Even in the Absence of Expert Evidence, the Court May Apply Depreciation to Reduce the Amount Claimed for Corrective Work

This post, published on Éditions Yvon Blais’ blog on latent defects on November 10, 2016 (FR), reminds us that a court may, in the absence of expert evidence as to the applicable depreciation, decide to apply the depreciation that it deems appropriate. The judgment in Deslauriers v. Desmangles (Full Text | Fiche Quantum) reminds us that the court has the power to impose the depreciation it deems applicable, even in the absence of expert evidence to this effect.

In this post, Mtre Lane discusses the importance for a buyer who has discovered latent defects in his immovable to determine the economic value of his potential claim from the outset, which will enable him to establish whether it is worth it, from a financial perspective, to undertake costly and often very lengthy legal proceedings against the seller, in addition to allowing him to have more realistic financial expectations from the outset, which can help promote a more efficient settlement of his claim.