Grantham v. The Owners, Strata Plan VIS 4116 (B.C. Provincial Court)

?The claimant strata lot owner asserted that the strata corporation had failed to properly repair and maintain the common property as required by the strata corporation’s by-laws.  The claimant sought to recover expenses incurred by the claimant due to resulting mould in her strata lot. 

The Court said that it did not have jurisdiction to decide the claim and that only the Supreme Court had such jurisdiction.  The decision included the following: 

Although the Claimant purports to seek to recover a debt, in essence she seeks a remedy for what she likely considers to be an unfair decision.  That remedy is, in fact, a judgment to recover the monies that she has expended for mould remediation, in accordance with the plan that she has adopted.  In my view, that brings the dispute within the scope of section 164 of the Strata Property Act. 

Alternatively, she appears to be seeking a remedy by way of monetary judgment, for what she alleges to be a failure of the Defendant Strata Corporation to perform its repair duties under the bylaws.  Again, she seeks to define the nature of that duty and the standard to which the Strata Corporation must adhere.  In my view, this brings the dispute within the scope of section 165 of the Strata Property Act. 

Sections 164 and 165 of the Strata Property Act are within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court British Columbia and not the Provincial Court.  Accordingly, this Court does not have jurisdiction to deal with the Claimant’s claim or the ultimate remedy being sought by her.  When section 10 of the Strata Property Amendment Act, 2009is finally brought into force the issues raised by this case will be within the jurisdiction of the Provincial Court.  Unfortunately, that is not the present situation.   

The Court went on to conduct an analysis of the claim, and to determine the amount of reimbursement to which the Claimant would be entitled assuming the Court’s decision on jurisdiction was incorrect.