12/10/2017 – Jurisdiction British Columbia
Part 60 published on 01/12/2017
Court confirms strata corporation’s rights in relation to violation of by-laws; but reverses certain fines that were inconsistently charged against some owners but not others
The lower Court was asked to determine the validity of various chargebacks and fines imposed by the strata corporation against a particular owner.
The lower Court determined that the by-laws in question were valid, and had been violated by the respondent owner. The lower Court then made the following orders:
- The strata corporation was entitled to judgment in the amount of $17,467.74 plus interest for removal and storage costs incurred in relation to the owner’s contravention of the by-laws by leaving furniture and other items in front of the unit.
- The strata corporation was entitled to judgement for the fines levied in relation to the owner’s violation of the corporation’s signage by-law.
- The strata corporation was not entitled to judgement for the fines levied in relation to the owner’s failure to comply with the by-law requiring that owners be open for business, because the strata corporation’s levying of those fines had been “significantly unfair”.
(See Condo Cases Across Canada, Part 53, February 2016.)
Both parties appealed. Both appeals were dismissed. However, the Court of Appeal did adjust the costs award of the lower Court. The Court of Appeal said:
In this action, the claim and counterclaim were mirror images of each other. They were completely intertwined. Although in many cases, it may be appropriate to determine the costs of a counterclaim separately from the main action (Litt v. Gill), this is not one of those cases. While the Strata Corporation obtained judgments for a breach of the signage bylaw and the costs of the clean-up, it was ordered to repay $55,284 to the Owners for the wrongful fines imposed in breach of the open for business bylaw. In the circumstances, with respect, I am of the view that neither party can be said to have been substantially successful. Given that result, the trial judge should have ordered that each side pay their own costs, other than the special costs for 10 days of trial. I would so order.