Judge orders sale of home after son tries to evict mom

A judge has ordered that an Abbotsford home be sold following a dispute in which a son tried to evict his estranged mother from the property.

Margaret Anne Iberg, 75, and her son, Russell Gordon Claridge, 45, became embroiled in the spat when Claridge served an eviction notice on Iberg in February 2018.

Claridge claimed to have done so because he had a new child on the way and wanted to live in the larger upstairs suite, switching with his mother, an idea that he claimed she had suggested.

When Iberg later refused to do the switch, Claridge sought to evict her from the five-bedroom home where they had lived together since 2008.

The mother missed her contribution toward the next month’s mortgage payment, the first time she had missed a payment in 10 years, and Claridge served a second eviction notice. She claimed that in the midst of the dispute she learned for the first time that when the property was purchased in 2008, it was registered in his name alone.

The mother filed a notice of civil claim in B.C. Supreme Court seeking an interest in the property.

Claridge argued that money Iberg had paid, including more than $100,000 toward the purchase of the home, amounted to a gift, making the home his property and giving him the legal right to evict her.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Grauer noted in his ruling on the case that despite Iberg signing the documents, it was always the understanding of the mortgage broker involved in the transaction that Iberg was a buyer of the Abbotsford property along with Claridge.

The intention of the parties at the time the house was bought was that they would both be purchasers and would both live in the home, said the judge.

He noted that sharing the same residence was no longer practicable, and ordered the home be sold with Iberg entitled to a payment of $130,000 for the down payment and other expenses and that the balance of the equity be divided equally.

The order for sale is to be stayed for 30 days to allow Claridge a chance to obtain financing to possibly purchase Iberg’s interest in the home.