What you have been given
A Statement of Claim is the document that starts a lawsuit. In a foreclosure it is filed by the lender in the Court of King's Bench of Alberta, and being served with it means the court file now exists.
Two things change at this point, and it is worth being clear about both. Legal costs begin accumulating and are generally added to what you owe. And there is now a deadline attached to a document rather than to a lender's patience.
The deadline is the part to take seriously
A Statement of Claim carries a period within which to file a response. The period depends on where you were served, and the document itself says which applies to you — read it rather than relying on what a friend or a website says about a general case.
If nothing is filed, the matter can proceed undefended. That does not mean somebody arrives at the door; it means the process continues without your input, and decisions get made about your property while you are not part of the conversation.
What you can still do
- Get legal advice about responding. This is the point where that stops being optional-feeling. Legal Aid Alberta is a starting point if cost is the barrier, and duty counsel at the courthouse can sometimes help with the immediate question.
- Sell before the court sale. Your title is still yours and you can still list. This is the stage where the difference between a sale you run and a sale the court runs is at its largest. That comparison is here.
- Clear the arrears or refinance, if that is reachable. The realistic versions of that are here.
- Work out your actual numbers, because they decide which of the above is even worth pursuing. Calculator.
What comes next in the process
If the claim is not defended, the lender will generally seek an Order Nisi, in which the court confirms the default and sets a redemption period. The full sequence is here, and the timing is here.
One correction worth making early
People often assume the house is now the bank's. It is not. Title does not change at this stage, and it does not change at the next one either. Any surplus after the mortgage, the arrears and the costs are paid is still yours — which is the whole reason the sale price matters so much and why who runs that sale is worth caring about.
Free help in Alberta
These are independent organisations. We are not connected to them and we are not paid to list them.
- Medicine Hat Legal Help Centre — 403-712-1021. free help that explicitly covers debt and foreclosure, for low and moderate incomes — evening volunteer-lawyer clinics
- Money Mentors — 1-888-294-0076. by phone
- Legal Aid Alberta — 1-866-845-3425. by phone — no Medicine Hat office
- Community Legal Clinic — Central Alberta — 1-877-314-9129. free 30-minute consults with a volunteer lawyer, offered remotely — their service area includes Medicine Hat
If a consumer proposal or bankruptcy might be part of your situation, speak to a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. They are the only people licensed to advise on it.