11/02/2020 – Jurisdiction Ontario
Part 69 published on 01/03/2020
Court upholds corporation’s Rules prohibiting short-term tenancies
The condominium corporation had passed Rules stating that the units could only be used as single-family dwellings and that short-terms tenancies (of less than six months) were not permitted without the Board’s consent.
The owner argued that this contravened the Declaration, because the Declaration said that the residential units only needed to be used as residential residences in accordance with the applicable zoning and also because the Declaration said that its terms did not in any way restrict the owners from leasing their units for any duration.
The Court disagreed and upheld the Rules. The Court said:
The board recognized that s.5.3 of the declaration was not clear, and sought advice from the developer, and from counsel, and ultimately brought a court application to try and remove any ambiguity. Nonetheless, I conclude that the board’s interpretation of s.5.3 of the declaration as permitting short-term leasing, but not to require that it be permitted, or to prohibit any conditions being placed on short leasing, was a reasonable interpretation. Thus there is no basis for me to intervene.
The owner also argued that the corporation was not fairly and evenly enforcing the Rules. The Court rejected this argument. The Court said:
Similarly, the fact that the board does not always find out about all the short-term leasing that occurs in the building does not mean they are enforcing the rule in an unfair or oppressive fashion. There is no evidence of inconsistent enforcement. To the contrary, the board has been consistent and unequivocal that the rule applies to everyone: they take active steps to learn of any short-term leasing in the building, and they apply the same approach to every case they learn about.