44 (1) Upon the motion of any person, without notice to any other person, the court shall make an order vacating, (a)  where the lien attaches to the premises, the registration of a claim for lien and any certificate of action in respect of that lien; or (b)  where the lien does not attach to the premises, the claim for lien, where the person bringing the motion pays into court, or posts security in an amount equal to, the total of, (c)  the full amount claimed as owing in the claim for lien; and (d)  the lesser of $250,000 or 25 per cent of the amount described in clause (c), as security for costs.  R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, s. 44 (1); 2017, c. 24, s. 36 (1), 63, 64, 70; 2018, c. 17, Sched. 8, s. 12 (1). On payment in of reasonable amount (2) Upon the motion of any person, the court may make an order vacating the registration of a claim for lien, and any certificate of action in respect of that lien, upon the payment into court or the posting of security of an amount that the court determines to be reasonable in the circumstances to satisfy the lien.  R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, s. 44 (2); 2017, c. 24, s. 63; 2018, c. 17, Sched. 8, s. 12 (2). Condominium (2.1) The owner of a condominium unit under the Condominium Act, 1998 may make a motion under clause (1) (a) or subsection (2) regarding a lien respecting an improvement to common elements that include the common interest appurtenant to the owner’s unit, and, for the purpose, the full amount claimed as owing in the claim for lien is deemed to be that portion of the lien amount that is attributable to the owner’s common interest as specified in the applicable declaration registered under that Act. 2017, c. 24, s. 36 (2). Common elements condominium corporation (2.2) An owner of a parcel of land mentioned in subsection 139 (1) of the Condominium Act, 1998 to which a common interest is attached, in the case of a common elements condominium corporation, may make a motion under clause (1) (a) or subsection (2) regarding a lien respecting an improvement to common elements that include the common interest appurtenant to the owner’s parcel of land, and, for the purpose, the full amount claimed as owing in the claim for lien is deemed to be that portion of the lien amount that is attributable to the owner’s common interest as specified in the applicable declaration registered under that Act. 2017, c. 24, s. 36 (2). Where lien does not attach to premises (3) Where the lien does not attach to the premises, the court may make an order, upon the motion of any person, vacating a claim for lien given to the owner, upon the payment into court or the posting of security of an amount that the court determines to be reasonable in the circumstances to satisfy the lien.  R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, s. 44 (3); 2017, c. 24, s. 36 (3), 70; 2018, c. 17, Sched. 8, s. 12 (2). Vacating written notice of lien (3.1) The court shall, on motion, vacate a written notice of a lien if any of the circumstances in subsection (1), (2) or (3) apply. 2017, c. 24, s. 36 (4); 2018, c. 17, Sched. 8, s. 12 (3). Where general lien (4) Where a motion is made to vacate the registration of a general lien against one or more of the premises subject to that lien, the court may apportion the general lien between the premises in respect of which the motion is made and all other premises that are subject to the lien.  R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, s. 44 (4); 2017, c. 24, s. 72; 2018, c. 17, Sched. 8, s. 12 (4). Reduction of amount paid into court (5) Where an amount has been paid into court or security has been posted with the court under this section, the court, upon notice to such persons as it may require, may order where it is appropriate to do so, (a)  the reduction of the amount paid into court, and the payment of any part of the amount paid into court to the person entitled; or (b)  the reduction of the amount of security posted with the court, and the delivery up of the security posted with the court for cancellation or substitution, as the case may be.  R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, s. 44 (5). Letters of credit (5.1) A letter of credit containing reference to an international commercial convention is acceptable as security for the purposes of this section, as long as the convention text is written into the terms of the credit and the letter of credit is unconditional and accepted by a bank listed in Schedule I to the Bank Act (Canada) that is operating in Ontario. 2017, c. 24, s. 36 (5). Lien a charge upon amount paid into court (6) Where an order is made under clause (1) (a) or subsection (2), the lien ceases to attach to the premises and ceases to attach to the holdbacks and other amounts subject to a charge under section 21, and becomes instead a charge upon the amount paid into court or security posted, and the owner or payer shall, in respect of the operation of sections 21, 23 and 24, be in the same position as if the lien had not been preserved or written notice of the lien had not been given.  R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, s. 44 (6); 2017, c. 24, s. 70. Same (7) Where an order is made under clause (1) (b) or subsection (3), the lien ceases to attach to the holdbacks and other amounts subject to a charge under section 21 and becomes instead a charge upon the amount paid into court or security posted and the owner or payer shall, in respect of the operation of sections 21, 23 and 24, be in the same position as if the lien had not been preserved or written notice of the lien had not been given.  R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, s. 44 (7). Consolidation of motions (8) Where more than one motion is made under subsection (1), (2) or (3) for the payment into court or posting of security to obtain an order vacating the registration of one or more preserved or perfected liens arising from the same improvement, the court may consolidate the motions and require that the amount paid into court or security posted be adequate to satisfy all the liens that are the subject of each of the motions, or make any other order that it considers appropriate.  R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, s. 44 (8); 2018, c. 17, Sched. 8, s. 12 (5). Rules (9) Where an order is made under subsection (1), (2) or (3), the following rules apply: 1.  The lien claimant whose lien was the subject of the order may proceed with an action to enforce the claim against the amount paid into court or security posted in accordance with the procedures under Part VIII, but no certificate of action shall be registered against the premises. 2.  The amount paid into court or security posted is subject to the claims of all persons having a lien to the same extent as if the amount paid into court or security posted was realized by the sale of the premises in an action to enforce the lien and shall be distributed among all lien claimants in accordance with the priorities provided for in section 80. 3.  Where any amount is realized in a lien action by the sale of the premises or otherwise, it shall be pooled into a common fund with the amount paid into court or security posted under this section, and shall be distributed among all lien claimants in accordance with the priorities provided for in section 80. 4.  A lien claimant whose lien is sheltered, in accordance with subsection 36 (4), under the lien that was the subject of the order may proceed with an action to enforce the sheltered lien as if the order had not been made.  R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, s. 44 (9); 2010, c. 16, Sched. 2, s. 2 (12); 2017, c. 24, s. 36 (6), 71. Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y) 2010, c. 16, Sched. 2, s. 2 (12) - 01/07/2011 2017, c. 24, s. 36 (1, 2, 4-6) - 01/07/2018; 2017, c. 24, s. 36 (3), 63, 64, 70-72 - 12/12/2017 2018, c. 17, Sched. 8, s. 12 (1-5) - 06/12/2018