MONTREAL — The chassidic Belz community is contesting the loss in a bailiff’s sale Nov. 18 of most of the property it owned in the Laurentian village of Val Morin for decades and used as a summer resort.

The village seized the property because it says the community had not paid municipal taxes for two years and was in arrears of more than $17,500, plus almost $16,700 in fines.

Belz community spokesperson Yankel Binet said the community’s lawyer, Sébastien Dorion, filed a contestation in court at the end of last week.

Binet said the community was behind in paying its taxes and had received a bill of $34,000 and a lawyer’s letter last February. At the point, he said the community issued nine post-dated cheques to pay off the sum in monthly instalments.

“They then said that we had to pay of the sum at once, but they continued to deposit the cheques. Our lawyer tells us that means they were accepting our payment. They can’t have it both ways. By the time of the sale, there was only about $4,000 owing. It’s despicable,” Binet said.

Val Morin bought about three-quarters of the property, consisting of eight houses, plus a synagogue, a swimming pool and a large vacant lot bordering the river, for $160,000. The rest was purchased by an individual for $47,750.

That’s about one-quarter of the municipal evaluation of $831,000. The property totals almost 250,000 square feet.

No representative of the community showed up for the sale.

The community is left with only a school and a few other buildings. The bailiff will give the proceeds of the sale to the community, after deducting the taxes and fines owed and the court and other costs.

The municipality’s director general, Pierre Delage, said normal procedure was followed.

“When a taxpayer does not pay his taxes, we proceed to a bailiff’s sale, after having obtained a judgment before the courts. It’s a question of equity toward all taxpayers in Val Morin.”

The Belz community and Val Morin have been at loggerheads for some 25 years over the legality of its synagogue and school, which are in houses, as well as over complaints from residents about noise and other disturbances. Last year, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled the community was violating municipal bylaws by operating these institutions in a residential zone.

The community tried to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but it decided not to hear the case.