Ontario court holds that condominium validly prohibited short-term rentals

Short-term rentals, which are often enabled by online services, have become an increasing concern for strata corporations. A recent court decision from Ontario illustrates the conflicts that may arise when owners engage in short-term rentals and the tools that strata corporations may have to deal with the issue. Ottawa-Carleton Standard Condominium Corporation No. 961 v Menzies, 2016 ONSC 7699, involved a 244-unit residential condominium located in downtown Ottawa. The applicant in the case was the condominium Read more…

New regulations address Societies Act and student-society fees

The BC government has announced the adoption of two new regulations, designed to address the impact of the Societies Act on fees collected from members of a student society. The announcement describes the purpose of the new regulations as follows: New regulations ensure that student society fees can continue to be collected from all students at public post-secondary institutions, including those who resign their membership in a student society. The regulations are in response to the explicit authority Read more…

Strata corporation ordered to reimburse owner for cost of replacing windows and patio door

In a case heard on appeal from small claims court, the BC Supreme Court has upheld an order that “the Strata Corporation to pay the respondent $3,950, together with court filing and service fees and court-ordered interest,” to compensate a strata-lot owner for costs he incurred in “replacing four windows and the patio door of his strata unit.” The Owners of Strata Plan NWS 254 v Hall, 2016 BCSC 2363, contained comments on section 72 (repair of Read more…

Strata Property Law Project: 2016 year-end update

2016 saw significant progress made on BCLI’s Strata Property Law Project—Phase Two. One major publication was released, the Consultation Paper on Complex Stratas (PDF). The project committee also made noteworthy progress on its examination of selected governance, common-property, and land-title issues. Three new members joined the project committee. BCLI received two visits from international scholars studying aspects of strata-property law. On the legislative front, recommendations from the committee’s 2015 Report on Terminating a Strata (PDF) Read more…

Strata-property law: 2016 in review

This past year has seen several milestones in strata-property law, both here in British Columbia and elsewhere. The year has featured important court and tribunal decisions, new legislation coming into force, and new law-reform initiatives. Here are some of the significant developments in 2016, as noted in the BCLI blog. January: The BC Supreme Court issued a ruling in a smoking dispute. Second-hand smoke would end up playing a role in no fewer than six BC Read more…