Part 38 published on 01/05/12
Owner ordered to pay common expenses, but interest rate reduced and penalty cancelled
The owner refused to pay common expenses for three reasons:
1. She had not received the financial statements and other management-related documents as she had requested;
2. There were anomalies in the accounts that the syndicate had prepared; and
3. The interest rate and penalties were too high.
The Court said that the owner was obligated to pay the common expenses. Questions respecting financial statements and accounting anomalies were to be addressed at an owners’ meeting rather than in Court. However, the Court agreed that the interest rate was higher than permitted by the Declaration of co-ownership and the $50.00 penalty was also not valid as it had not been duly adopted as a policy and added to the Declaration of co-ownership.