Definition : Demand (formal notice)

An action by which a person (the creditor) formally requests, in writing, another (the debtor) to do or not to do something (to pay common expenses, to abide to the declaration of co-ownership, to suspend construction work irregularly undertaken, etc.) under certain terms and conditions and in a certain period of time. It is intended to incite the debtor to comply with its obligations to prevent the creditor from making an application to the court in this respect. In some cases, the formal notice of default is a preliminary and compulsory step to filing legal proceedings (recourse for latent defects or against a municipality for property damage).

WARNING ! A syndicate of co-owners must imperatively mandate a lawyer to draft and transmit a formal notice to one of its debtors.  Thus, a director or manager of a syndicate of co-owners is prohibited from preparing and sending a writing suggesting that legal proceedings will be instituted. However, section 129 of the Act respecting the Barreau du Québec provides for an exception to the lawyers' monopoly on practice, and gives notaries the right to draft and transmit, in certain specific cases, a demand letter.

 

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