar must at once deliver or mail by registered mail to the owner and the judgment creditor a copy of the order.

(8) If the judgment creditor does not, within 21 days after the order is delivered or mailed, proceed under subsection (10), the registrar must cancel the registration of the judgment; but if the judgment creditor or his or her solicitor approves of the order, the registrar may cancel the registration at once.

(9) If the registrar decides that the owner is the judgment debtor, the registrar must make an order accordingly and promptly deliver or mail by registered mail a copy of the order to both the judgment creditor and the owner.

(10) If the judgment creditor does not approve of an order made under subsection (6) or an owner does not approve of an order made under subsection (9), he or she may, within 21 days after the registrar's order is delivered or mailed to him or her, make an application in the nature of an appeal to the Supreme Court, and section 309 of the Land Title Act applies in respect of the application.

(11) If the registrar cancels the judgment under subsection (8), the judgment creditor must at once pay the owner $25 as compensation for expenses incurred as a result of the registration of the certificate of judgment.

(12) The compensation payable under subsection (11) constitutes a debt recoverable in the Provincial Court.

(13) If a notice under subsection (2) is mailed to the person referred to in subsection (1) a copy must also be mailed to the registered owner.

(14) This section does not apply in respect of a judgment registered on an application made under section 87.

Additional compensation

90   (1) Even though payment has been made under section 89 (11), if the registrar has cancelled the registration of a judgment under section 89 and the owner against whose land the judgment was registered has sustained damage or incurred costs or expenses, by reason of the judgment creditor without reasonable cause having registered the judgment, the owner may apply to a court for compensation.

(2) The court may award a sum it considers just, taking into account the amount paid or to be paid under section 89 (11).

(3) The court may take into consideration evidence that all proper and necessary steps were not taken by the judgment creditor to ensure that the judgment debtor was the same person as the registered owner whose name is similar.

(4) A registered owner may make a claim for compensation under this section against a judgment creditor by reason of his or her having registered a judgment against a person alleged to be a judgment debtor and to have acquired from or through a registered owner, by transfer, transmission or otherwise, an estate or interest in the land in question.

Expiration and renewal

91   (1) Except for a nonexpiring judgment, registration of a judgment ceases, at the expiration of 2 years after the date of the application for registration or the date of the last application to renew registration, to form a lien and charge on the land affected by the registration unless, before the expiration of the 2 years, application is made to renew the registration of the judgment.

(2) The registration of a judgment may be renewed at any time before the end of 2 years after the registration or last renewal of registration of the judgment.

(3) An application for the renewal of a judgment must comply with the requirements of the Land Title Act.

(4) On receiving an application for the renewal of a judgment, the registrar must comply with section 89 if notice in the prescribed form has not been previously sent in respect of the same judgment and the same land.

(5) If a renewal of registration is effected under this section and an endorsement is made in the register, and there is a subsisting entry of the judgment in the register of judgments, the entry is deemed to be cancelled as to the interest of the judgment debtor in the land described in the register.

(6) Section 86 (5) applies to renewals registered under this section.

Procedure for enforcing charge

92   (1) If a judgment creditor has registered a judgment under this Act, and alleges that the judgment debtor is entitled to or has an interest in any land, or that any land is held subject to the lien created by registration of judgment under section 82, a motion may be made in Supreme Court Chambers, by the judgment creditor calling on the judgment debtor, and on any trustee or other person having the legal estate in the land in question, to show cause why any land in the land title district in which the judgment is registered, or the interest in it of the judgment debtor, or a competent part of the land, should not be sold to realize the amount payable under the judgment.

(2) If the judgment debtor is dead, the motion to show cause must call on those to whom the interest of the deceased in the land in question has passed, and on any trustee or other person having the legal estate in it.

(3) Any notice of application or order made on it under this section may, in any case where in the opinion of the court personal service cannot be reasonably effected, be served in a manner the court directs, and the court may in any case allow service of the notice of application or order to be made out of the jurisdiction.

Determination of disputed questions

93   On an application under section 92, the proceedings must be had, either in a summary way or by the trial of an issue, or by inquiry before an officer of the court, as the court thinks necessary or convenient, for the purpose of ascertaining the truth of the matters in question, and whether the land, or the interest in it of the judgment debtor, is liable for the satisfaction of the judgment.

Reference to ascertain land and settle priorities

94   (1) If an order is made on an application under section 92, there must be included in the order a reference to a district registrar of the Supreme Court

(a) to find what land is liable to be sold under the judgment,

(b) to find what is the interest of the judgment debtor in the land and of his or her title to it,

(c) to find what judgments form a lien and charge against the land and the priorities between the judgments,

(d) to determine how the proceeds of the sale are to be distributed, and

(e) to report all the findings to the court.

(2) The district registrar must deal with all judgments registered against the land whether registered before or after the judgment on which the proceedings are taken.

(3) Unless good reason is found to the contrary, the creditor first taking proceedings is entitled to his or her costs in priority to all claims under the judgment whether before or after his or her own.

(4) The district registrar must serve all persons affected by his or her inquiries.

(5) The report, when made, requires confirmation by the Supreme Court, and all persons affected by it must have notice of the application for confirmation, and on application the court may confirm all or part of the report, and may alter it or may refer it back to the district registrar.

Registrar may retain sufficient sum to satisfy claim under Creditor Assistance Act

95   If a person has a contested claim pending under the Creditor Assistance Act, he or she may give notice of it to any district registrar to whom a reference has been made under section 94, and the district registrar must provide in his or her report for the retention of a sufficient sum to give that person the share of the proceeds to which he or she would be entitled if that person had a judgment for the amount he or she claims, and the sum must be retained until the contestation of the claim is disposed of under the Creditor Assistance Act.

Order for sale of land

96   (1) If in a summary way or on the trial of an issue, or as the result of inquiries under sections 92 to 95, or otherwise, any land or the interest of any judgment debtor in it is found liable to be sold, an order must be made by the court declaring what land or what interest in it is liable to be sold, and directing the sale of it by the sheriff.

(2) Despite subsection (1), if a premises situated on the land or interest in it of a judgment debtor is the home of the debtor, the court may defer the sale, subject to the performance by the judgment debtor of terms and conditions of payment or otherwise as the court imposes.

(3) If in any case substituted service has been ordered by the court on the judgment debtor of the notice of civil claim or notice of family claim, as the case may be, or other process in the proceeding in which the judgment is obtained, the land ordered to be sold must not be sold by the sheriff until it has been advertised as provided in section 97 for 6 months after the order for sale.

(4) Despite subsection (3), on application by the judgment creditor to the Supreme Court, the court may shorten the period of 6 months referred to in that subsection, or make any other order in that behalf it thinks fit.

Court may direct notification of claimants not before court

97   (1) If, on an application for an order for the sale of land, it appears to the court, on affidavit setting out the fact, that there may be persons interested in the land to be sold whose names are unknown to the judgment creditor, the court may, if it thinks fit, direct advertisements to be published at times and in a manner the court thinks fit, calling on all persons claiming to be interested in the land to come in and establish their respective claims to it in chambers in a time to be limited by the court.

(2) After the expiration of the time limited, all persons who have not come in and established their claims, whether they are in or out of the jurisdiction of the court, including persons under disability, are absolutely debarred from all right, title and interest in and to the land.

Pending litigation

98   A notice of application for an order under section 92 may contain a description of the land in question, and on filing it with the proper officer, signed by the solicitor of the applicant, a certificate of pending litigation may be issued for registration, and if the application is refused in whole or in part, a certificate of the order may be issued for registration.

Costs in discretion of court

99   The costs of and incident to all the proceedings authorized by sections 92 to 98 are in the discretion of the court.

Time of sale of land

100   The sheriff must not offer the land for sale within a period less than one month from the day on which the order for the sale of it is delivered to the sheriff.

Notice of sale

101   (1) Before land is offered for sale under any order, the sheriff must advertise in the Gazette, specifying the following:

(a) the particular property to be sold;

(b) the name or names, if more than one, of the plaintiffs and defendants in every proceeding;

(c) the charges, if any, appearing on the register against the land;

(d) the date of the registration of encumbrances or charges;

(e) the time and place of the intended sale;

(f) the amount of the judgment.

(2) For 7 days next preceding the sale, unless otherwise ordered by the court, the sheriff must similarly advertise in a newspaper of general circulation published or circulating in the county in which the land is located, and must, before or immediately after the first publication of the advertisement, post in his or her own office a printed or written copy of the notice of sale, in a suitable frame to be provided by the sheriff for the purpose.

(3) The court in which the order for sale is made may dispense with any of the requirements of this section, except as to advertising in the Gazette, or may modify or make other provisions as to advertising.

Form of notice of sale

102   Notices of sale must be printed or written in a legible manner, and may be in Form A of Schedule 3, or to a similar effect.

Purchase of land by plaintiff or mortgagee

103   (1) A plaintiff, or any mortgagee of the land offered for sale, is at liberty to purchase at any sale by the sheriff, and acquires the same estate, interest and rights as any other purchaser.

(2) If a mortgagee becomes the purchaser of land sold for his or her mortgage debt, or any part of it, the mortgagee must give the mortgagor a release of the debt, or of a proportionate part of it, the proportion to be ascertained and certified, in Form B of Schedule 3, by the sheriff.

(3) If the land purchased by the mortgagee is subject to a mortgage or other pecuniary charge, other than his or her mortgage, that has priority over the execution under which the land has been sold, or if any other person becomes the purchaser at the sale of land on which there is a mortgage or other pecuniary charge that has priority over the execution, if the person entitled to the encumbrance enforces payment of the amount of it, or any part of it, or any interest or costs, then the purchaser must repay to the mortgagor or other person who has been enforced to make any payment the amount paid, or a proportionate part of it, ascertained or to be ascertained under subsection (2).

(4) In default of repayment by the purchaser under subsection (3) within one month after demand, the person who has made the payment, the person's executors or administrators, may recover from the purchaser the amount paid, with interest, in a proceeding for money had and received; and until the money has been repaid with interest the person or his or her executors or administrators have a charge for it on the land purchased.

No sale on day of sale

104   If, at the time set for the sale under an order, no bidders appear, or if in the opinion of the sheriff the biddings are not sufficient to justify a sale, the sheriff may adjourn the sale.

Conveyance of land sold

105   (1) On a sale of land under this Part, the sheriff must execute to the purchaser a conveyance, under the sheriff's signature and seal, of the land sold, in Form C of Schedule 3, or to similar effect, and must in the conveyance fully, distinctly and sufficiently describe the land and interest in it that has been sold.

(2) The conveyance referred to in subsection (1), when delivered to the purchaser, and registered in the land title office for the land title district in which the land is located, vests in the purchaser, according to the nature of the property sold, all the legal and equitable estate and interest of the execution debtor in it at the time of the registration against the land of the first judgment, as well as at the time of the sale, or at any intermediate time, discharged from the first judgment and from all judgments and other charges against the execution debtor and his or her land, subsequent to the first judgment.

(3) Despite subsection (1) and (2), if the execution debtor's interest in the land sold under this Part is that of a mortgagee or a vendor under an agreement to sell the land, the conveyance executed by the sheriff under subsection (1) vests in the purchaser no right to payment of any money paid by or on behalf of the mortgagor or the purchaser under the agreement to sell the land, as the case may be, prior to receipt of notice of the judgment by the mortgagor or the purchaser, or his or her personal representative.

(4) Notice of a judgment is sufficient for subsection (3) if it sets out

(a) the style of proceeding of the proceeding in which the judgment was obtained,

(b) the amount of the judgment,

(c) the date of pronouncement of the judgment,

(d) the date of entry, if any, of the judgment,

(e) the name of the judgment creditor, and

(f) the date of the notice.

Proceeds of sale to registrar of Supreme Court

106   In case of a sale under an order for sale of land, all money made on the sale must, immediately after the making of it, and after deducting the sheriff's fees and incidental expenses, be delivered to the registrar of the court where the order for sale was made, or out of which the writ was issued, with a statement of the land sold and the money made on the sale.

Purchaser not to be affected by irregularities

107   The purchaser at a sale is not bound to ascertain whether the requirements of this Part have been performed, and despite a breach of this Part or any impropriety or irregularity in the sale or otherwise of which the purchaser may or may not have notice, if he or she is not a party to it, and despite any informality in the conveyance of the property sold, the conveyance, when executed by the sheriff and delivered to the purchaser, is deemed to be valid.

Proceeding not to abate by marriage, death or bankruptcy

108   (1) For this Part, a proceeding must not be considered to have abated, and an order for the sale of land or any sale under it is not in any way affected, by reason of the marriage, death or bankruptcy of any of the persons named in the judgment.

(2) The intent and object of this Part is to pass to a purchaser at a sale, under an order for the sale of land, an absolute title to the estate and interest of the execution debtor in the land purchased at the sale.

(3) Nothing in this Part affects the right of the execution debtor to receive rent or interest that is due for the land previous to the day of the sale of it.

Power of purchasers to satisfy encumbrances

109   (1) A purchaser may remove or satisfy a mortgage or other encumbrance that, at the time of the sale, existed on land purchased, in a similar manner as the execution debtor might have done and, on removing or satisfying the mortgage or other encumbrance, the purchaser acquires the same estate, right, title and interest as the execution debtor would have acquired in case the removal or satisfaction had been effected by the execution debtor.

(2) The mortgagee or other encumbrancer must, if required, give to the purchaser, at the cost of the purchaser, a certificate of the satisfaction of mortgage or other encumbrance, which certificate may be in Form D of Schedule 3.

(3) The presentation of the certificate referred to in subsection (2) to the registrar of titles is sufficient authority for the registrar of titles to cancel the registration of the mortgage or other encumbrance for which it is given.

Payment into court of money from sale

110   Money realized by the sale of land under this Part is money levied under execution within the meaning of the Creditor Assistance Act, except that the money must be paid into court under this Part, subject to the right to costs, if any, of any judgment creditor whose judgment was registered against the land.

Distribution of money

111   The money received by the registrar of the court must be distributed by the registrar to the persons to whom the sheriff would, under the Creditor Assistance Act, distribute money levied under a writ of execution.

Registration of conveyance

112   (1) The Registrar of Titles must, on application in the usual form, under the Land Title Act, and on the production to him or her of the sheriff's conveyance to the purchaser, attested and proved in the manner prescribed by that Act, register it according to the estate or interest in the land stated in it to have been sold, and must grant the certificate, if any, as may be provided by the Land Title Act for the estate or interest which may be sold.

(2) In the case of an indefeasible or absolute fee, the indefeasible or absolute title, if any, outstanding in the name of the execution debtor is deemed to be cancelled as to the estate or interest of the debtor, or the portion registered in the name of the purchaser.

Sheriff's fees

113   (1) A sale of land under an order made under this Part must be conducted by the sheriff or his or her deputy in person, and for those services he or she is entitled to receive the same fees, expenses and poundage as are allowed the sheriff for the sale of land by execution under the Supreme Court Act and the applicable Rules of Court.

(2) If the land of the execution debtor is advertised under an order for sale of it, but is not sold by reason of satisfaction having been otherwise obtained, or for some other cause, and no money is actually levied on the execution, the sheriff is entitled to receive fees, expenses and poundage based on the assessed value of the land at the same rate as is allowed for fees, expenses and poundage under the applicable Rules of Court.

(3) If a sheriff has seized personal property of a debtor under a writ of execution, and the personal property is not sold and no money is levied on the execution of the writ, the sheriff is entitled to receive fees, expenses and poundage based on the smaller of the amount of the judgment or the amount settled for, at the same rate as allowed under the applicable Rules of Court, or if a court directs a smaller rate, at that rate.

(4) An auctioneer's licence or tax must not be paid by a sheriff or his or her deputy for the sale of land under this Part.

Register of sales

114   The sheriff of each district must enter in a register, to be kept by the sheriff especially for the purpose, particulars of each sale effected by the sheriff.

Register may be inspected

115   Any person is at liberty to inspect the register on payment of 50¢.

Assessors may inspect register

116   An assessor is at liberty to inspect the register at all reasonable times, free of charge.

Power to make regulations

117   (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 41 of the Interpretation Act.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations

(a) for the purposes of section 71 (1),

(i) prescribing personal property that is exempt from seizure or sale, and

(ii) fixing the amount of personal property exempt, and may prescribe different amounts that apply to different persons or classes of persons,

(b) for the purposes of section 71.1, fixing the amount of equity, and may prescribe different amounts of equity that apply to different persons or classes of persons, and

(c) for the purposes of section 76 (1), fixing the fees and travel expenses of an appraiser.