As of July 2010 the BC Supreme Court has eliminated the “Appearance Notice” is the BC Foreclosure Proceedings and replaced it with the submission of a “Petition Response Notice“.
The first step you have to take after receiving the petition is to file an Appearance. We find that many home owners are so confused by the legal language of the petition and they tend to completely ignore this very important and simple step.
An Appearance is a one-page court form that, when filed, gives notice to all parties to the proceeding that you want to have copies of all subsequent court documents sent to you.
According to our conversation with the court, filing an appearance can be done by fax. The Vancouver Supreme Court fax number at the time this article is being written is: 604 660-2429 .
You must also send a copy to the bank’s lawyer. The fax number for the lawyer is often mention in the petition itself.
Following is the typical text the is written in most petitions. Read this text to understand exactly how much time you to file the appearance.
APPEARANCE REQUIRED
IF YOU WISH TO BE NOTIFIED of any further proceedings, YOU MUST GIVE NOTICE of your intention by filing a form entitled “Appearance” in the above registry of this court within the Time for Appearance and YOU MUST ALSO DELIVER a copy of the “Appearance” to the petitioner’s address for delivery, which is set out in this petition. YOU OR YOUR SOLICITOR may file the “Appearance”. You may obtain form of “Appearance” at the registry.
IF YOU FAIL to file the “Appearance” within the proper Time for Appearance, the petitioner may continue this application without further notice.
Where this Petition is served on a person in British Columbia, the time for appearance by that person is 7 days from the service (not including the day of service).
Where this petition is served on a person outside British Columbia, the time for appearance by that person after service, is 21 days in the case of a person residing anywhere within Canada, 28 days in the case of a person residing in the United States of America, and 42 days in the case of a person residing elsewhere.