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Read the latest condo judgments, book reviews, case summaries and comments at The Condo Chronicles beginning October,
2010. More to come! Please check back soon for updates.
Armstrong and Thiessen v. Strata Plan NW 416
2010 BCPC 0055
Who pays legal fees when strata officers are sued.
A condo dispute between owners and strata council became the source of a human rights challenge, which led to a bill for
costs totalling a whopping $18,500 plus another $500 in parking fees and disbursements (which the court did not allow) as well as
$10,000+ for the strata corporation's defence. The court here was required to puzzle through typically flawed strata
records to find that owners reluctant to pay legal fees tried wrongly to make individual strata officers acting for the strata
corporation personally liable.
A good day for the law firm of McCormack and Co. and no one else.
Westsea Construction Ltd. v. Billedeau
2010 BCPC 0109
Who is responsible for damage caused by water overflow when condo owner has rented suite to a tenant.
Water overflowed in a condo unit at 647 Michigan Street in Victoria causing damage to units below. Strata corporation sought
to make condo owner, who had leased the unit to a tenant, solely liable. Strata corporation had negotiated an insurance deductible of
$75K. Damage here was $12K. Said the court:
If the risk of a loss falling within the deductible is to be passed to a lessee who causes the loss, I would expect
express wording under the Lease setting out this obligation. Not only is there not a term requiring the tenant to insure, there is no term
setting the circumstances under which the risk of a deductible amount passes substantially or wholly to a particular lessee. ...
Westsea did not vigorously pursue the allegation that the water leak was caused by "misuse of toilet or other apparatus" in breach of
Rule 9 of Schedule B to the Lease. There was no direct or credible circumstantial evidence that it was "misuse" that caused the loss. At
best, the evidence points to a failure to act in a timely fashion to reduce the extent of damage.
The risk of loss by water overflow, even if caused by the negligence of the Defendant Lessee in failing to act in a timely fashion, is
a risk that the Lessor covenanted to insure against under the terms of Lease. Absent express provisions of the Lease, for the reasons
aforesaid, the Defendant is not liable to indemnify the Lessor for the cost of repairs falling within the insurance deductible.
The Owners Strata Plan VR2213 v. Duncan and Owen
2010 BCPC 0123
Condo tenant as distinguished from a mere occupant.
A judgment that would certainly facilitate the use of a mixed-use condo like this one for the provision of sexual services!
Condo owners at The Carlysle, 1060 Alberni St. in Vancouver (a tiny one-bedroom box at $339K Oct. 16/10), leased the unit to an
outfit that provides short-term hotel-type accommodation. Strata corporation sought to charge a moving fee for each new occupant, failing
to distinguish, as the court did, between mere 'occupants,' who could not be billed pursuant to the tenancy bylaw in question, and tenants,
who could.
Consider a recent question at The Province's E-Street column:
What do you think about the B.C. Court of Appeal(see Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence
Society v. Canada (Attorney General), 2010 BCCA 439) allowing a former prostitute who is not facing any charges to challenge
Canada's prostitution laws related to running a bawdy house, living off the avails of prostitution and communicating in public for
the purposes of prostitution? Should prostitution, which is now legal in private, be legal in public?
Biblitz replies:
Not if it would increase sex-slave trafficking or make it more difficult to investigate and prosecute same and not if it would
subject residential communities, especially condos, to the disruptive all-night excesses legal and ill- which typcially accompany the
sale of sexual services. The additonal tax revenue would be welcome, of course, but this would be quickly eaten up no doubt by the need
for increased police protection and investigation of employment standards and so on.
Of course, residents whose right to peaceful, private enjoyment of property may be trampled by such liberalizations might take
recourse by providing a Web cam streaming live for all the world to see the comings and goings of visitors welcome and un' as well as
their levels of inebriation or sobriety, as the case may be. What would our hallowed Court of Appeal say about that, one wonders?
Vancouver's Boulevard of Broken Dreams, legacy of a decades-long, province-wide 'leaky condo'
epidemic. Photos of various reconstruction rehabilitation renovation sites along W. 7th Avenue at Oak Street, Vancouver's
'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' March 29/06. Turn your gaze across the sparkling blue Burrard Inlet and you'll see the familiar green nets
topped with protective white capping over at least two highrises - 431 Pacific and Parkview Towers, 289 Drake St. A visit to W. 7th
Avenue between Oak and Cambie on New Year's Eve, 2009 revealed few changes. Every second or third complex appeared to have
succumbed to housing failure - not all for the first time, either, according to several residents and business owners we talked to.
The Owner's Guide to B.C. Condominiums - 2010 with annual updates.
More about the report, including the Table of Contents.
Submit a condo inquiry.
A 21-page report by Leo Biblitz, LLB, representing more than seven years' moderating the non-profit consumer advocacy site,
www.bccondos.ca, to give prospective condo buyers everywhere all the information we wish we would have had when Biblitz bought his own leaky condo in Kitsilano in the
early '90s! What every buyer entering the shark-infested condo market should know about maintenance, interpreting
strata records and, most important, other owners. Although it's aimed primarily at B.C., the report provides a framework the prudent consumer may apply to assess condo legislation,
rules and construction issues in just about any jurisdiction where there are condos! This report will show readers where there are often gaps in strata records and sellers' representations. At the very least, you'll
know what questions to ask to ensure the price adequately reflects buyer's risk.
The report is available for sale as a pdf at a price of $25 (twenty-five Canadian dollars). Download the report as soon as you
complete the easy, secure PayPal payment process. It's that simple!
The report is intended for individual use only. Distribution/republication is prohibited; however, pricing for distribution of
the report to a wider audience, such as a strata corporation, is also available from the Webmaster. Please send inquiries to
dennis_boyko@yahoo.ca. By clicking on the PayPal
Buy Now icon below, you are agreeing to these terms.
Song v. Gooch et al. 2010 BCPC 0079
When and how condo landlord may seize commercial tenant's assets to recover unpaid rent.
A commercial strata dispute in which strata landlords improperly seized and sold tenant's goods to recover unpaid rent. A
valuable update on the ancient equitable remedy of distress, including the application of the Rent Distress Act. Note
the many years this claim has taken to resolve!
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