Resorting to legal action
Corner Brook court may consolidate four related actions involving Humber Valley Resort
There is a chance four court actions revolving around the same issue involving Humber Valley Resort will be consolidated into one proceeding.
All four cases were on the docket of the Newfoundland Supreme Court in Corner Brook this week and were called by Justice Frances Knickle at the same time.
The cases involve two statements of claim filed by 61839 Newfoundland and Labrador Ltd., which represents the current owners of the resort. The numbered company has filed action against Philpott’s Realty Co. Ltd. and against a group involving Canex Development Corp. Ltd.
Canex, which is now defunct, was part of the original ownership structure of Humber Valley Resort before it was sold in 2006.
Philpott’s Realty is a company owned by Rex Philpott, one of the original directors of Canex and the Humber Valley Resort Corp. The other directors were Brian Dobbin and Keith Smith.
The two other court files involve Philpott’s Realty being sued by Noton Enterprises Ltd., and Philpott being sued by Humber Valley Construction Ltd.
Noton is owned by Katie Watton, who is among the ownership consortium that bought Humber Valley Resort in 2010, while Humber Valley Construction was among the assets also bought in the 2010 deal.
All of the statements of claim are in regard to Lot 83 at the resort and the luxury chalet built on it. Philpott claims to own it, but the newest owners of the resort say it’s either theirs or Philpott still owes $1.3 million for the property.
Philpott disputes the claims against him, saying he owns the land and his debt was settled with the former ownership group before the resort was sold in 2006.
In court, Keir O’flaherty and Derek Watton jointly represented 61839 Newfoundland and Labrador Ltd., while Paul Dicks represented Noton Enterprises. Kevin Stamp represented Philpott and his company, while Joe Thorne represented Dobbin and Smith.
No one represented Canex, and the court was told it was not likely anybody would.
There are applications before the court seeking a trial and to have the matters consolidated.
Knickle set dates for lawyers to file various arguments and documents in the next two months and set the cases to be jointly called again Nov. 16 to set a date to hear the applications.
At one point, Stamp indicated he may want to call Katie Watton, who owns Noton Enterprises, and her husband, lawyer Graham Watton, to give evidence on the applications.
Graham Watton and his firm prepared the statements of claim on behalf of the resort.