The Globe and Mail "Lenders Scramble" Article, and the Record
On September 25, 2024 The Globe and Mail published an article headlined "Lenders scramble to find way out of property empire collapse", about the mortgage lenders to the SID companies and the credit bid process. This page sets its statements about Robert (Robby) Clark and the companies beside the public record.
The short answer
The debt was reported without the assets. The Monitor's own pre-filing report put the estimated appraised value of the homes at about $173 million, against about $144 million of debt at filing. The portfolio was never sold on the open market: about 82 per cent of it passed to the mortgage lenders by credit bid.
Pre-Filing Report of the Proposed Monitor (Jan 2024), s.2.0 paras 3 to 4; Thirteenth Report of the Monitor (Jul 21, 2025), s.3.1 paras 6 to 7
What the article says, and what the record shows
| What the article says | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Mr. Clark amassed $144 million in debt before the collapse of his companies. | $144 million was the companies' debt figure at filing: about $90.1 million of mortgages and $54.2 million of promissory notes. The Monitor later described the $54.2 million as "the amount initially provided by Ms. Drage", the broker, and reported that a reconciliation "has not been completed". The companies' own reconciliation puts the promissory note debt at about $22.06 million. The Monitor's report records that Mr. Clark did not hold "a formal position with the Applicant companies", the companies that borrowed the money and owned the properties.Third Report of the Monitor (Apr 2024), s.2.0; Eleventh Report of the Monitor (Feb 20, 2025), s.2 para 3; Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Clark affidavit para 21(h); Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.4.2 para 1, s.5.1 para 4 |
| Attempts to market the properties as a package failed. | Before the filing the companies had received refinancing term sheets of about $70 million and about $89 million. The portfolio was not sold as a whole. 333 properties, about 82 per cent of it, passed to the mortgage lenders by credit bid, each lender bidding its own mortgage claim plus a cash allocation toward the DIP loan.Affidavit of Robert Clark sworn Mar 27, 2024, para 14; Endorsement of Justice Osborne (Dec 6, 2024), para 13; Eleventh Report of the Monitor (Feb 20, 2025), s.3.1; Thirteenth Report of the Monitor (Jul 21, 2025), s.3.1 paras 6 to 7 |
| About $15 million of DIP loans was spent on property taxes, renovations and professional and legal fees. | By October 17, 2024, $6.54 million of professional fees had been paid from the Monitor's account. On the companies' sworn evidence, $748,503 had been provided for renovations by June 20, 2024, after which the Monitor stated that it did not intend to approve further renovation costs. In August 2024 the DIP loan was increased from $12 million to $15 million, in part to bring professional fees current.Eighth Report of the Monitor (Oct 23, 2024), s.4.0; Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Clark affidavit para 33; Fifth Report of the Monitor (Jun 17, 2024), Appendix D, note 4; Seventh Report of the Monitor (Aug 23, 2024), s.5 para 2(b) |
| A lawyer for a lender group is quoted saying the mortgages were worth more than the portfolio from the beginning. | The Monitor's own pre-filing report of January 2024 put the estimated appraised value of the homes at about $173 million, based on appraisals of about 30 per cent of them, against about $90.1 million of mortgages.Pre-Filing Report of the Proposed Monitor (Jan 2024), s.2.0 paras 3 to 4; Third Report of the Monitor (Apr 2024), s.2.0 |
| Unsecured lenders are described as holding "$54-million of virtually worthless personal guarantees". | $54.2 million is the total of the companies' unsecured promissory notes at filing, not a total of personal guarantees. The Monitor later described that figure as "the amount initially provided by Ms. Drage", the broker, and its June 2024 report records that the companies "have asserted that the amounts owed to unsecured promissory noteholders is significantly less than the $54.2 million". The companies' own reconciliation puts it at about $22.06 million.Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.1.0 para 4, note 2; Eleventh Report of the Monitor (Feb 20, 2025), s.2 para 3; Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Clark affidavit para 21(h) |
| The Monitor's June report found millions in spending "unjustifiable". | The report was the Monitor's, not a decision of the court. It states that the Monitor "has not audited, or otherwise attempted to verify" the financial information. The court held that the companies were entitled to cross-examine on it, the matter was resolved on consent the next day, and the report was never tested. The Globe and Mail's own feature of July 27, 2024 states that none of the allegations of wrongdoing made in the court filings "have been proven in court".Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.3.0 para 3; Endorsement of Justice Osborne (Jun 24, 2024), para 13; Endorsement of Justice Osborne (Jun 25, 2024), paras 2 and 8; The Globe and Mail, Jul 27, 2024 |
| The article carries no response from Mr. Clark or the companies. | Control of the companies had passed to the Monitor three months earlier, under a consent order of June 25, 2024 that also ended the companies' obligation to respond to investigation requests.Endorsement of Justice Osborne (Jun 25, 2024), paras 2 and 8; Ancillary Order, Jun 25, 2024, para 6 |
What happened after the article
Monitor's report
67 of the 74 properties that were listed for sale sold for net proceeds of about $9.5 million. From January 2024 to July 2, 2026, $10.09 million of professional fees was paid from the Monitor's account. The Monitor estimates about $800,000 for unsecured creditors.
Fifteenth Report of the Monitor (Jul 21, 2026), s.4.0 para 3(e), s.9.0
Regulator
In December 2025 the broker who raised the investor money admitted to fraud in a settlement with the Ontario Securities Commission. No borrower company was a respondent, and no borrower is named in the settlement.
The sale and the buyers · Cost of the CCAA · The Globe and Mail feature of July 2024 · Questions and answers
What cuts the other way
- On December 6, 2024 the court found the companies' $140M valuation of the portfolio "not credible". Endorsement of Justice Osborne (Dec 6, 2024), paras 10 to 11
- The companies filed for protection with about $144M of funded debt and 207 vacant units. Pre-Filing Report of the Proposed Monitor (Jan 2024), s.2.0
- The article reports the accounts of individual mortgage lenders and what the process cost them. The Globe and Mail, Sep 25, 2024