Explain Yourself! The Ontario Court Of Appeal Reminds Us Of The Importance Of Reasons In Barbieri v. Mastronardi

Overview

Recently, the Ontario Court of Appeal reminded us of the importance of reasons for judgment in Barbieri v. Mastronardi. A unanimous Court allowed an appeal from an order granting summary judgment to a plaintiff who sued for breach of contract and negligence, holding that the lack of sufficient reasons in the motion judge's endorsement left the Court with no choice:

24 Given the inadequacy of the endorsement of the motion judge, we cannot conduct a meaningful review of his decision.

25 In these circumstances, we have no alternative but to grant the appeal and set aside the declaration of the motion judge that the appellant is liable to the respondent.

Background & Decision

Nicolina Barbieri, the respondent, purchased a home from Fernando Mastronardi, the appellant, in 2007, but was apparently unfamiliar with its storied history. The Toronto Police raided the property in 2006, and found a marijuana grow-op in the basement. Subsequently, the City of Toronto issued work orders for the home, stating that it was in an unsafe condition. These work orders were rescinded after Mr. Mastronardi commissioned remedial work to be done, and he eventually sold the property to Ms. Barbieri. After Ms. Barbieri found out about the grow-up, she sued Mr. Mastronardi in negligence and breach of contract, alleging that he failed to disclose that the home had been a grow-up, and that there was a mould problem that rendered the home uninhabitable.

Ms. Barbieri brought a motion for summary judgment against Mr. Mastronardi. Although she was successful at first instance, the Court of Appeal noted that the "motion judge concludes that the appellant is liable to the respondent, but his endorsement offers no legal analysis and contains no findings of fact. He declares that the appellant "failed in his duty" to the respondent, without explaining how he reached that conclusion."

Although the Court acknowledged that there is case law that suggests a vendor can be liable to a purchaser of a property that is not new if he knows of a defect that renders the premise uninhabitable and fails to disclose it (see Dennis v. Gray, 2011 ONSC 1567), it was concerned that the motion judge had not reached any conclusion with respect to a "critical factual issue" of whether there was mould in the property at the time of sale, or whether Mr. Mastronardi was aware of this. The Court was also concerned that the motion judge had not provided support for his assertion that even if the...