Did anyone get the letter below the other day?
STRATHCONA
LAW GROUP LLP
Providing Direction
132 Heritage Court
150 Chippewa Road
Sherwood Park, AS T8A 6A2
(780) 417-9222
(780) 449-1222
Vincent Tong. Barrister and Solicitor
Extension 218
14 February 2018
Re: Northmont Resort Properties Ltd. timeshare litigation
You are receiving this letter because you have recently contacted our office with questions regarding your involvement in the captioned matter. Please appreciate that these inquires have been quite numerous and it has not been possible to respond to your individual inquiries up to this point.
Attached to this letter is a copy of our 18 January 2018 letter which we understood was distributed by Geldert Law to you already. That letter should have answered most of your questions.
We reiterate that we were retained by Geldert Law to act as agent in the court applications commenced by Northmont in both Alberta and in BC. If you retained Geldert Law and an action was commenced against you in Alberta, we filed a Dispute Note on your behalf. If you would like a copy of the same, Mr. Geldert has indicated that one should have been sent to you previously, but you can contact him if you have further questions.
In our argument before Assistant Chief Judge Young, we argued that Amended Dispute Notes would need to be filed. As part of her judgment, Judge Young ordered that we must file the Amended Dispute Notes for those actions where one had not yet been filed. We are still awaiting the return of filed copies of the Amended Dispute Notes. Once they have been received, they will also be sent to Geldert Law, and then passed on to you, on request to Geldert Law directly.
All of that said, please note that the Dispute Notes and the Amended Dispute Notes were all template documents. The only differences between the individual documents filed were the names of the defendants and the applicable action numbers.
Some of you have also inquired about the appeal of Judge Young's judgment. The Notice of Appeal was filed on 8 November 2017. However, for several reasons, our firm will not argue the appeal. Primarily, most of parties for whom Geldert Law acts have settled with Northmont.
Secondly, it will be difficult for our firm to argue the appeal given the findings made by Judge Young. Specifically, as Judge Young found that the continued defense of the claims amounted to abuse of the court process, it will be extremely difficult for our firm to argue the appeal without Northmont advancing the argument that the appeal is a further abuse of process.
We have taken the necessary steps to preserve the appeal by filing the appeal as well as the transcripts of the hearings before Judge Young. The next step is to speak to the appeal list from the Court of Queen's Bench, which will occur at 10:00am on 8 March 2018 at the Edmonton Law Courts. We will be attending that further hearing, but do not expect to be involved thereafter. In the event you wish to pursue the appeal on your own behalf, you should attend the hearing, or have counsel attend on your behalf.
However, note that the only parties who will be affected by the appeal are those parties who are not settling with Northmont, or who have not confirmed that they wish to continue to be represented by Geldert Law.
Note also that the appeal was filed only in Northmont v. Reid action number P 1490304333. All of the other Provincial Court claims against Geldert Law clients by Northmont were consolidated into that action, making it the sole action in which the judgment was issued, even though it applied to all Northmont claims. As a result of the consolidation Order, this was the action in which all arguments were heard. However, because the Reids have also settled with Northmont, there will need to be some procedural discussions to ensure an appeal can proceed even though the Reids will not be part of the appeal.
Given our comments regarding our continued involvement in the appeal, those who wish to 'take up the torch' should take proactive steps to ensure their interests in proceeding with the appeal is protected.
Another question that has been asked by some is whether there can be some relief from the terms of the settlement agreement reached with Northmont. For the settling defendants, the agreement is final and binding. Whilst we understand that there may be some scope for extended time to pay, which is dependent on individual circumstances, you should discuss with Geldert Law whether your particular circumstances will apply.
A further question raised by some was whether there could be relief from the rate of interest set out in the timeshare agreements themselves. If you are partaking in the settlement, then the amount to be paid is inclusive of interest. For non-settling defendants, Judge Young has not yet released her judgment on court costs and interest. However, it is expected that she will do so soon.
Finally, we reiterate that if you wish to discuss more specific questions, we are happy to do so on the basis of a separate retainer on the terms set out in the letter dated 18 January 2018.
Yours truly,
STRATHCONA LAW GROUP LLP
VINCENT TONG
Do you have one of Geldert??
