Part 16 published on 01/11/06
Courts order sectioning to address unfairness
In this case, the strata corporation consisted of 17 townhouse strata lots and 33 apartment-style strata lots. There was a dispute between the owners of the townhouses and the apartments respecting cost-sharing. The townhouse owners made application under section 164 of the Strata Property Act for an order to create sections to represent the different interests of the apartment and townhouse owners.
The Court was satisfied that there was significant unfairness to the townhouse owners, and ordered the requested sectioning. The Court said that the unfairness could not reasonably be addressed without sectioning. The Court specifically declined to follow the findings in the case of Large v. Strata Plan 601 (in which the Court had held that the Court did not have inherent jurisdiction to make such sectioning orders). In the Chow case, the Court said that the ordering of sectioning does not fall under the “inherent jurisdiction” of the Court, but rather falls under the specific jurisdiction set out in section 164 of the Strata Property Act (to rectify significant unfairness within a Strata Corporation).