March 21, 2017

New series examines the impact of Bill 40 on terminating a strata

Business in Vancouver has published a two-part series examining how recent changes to the Strata Property Act have affected terminating a strata. In July 2016, Bill 40 came into force, amending part 16 of the Strata Property Act. The bill’s major changes involved lowering the voting threshold required to authorize termination (from unanimity to Read more…

March 13, 2017

Transfer of strata corporation’s lawsuit from small claims to supreme court must be authorized by three-quarter vote

According to section 171 of the Strata Property Act, before a strata corporation commences a lawsuit in BC Supreme Court, “the suit must be authorized by a resolution passed by a 3/4 vote at an annual or special general meeting.” In contrast, this authorization by resolution passed by a 3/4 vote Read more…

March 10, 2017

BC Human Rights Tribunal allows second-hand smoking complaint to proceed against strata corporation

Second-hand smoke continues to be a problem for strata corporations and strata-lot owners. The latest case gave the BC Human Rights Tribunal an opportunity to apply the guidance formulated as part of the tribunal’s 2016 decision in Leary v Strata Plan VR1001, 2016 BCHRT 139. Talbot v Strata Plan LMS 1351 Read more…

February 27, 2017

Strata corporation’s duty to repair “may include work necessary to make good or sound that which may never have been good or sound”: BC Court of Appeal

In Frank v The Owners, Strata Plan LMS 355, 2017 BCCA 92, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia considered an appeal from a supreme-court decision that had held a strata corporation responsible to install railings needed to bring a recreational rooftop deck up to code. The court of appeal upheld Read more…

February 24, 2017

An Update on the Civil Resolution Tribunal

While the BCLI is working on projects to reform the Strata Property Act and to identify opportunities for financing litigation, the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) continues to implement new programs that will bring changes in both areas. The CRT has been handling strata property disputes since last year. Last month, Read more…