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Eric Abramovitz is a talented clarinetist whose girlfriend, Jennifer Lee, accessed his email account to decline a once-in-a-lifetime scholarship and opportunity to study under Yehuda Gilad, a world-renowned clarinet instructor. According to Slate, Abramovitz was awarded $350,000 CAD in damages from Lee by an Ontario court and might not be able to collect.

Lee never showed up to the trial or attempted to defend herself, and Abramovitz says he is unaware of her whereabouts, so he may be unable to collect the damages.

My question is: why is his inability to locate Lee relevant? Do the courts in Canada not help find the people who have been ordered to pay damages? What are Abramovitz's options in this case?

Alex Reinking
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    Even if he did find her, you can't get blood from a turnip. – Ron Beyer Jun 16 '18 at 00:40
  • @RonBeyer - Is wage garnishment not an option in Canada? – Alex Reinking Jun 16 '18 at 00:42
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    Yes there are however it requires the creditor to renew the garnishment order on a weekly basis, and there are limits to the amount. If Lee is not working or self employed this can be hard to do (or if not working, impossible). I don't know if you can garnish government support payments in Canada. – Ron Beyer Jun 16 '18 at 00:50
  • That sounds like an unsubstantiated claim. Not showing up to trial doesn't have any effect on enforcing a judgment obtained from civil court. All options of recourse are just as available as in any other case. – Zizouz212 Jun 16 '18 at 16:50
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    @Zizouz212 I don't think that the claim is that he doesn't have a legal right to collect, I think the claim is that it is as a practical matter difficult or impossible for him to turn his creditor's rights into an actual collection of damages. – ohwilleke Jun 19 '18 at 15:45

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why is his inability to locate Lee relevant?

When you win a lawsuit, you get a piece of paper authorizing you to collect money from the defendant called a "judgment", but you can only collect money from someone if you can find income or assets that belong to them.

Do the courts in Canada not help find the people who have been ordered to pay damages?

They do not. Indeed, there are almost no countries where they would.

What are Abramovitz's options in this case?

  1. Wait for a few years until she has more assets and/or income from which he could collect.

  2. Hire a skip trace firm to locate her.

  3. Require her to provide sworn testimony regarding the location of her assets and her sources of income, if he has been unable to determine this on his own.

  4. Locate real property that she owns (either with public records or investigation or from her sworn compelled statement) and then put a lien on a real property she owns and then foreclose on that lien. The buyer at a foreclosure sale would have to assume any higher priority debts in the property (like a first mortgage) and some of the equity might have to be returned to her as a "homestead exemption".

  5. Garnish her wages and bank accounts and investment accounts. Garnishments of wages are only for a portion of wages, not all of them.

  6. Attach and have sold her tangible personal property of significant value (including a motor vehicle) that is not exempt from creditors.

Of course, it would cost money to attempt any of these steps that may or may not be recovered.

ohwilleke
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