A West Vancouver homeowner who refused to pony up documents and other information on plans to demolish a house and remove trees on his property despite a court order has been given one last chance to comply before his lawsuit is tossed out of court.
Yu Han Song will be given one last chance to have a representative show up and answer pre-trial questions, a B.C. Supreme Court justice has ruled, despite previous delays and refusals that stretched over two years.
The original legal dispute, filed in October 2015, concerned a fight between neighbours over tree-cutting in the British Properties.
According to court documents, in July 2013, a numbered company bought a property at 1028 Eyremont Dr. in West Vancouver that overlooked three other properties, including one owned by Song at 835 King Georges Way.
In July 2015, owners of the Eyremont property said they got permission to top trees on Song’s property and hired Acer Tree Services to do the work.
Song, however, disputed that he ever granted permission and promptly filed a lawsuit seeking damages.
Since that time, however, “Mr. Song has since demolished the home on the King Georges property and in the course of doing so, changed the landscaping, including removing some trees,” according to the ruling.
Since 2016, those being sued have repeatedly asked for documents from Song, including the demolition and building permit he applied for from the District of West Vancouver in 2014.
But both Song and his lawyer have refused to provide those.
In one case, after multiple requests, Song’s lawyer wrote back about the lack of documents, saying, “You’re right. I owe you info. Stay tuned,” according to the court ruling.
But no documents were produced.
Complicating issues, throughout the legal dispute, Song has lived in China, does not speak English and has only acted through a representative, a Mr. Yang, wrote Justice Heather MacNaughton.
During the legal fight, Yang swore one affidavit knowing it was false, the justice noted, adding Song’s lawyer also knew it was false.
Song, meanwhile, has “repeatedly and without explanation failed to comply” with court orders.
The justice gave Song one more chance to come up with documents and send Yang to answer questions before the case gets axed.
