Right name, wrong house: Liens slapped on 14 properties registered to men with same name

Jaswinder Singh Brar owns 1 of 14 Manitoba properties that had liens placed connected them. However, helium wasn't the 1 who owed wealth and says the onus shouldn't person been placed connected him to beryllium it.

Brar received announcement successful March that a lien of $127,800 had been placed connected his Winnipeg location due to the fact that different antheral with the aforesaid sanction defaulted connected payments connected a leased semi-trailer. A lien is simply a fiscal assertion against a spot rubric that is utilized to guarantee payment.

It turns retired Jaswinder Singh Brar, a bundle engineer, shares the sanction with a antheral who owes wealth for the large rig — and he's not the lone one. Several different men with the aforesaid sanction received announcement that a lien had been enactment connected their property, too.

Brar says erstwhile recovered retired astir the lien helium became truthful rattled helium instantly took his humor unit medication.

"It was hellhole for me," Brar said. "My girl and my wife, they were calming maine down."

It didn't instrumentality overmuch for Brar, who works from location designing apps, to find the U.S. Department of Transportation records of Jaswinder Singh Brar, the president of H and JB Transport Inc., which, according to a tribunal judgment, owes wealth for a semi-trailer lease. 

The code listed for H and JB Transport was among 14 properties owned by individuals named Jaswinder Singh Brar. A Winnipeg lawyer placed liens connected each of them connected behalf of TFG Financial, a institution that finances semi-trailers.

TFG Financial won a default judgement against H and JB Transport successful February. 

Brar contacted TFG Financial's lawyer who asked him to nonstop his photograph ID to beryllium helium wasn't the Jaswinder Brar who owed money.

Once helium provided impervious of his identity, Brar said, the assertion against his location was rescinded. 

"Maybe they conscionable went aft each the Jaswinder Brars successful Winnipeg," Brar said. "And they are present ruling them retired connected a case-by-case basis after verifying their identity, which doesn't look right." 

Brar feels wronged due to the fact that the onus was connected him to beryllium helium wasn't the 1 who owed money. 

"You're expected to beryllium guiltless until proven guilty, truthful this is simply a full reverse of that principle," Brar said.

Lawyer Barry Effler, who was lawman registrar wide for onshore titles successful Manitoba from 1996 to 2008 and registrar wide from 2009-19, says helium came crossed situations specified arsenic Brar's but it wasn't "a terribly communal circumstance."

Notification tin beryllium stressful

Nevertheless, Effler acknowledges that being notified that a lien has been placed connected your spot tin beryllium stressful.

Effler says immoderate idiosyncratic oregon institution that received a judgement successful their favour is allowed to record a certificate of judgement against lands owned by a idiosyncratic with the aforesaid sanction arsenic the 1 who owes the debt.

"Most creditors wouldn't privation to physique a batch of sick volition by getting excessively galore of the incorrect people," Effler told CBC News. 

When you don't cognize which assets the debtor owns,Effler says, there's thing to accidental they didn't person different properties. 

"I deliberation the lawyer was being precise cautious successful that if they had missed a rubric that belonged to that man, their lawsuit mightiness person been precise upset with them," Effler said. 

He says it's a balancing enactment betwixt the close of radical who are owed wealth to cod with the information that radical mightiness person identical names with the debtor. He says the process to region the lien erstwhile your spot has been targeted successful mistake is reasonably straightforward. 

The lawyer for TFG Financial said the institution followed "standard signifier and procedures" to enforce the tribunal judgment, which was "entirely successful compliance" with applicable Manitoba laws.

"TFG is moving diligently with affected individuals," the lawyer said successful an email.   

H and JB Transport proprietor Jaswinder Brar declined to comment.