Seto v. Peel Condominium Corporation No. 492 (Ontario Court of Appeal)

28/09/16 – Jurisdiction Ontario
Part 55 published on 01/09/16
Appeal allowed in part. Appeal Court only orders fresh calculation of waste disposal costs

The lower Court held that the condominium corporation had overcharged certain owners for common expenses over a number of years, and ordered the condominium corporation to repay those amounts.  [See Condo Cases Across Canada, Part 53, February 2016.] 

The condominium corporation appealed, and the appeal was largely dismissed.  The Court of Appeal agreed with the lower Court judge that certain waste disposal costs should be shared by all owners, not just the owners of the food court units.  However the appeal Court agreed that the owners of the food court units should be exclusively responsible for the disposal of their own individual unit wastes.  The Appeal Court said: 

The appellant points out that in the remedy provided, the application judge effectively excused the food court unit owners from having to pay for the disposal of their own individual unit wastes, at their own costs, despite the express provision of s. 15 of the declaration.  This was a clear error.  We are unable to determine from the record, with any degree of confidence, what the amount of this expense might be.  We therefore remit the determination of the amount of the expense associated with the disposal of waste for the individual food court units to the application judge, in the event that the parties are unable to settle the issue.