Bailiffs were set to seize Smith’s assets
Mayoral candidate’s law firm had defaulted on loan worth nearly $25,000
Bailiffs were poised to seize the property of mayoral hopeful Bill Smith’s law firm earlier this year over a defaulted loan worth nearly $25,000.
Documents shown to Postmedia named the William E. Smith Corp. and Smith himself as debtor last January over an unpaid $24,545.60 loan to RBC Small Business Loans Inc.
“The security agreement is in default and you are therefore to seize the following personal property which is the subject matter of this agreement,” states a document addressing collection agency Consolidated Civil Enforcement.
It stated the contract agreement on the loan dated back to May 2006.
But a subsequent letter two weeks later instructs collectors to stand down given that “Smith wanted to redeem his account … Mr. Smith had paid the amount owed.”
Smith has portrayed himself during the election campaign as someone with business experience who’ll be a better guardian of the public purse than Mayor Naheed Nenshi, whom he’s called wasteful and irresponsible.
The lawyer and former Alberta PC party president said the default resulted from an honest oversight when he moved his legal office and hadn’t changed banking notification accordingly.
“The notifications we were behind was never forwarded to us, but as soon as we found out, I paid it,” he said. “I actually called the bank and said, ‘What the heck happened?’ “These things happen.” Nenshi said the episode shows fiscal sloppiness on the part of his rival.
“I’m pretty sure I know who I owe money to and I keep pretty good track of that, but his personal affairs are his personal affairs,” said Nenshi.
Smith said the matter has no relevance in the suitability for the mayor’s job and brought up the defamation suit brought against Nenshi by developer Cal Wenzel dating back to the last civic election in 2013.
In August, Nenshi said he’d finished paying back the city $300,000 in legal fees following a settlement with Wenzel.
“I didn’t ask for the taxpayers to pay it and it was far less than $300,000,” said Smith.
The notifications we were behind was never forwarded to us, but as soon as we found out, I paid it … These things happen.