Michael Swartz and Matt Gaulton of Weirfoulds examine the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in KingSett Mortgage Corporation v. Mapleview Developments Ltd., which limits the priority of construction liens over building mortgages to actual deficiencies in statutory holdbacks rather than the full amount of registered lien claims, confirming that amounts already paid to contractors do not generate additional holdback priority where no lower-tier lien claims remain, while addressing the implications for secured lenders, contractors and insolvency professionals and leaving open how priority should be calculated where subcontractor lien rights remain outstanding.

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