Dozens of properties remain to be liquidated in massive northern Ont. real estate selloff

Of the remaining properties, 26 are in Sault Ste. Marie, 21 are in Timmins, four are in Sudbury and three are in other communities in the north. (File)

Just 54 of the 407 residential properties involved in a major real estate bankruptcy process in northern Ontario still have to be sold.

That’s the latest update from KSV Restructuring, the firm monitoring the insolvency proceedings of the firms involved under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).

Of the remaining properties, 26 are in Sault Ste. Marie, 21 are in Timmins, four are in Sudbury and three are in other communities in the north.

The original insolvency involved a group of 11 companies with names like ‘Happy Gilmore Incorporated’ and ‘The Pink Flamingo,’ whose accumulated debts were initially reported as $144 million, but were reassessed by KSV at just more than $90 million.

The companies owned 631 residential units in 407 properties, mainly across northern Ontario, some with and without tenants on leases.

Questionable business practices

Their business model was to buy distressed properties, renovate them and then rent them out at a profit.

However, it emerged during the CCAA process that the owners took part in many questionable practices leading up to the insolvency declaration in January 2024.

That included purchases of luxury items, trips and payments of large dividends when the companies weren’t profitable. Some properties used as security for loans already had existing mortgages on them.

Secured creditors -- mostly investors holding first mortgages -- took ownership of 323 of the properties in late 2024, with the remaining ‘liquidation portfolio properties’ to be sold on the open market.

In the last few months, 32 of those properties have been liquidated, bringing the remaining to be sold down to 54, representing a total of 80 units. Out of the total, 39 of the units are unoccupied.

“The net sale proceeds generated from the sold properties total approximately $3.3 million,” KSV said in its latest update.

“These sale proceeds are net of real estate commissions, property tax arrears and other closing costs.”

Don’t want to flood the market

To avoid flooding the market, new listings are added as others are sold.

In addition to an update on the properties, KSV has also received approval from the court to have Viscount Capital assigned the core claim involving nine of the corporations involved in the real estate insolvency.

KSV started legal proceedings in May of this year against nine of the corporations involved in the insolvency. However, it doesn’t have the resources to pursue the claim.

A Superior Court of Justice ruling on July 28 approved Viscount’s takeover of the legal claim against the corporations.

Should it manage to receive any further money from the lawsuit, it will be entitled first to recover its out-of-pocket expenses associated with the court case, then up to $1 million that it is owed by a creditor in the case.

Any money recovered above those amounts will go to the unsecured creditors.

The court also agreed to extend the ‘stay period’ – the time limit to complete the CCAA process – from Aug. 31 of this year to Jan. 31, 2026.

Read the latest KSV Restructuring report here.