Strata Can't Collect Legal Fees for First Demand Letter Without Lien
When an owner fails to pay their strata fees the strata corporation is forced to go to collections against that owner. Continued failure to pay could result in the strata selling the owner's strata lot to collect the arrears. In that case, the strata's full legal fees are also collected from the owner: The Owners, Strata Plan KAS 2428 v. Baettig, 2017 BCCA 377 But what happens if the owner pays after the first demand letter and before the strata has to take any further steps, such as filing a lien against the owner's strata lot? Does the strata collect its legal fees from the owner? Short answer, no (unless maybe the owner doesn't dispute the legal fees and pays anyway). Long answer: this debate was resolved by the BC Court of Appeal in: 625536 BC Ltd v Owners of Strata Plan LMS 4385, 2021 BCCA 158 . The facts are fairly simple: The strata is a commercial strata in Surrey. The owner owned several separate strata lots and fell into arrears. The strata hired a lawyer t
