15/03/2021 – Jurisdiction Alberta
Part 74 published on 01/03/2021
Court of Appeal confirms lower Court ruling that owner engaged in “improper conduct”, but reduces the resulting restrictions imposed upon the owner
The lower Court held that the owner had engaged in “improper conduct” for purposes of Section 67 of the Condominium Property Act. In particular, the lower Court found the owner’s conduct to be “oppressive and unfairly prejudicial”, particularly towards the President of the condominium corporation, in that the owner had
“made disparaging comments about her in public, … sent her threatening emails, and accused her of improper behaviour …, and has targeted her for permanent removal from the board in correspondence to other condominium owners”, all of which was conduct (the lower Court) described as “over the top”.
The Court of Appeal upheld these findings.
However, the Court of Appeal felt that certain restrictions placed upon the owner by the lower Court were “overly broad and unnecessarily restrictive and should be struck”. In particular:
The Court of Appeal said that there was no reason to place limits on the owner’s right to access other units or other floors of the building; and there was no need to place limits on his communications with other owners. Instead, the Court of Appeal ordered that all communications from Mr. Ryan to any member of the Board must be done in writing and must be forwarded to the Property Manager.
Finally, the Court of Appeal held that the order should be limited to six months in duration.