0768548 BC Ltd. v. Strata Corporation Plan NW2205 (B.C. Small Claims Court)

The plaintiff was the owner of a strata lot in the defendant strata corporation.  The other defendants were the former manager and current manager of the strata corporation.  The strata corporation had levied a special assessment for elevator replacement.  The owner sought a “determination by the Court that the special resolution authorizing the special levy is invalid as it did not comply with the requirements of the Strata Property Act”  The owner accordingly sought the return of the funds paid under that special levy. 

The Court declined to decide the matter.  The Court said: 

• “In my view, despite the alternative claim in negligence, this is clearly a matter of corporate governance.  It is a claim that challenges the validity of a special resolution passed at a special general meeting, the competence of the Strata Corporation in drafting the special resolution, the authority of the Strata Corporation to collect amounts due under the allegedly invalid or deficient special resolution and the administration of the special levy which was the product of the resolution.”

• “As I have concluded that the allegations raised by the Claimant are clearly issues of governance I conclude that the claim must be brought in the Supreme Court British Columbia.”

• “…(the property managers) were property managers hired by the Strata Corporation.  Any liability which either of them may have as a result of the preparation of the special resolution or the implementation of that resolution would be to the Strata Corporation and not to the individual strata lot owners.  As such, the claims against those two Defendants are dismissed.”