27/12/2023– Jurisdiction Ontario
Part 85 published on 01/03/2024
In an apparent hoarding situation, the Court ordered the owner to temporarily vacate the unit to allow the condominium corporation to take steps to remedy unsafe conditions
Inspections by the St. Catharines Fire Services and by the condominium corporation’s engineer revealed many unsafe conditions inside the unit (an apparent hoarding situation as well as other unsafe conditions). The Court ordered the owner to temporarily vacate the unit in order to allow the condominium corporation to take steps to address the unsafe conditions at the owner’s expense. The Court’s orders included the following:
- A declaration that the conditions in the respondent’s unit at 1201-15 Towering Heights Boulevard, St. Catharines, Ontario L2T 3G7… (the “Unit”), are likely to cause damage to the applicant’s property or cause injury or illness to individuals in breach of section 117 of the Act.
- The respondent shall deliver to the applicant vacant possession of the Unit, and the applicant shall be entitled to the issuance of a Writ of Possession with respect to the Unit.
- The applicant is hereby authorized to engage contractors, pest control professionals, engineers, and related consultants to attend at the Unit and remediate the conditions posing risks to the condominium’s property and to the health of unit owners and occupants at the condominium.
- The applicant is hereby authorized to remove materials, including combustibles, from the Unit, in order to ensure that the accumulation of material does not exceed the normal loading of the structure and that it does not constrict egress from the respondent’s Unit.
- The applicant is hereby authorized to remove and place in appropriate storage facilities all chattels from the Unit which, in the sole discretion of the applicant, or its consultants, are reasonably necessary to remove in order to facilitate the remediation of the Unit.
- The applicant is hereby authorized to dispose of any chattels or fixtures in the Unit which, in the sole opinion of the professionals and consultants retained by the applicant, constitute a danger to human health or the applicant’s property.
- All damages, costs and expenses incurred by the applicant in remediating the Unit shall be paid by the respondent, and that such damages, costs, and expenses may be added to the common expenses attributable to the Unit.
- Upon the completion of remediation and upon the applicant receiving satisfactory evidence that the Unit has been fully remediated, and that all risks to the property and to the owners and occupants at the property have been alleviated, the applicant shall return possession of the Unit to the respondent.
Niagara North Condominium Corporation No. 127 v. Chyplik (Ontario Superior Court) 2023 ONSC 4856