General Provisions

A seller will sometimes retain the services of a real estate broker when he can no longer afford to meet his mortgage payments. Is it possible to enter into a brokerage contract in this case? The various steps involved in exercising a mortgage right are outlined below.

In the event of default by the debtor, several remedies are available to the creditor. Article 2748 of the Civil Code of Québec provides for the following remedies for the exercise of mortgage rights:

“In addition to their personal right of action and the provisional measures provided in the Code of Civil Procedure (chapter C-25), creditors may exercise only the mortgage rights provided in this chapter for the enforcement and realization of their security. Thus, where their debtor is in default and their claim is liquid and due, they may exercise the following mortgage rights: they may take possession of the charged property to administer it, take it in payment of their claim, cause it to be sold under judicial authority, or sell it themselves.”

Before availing themselves of the remedies available to them, creditors must first take certain steps relating to the notice of exercise and surrender.