Mattee v. Boudreau Small Claims Court

When the plaintiff purchased a condominium unit from the defendant, the plaintiff obtained an Estoppel certificate from the condominium corporation.  The Estoppel certificate stated that the corporation had not borrowed funds.  In fact, the condominium corporation had borrowed funds for the purpose of repairing the roof. 

At the time of the purchase, the monthly condominium fees for the unit were $100, which included amounts required to repay the loan over a period of time.  Following the purchase, the owners voted to accelerate payment of the loan, and to increase the monthly condominium fees for this purpose.  The plaintiff sought to recover the amount of the increase. 

The adjucator dismissed the claim for the following reasons: 

• The “accelerated payments” arose because of events which occurred after the purchase;
• If the payments had not been accelerated, the loan would have been paid in any event through the monthly condominium fees of $100;
• The plaintiff suffered no damage as a result of the inaccurate Estoppel certificate.