A Yukon Supreme Court justice has ordered Xpress Furniture owners Russell and Heather Griffiths to return a house to a Whitehorse woman after they emptied the building of its contents and changed the locks while she was out of town.

According to Yukon Supreme Court documents, 'Elaine Skiba, who had been residing with the defendants Russell and Heather Griffiths, took possession (of 27A Finch Cres.) in March 2005 ... (and) remained in possession until sometime in late August when the Griffiths removed her possessions and changed her locks, without her consent.'

Skiba took possession of the property on March 1, and began making twice-monthly payments of $523.92 on March 15.

She was scheduled to take ownership of the property on Sept. 1, by either taking over Margaret-Anne Racho's (the original owner of the property) mortgage or making alternative mortgage arrangements.

The documents, penned by Justice Ron Veale, state that Skiba's agreement with Racho, the owner of 27A Finch Cres. who now resides in Manitoba, was cancelled without her knowledge and a second Agreement for Sale, for more money, was created between Griffiths and Racho after Skiba left the city on Aug. 11 due to a family emergency.

The timeline of events, according to court documents, were:

ï That Skiba missed her Aug. 1 mortgage payment.

ï That Racho sent an e-mail on Aug. 8 requesting the payment at Skiba's 'earliest connivence.'

ï That Ms. Skiba left town on Aug. 11.

ï That Skiba sent an e-mail to Ms. Racho on Aug. 16 stating her intention to make payments 'as soon as possible.'

ï That Racho became 'quite frantic' with Skiba's non-payment and decided to find another buyer.

ï That Racho informed Skiba of her intentions by backdating a letter to Aug. 1, giving Skiba 14 days to vacate the premises or face legal action, and mailed it to 27A Finch Cres. 'where she knew Ms. Skiba would not find it as she was in Alberta.'

ï That Heather Griffiths told Racho that Skiba did not have the financial resources to buy the property

ï That 'In the same conversation (between Griffiths and Racho), Heather Griffiths said that she and Mr. Griffiths would be able to purchase the property as Ms. Skiba had in effect defaulted on her portion of the agreement and would assist (Racho) from the Yukon in addressing the property at 27A Finch Cres.'

ï That Racho sent another notice to Skiba, dated Aug. 24, stating the Skiba's Agreement for Sale was 'null and void for nonpayment and the contents of the condominium were being seized.'

ï That Racho authorized the Griffiths to change the locks at 27A Finch Ave. and removed Skiba's contents.

ï That Racho and the Griffiths signed an undated agreement, for 'more attractive terms (a $1,000 deposit and $5,000 upon change of ownership),' which appeared to have been completed on Aug. 25, for the Griffiths to take ownership of 27A Finch Cres. on Sept. 1.

ï That Skiba returned to 27A Finch Cres. on Aug. 31 to find that the locks had been changed on her home and her possessions had been 'unceremoniously' removed and locked inside an Xpress Furniture truck which was parked on the property.

ï That the Whitehorse RCMP prevented Skiba from entering 27A Finch Cres.

ï That the Griffiths rented out 27A Finch Cres. to a third party.

In the court documents, Veale awarded Skiba interim possession of the property and stated, 'that on the face of it,' Skiba had no reason to believe that her Agreement for Sale was in jeopardy because the correspondence that she was able to receive from Racho, an e-mail on Aug. 8, did not indicate that Racho was frantic.

Racho's e-mail to Skiba on Aug. 8 reads:

'Good Day Elaine,

'Just a gentle reminder from one procrastinator to another!

'Wondering if you would be able to deposit the August first payment in my account; it would be greatly appreciated if you would be able to take care of that at your earliest convenience.

'How is your summer going?'

In weighing the evidence, Veale awarded interim possession of the property to Skiba until the matter of ownership was decided in further court proceedings.

Veale also ordered that:

ï 'The defendants supply a list of all personal property, chattels, and business records located at 27A Finch Cres. which they, or their agents, removed or in any way interfered with...'

ï 'That the defendants return to the plaintiff any and all mail addressed to her forthwith...'

ï 'That the Registrar of Land Titles be restrained from granting a certificate of title or otherwise dealing with 27A Finch Cres. until further court order.'

In a September interview with the Star, Griffiths stated Skiba's removal had nothing to do with him and he was just a third party.

In a separate September interview, Racho said 'she did not feel comfortable' talking about the situation with the media.