B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has rejected a claim from a Surrey strata that an owner it accused of being disruptive pay $29,914 in bylaw fines and legal fees.
Tribunal vice-chair Eric Regehr said in his Oct. 24 decision that the strata alleged that Despina Vorias breached numerous bylaws between Sept. 1, 2021, and Aug. 17, 2022.
It asked for an order that Vorias pay $4,000 in outstanding fines for the various breaches. The strata also wanted an order that Vorias pay legal fees it incurred enforcing its bylaws, including for the tribunal dispute and a previous dispute.
Regehr said when the strata started the dispute, it estimated those legal fees at $28,493.53.
“In final submissions, the strata claimed a total of $29,914.03,” he said.
In the earlier 2022 case, a tribunal member concluded the strata had proved Vorias had caused unreasonable noise, and harassed and intimidated her neighbour contrary to the strata’s bylaws.
The member ordered Vorias to stop banging on the party wall between her unit and another and to stop using foul, abusive, obscene, or demeaning language towards another resident.
Regehr said, according to Vorias’s strata lot account, the strata imposed $4,200 in fines between Sept. 1, 2021, and Aug. 17, 2022 for breaching noise, nuisance and parking bylaws.
Also according to Vorias’s strata lot account, the strata charged $16,756 in legal fees between Oct. 26, 2021, and May 11, 2022.
“All but $1,302.56 of this is marked ‘CRT,’ so I find that most of these fees related to the previous dispute,” Regehr said.
And, he said, between the end of the previous dispute and the beginning of the current one, the strata charged Vorias a further $1,271.19 in legal fees.
“Mrs. Vorias’s strata account ledger in evidence only goes to Oct. 5, 2022,” Regehr said. “However, the strata’s law firm’s ledger is in evidence up to July 5, 2023, when the strata completed its submissions in this dispute. Between Oct. 5, 2022, and July 5, 2023, the strata’s law firm charged the strata $10,832.20 in legal fees.”
Regehr said the question before him was whether the strata could have, with reasonable diligence, argued it was entitled to payment of fines and legal fees in the previous dispute.
“The only argument the strata makes to justify its failure to claim fines or legal fees in the previous dispute is that it had not sent Mrs. Vorias a demand letter and urgently needed to start the CRT process,” he said.
“I am not persuaded by this argument. The strata could have sent the necessary demand at any time and amended its dispute notice accordingly,” he said.
He said the strata was attempting to claim new remedies from the old dispute, claims that are barred by law.
Regehr dismissed claims for legal fees up to May 11, 2022. That left four fines for alleged breaches of the parking bylaws and four for alleged breaches of the noise bylaws.
Regehr found the strata failed to give Vorias opportunity to respond to allegations he had breached the parking bylaw by parking in an alley.
That left legal fees of $1,271.19 related to the parking issues.
“It would be unreasonable and significantly unfair for a strata corporation to collect legal fees against an owner for bylaw enforcement if the alleged bylaw breaches were unproven and not admitted,” Regehr said.
As such, Regehr dismissed the dispute.
