26/04/2021 – Jurisdiction Alberta
Part 74 published on 01/03/2021
Owner entitled to solicitor and client costs in relation to required appointment of Administrator
An Administrator had been appointed, on consent, as a result of the Board’s failure to fulfill its obligations. The owner (who sought the appointment of the Administrator) made application for costs “for the steps leading up to the Consent Order, communication with the Administrator once it was in place and for the Applicant’s attempts to collect its costs and expenses after these were refused by the Board”.
The Court awarded the owner costs on a solicitor-client scale. The Court said:
Condominium Boards must not be encouraged to ignore their duties. In the circumstances of this case, fair dealing requires that an aggrieved condominium owner, forced to take this kind of action, should not receive anything less than might be permitted for the Condominium Corporation if the situation were reversed. A courageous owner, forced to challenge the missteps of the Board in Court and ultimately to protect the interests of the corporation, should not be condemned to mount their campaign at a loss.