Part 56 published on 01/11/16
Owner awarded damages for strata corporation’s failure to repair the common property with reasonable haste
The owner’s unit was affected by a structural defect in the common property. The Court held that the strata corporation had failed to solve the problem with reasonable haste; and awarded the owner damages for this “unfair treatment”. The Court said:
There is no dispute that the Strata Corporation had a positive duty to repair the Structural Defects by virtue of both its own By-laws and s. 72 of the (Strata Property Act). In addition, there is no dispute that the Strata Corporation failed to comply with those obligations for over seven years.
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Even when it should have been clear that the Strata Corporation had a duty to repair the Structural Defects, it still sought to take short cuts and solve the problem with a “cheap fix.” This course of action was so inappropriate that the Strata Corporation’s engineer, who had suggested what repairs were needed, disassociated himself from the repairs.
The Court awarded resulting damages to the owner, which were designed to put the owner into “the same position she would have been in had the Strata Corporation repaired the Structural Defects in a timely manner”, which (according to the Court) would have allowed the owner to sell the unit in March 2014.
The owner’s losses were calculated at $21,000. This included travel costs, water-damage repairs (for a water escape that occurred after March 2014), lost rental income, strata fees, utilities, insurance and property taxes.
The Court also held as follows:
The (owner) is exempt from paying the insurance deductible relating to the Flood and the Insurance proceeds; and
The Strata Corporation shall refund to the (owner) any portion of the legal fees that the Strata Corporation has expended in defence of this petition. In addition, the (owner) is not liable to contribute towards any legal costs and/or judgment awarded by this court.