Strata Successfully Evicted a Problem Owner

The second strata corporation in British Columbia to evict an owner for problem behaviour is The Owners, Strata Plan NW 1245 in the BC Supreme Court decision The Owners, Strata Plan NW 1245 v Linden, 2017 BCSC 852.

Previously, the strata corporation successfully obtained a Court Order restraining the problem owners from disrupting the other owners and continually breaching the bylaws, preventing the owners from:
  1. uttering abusive, obscene or threatening comments. .. 
  2. intentionally listening into other strata lots. . . 
  3. vandalizing common property, limited common property and other strata lots,
  4. slamming or pounding on the doors. . . 
  5. allowing or encouraging their dog to bark incessantly. . . 
  6. leaving dog feces anywhere on the common property. . . 
  7. yelling, screaming, or singing on the common property. . . in a manner that causes a nuisance. . ., and
  8. yelling, screaming, or singing in their strata lot. . . in a manner that causes a nuisance between 8 pm and 8 am. 
The owners were also levied $3,400 in fines for their behaviour.

However, in spite of the Court Order, the owners continued to bully and harass the other owners in the strata corporation. As a result, the strata corporation went back to Court and, again, sought a "Jordison Order" as the term has been coined from the landmark case of The Owners, Strata Plan LMS 2768 v Jordison, 2013 BCSC 487, aff'd 2013 BCCA 484.

In this case, the Court was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the owners were in contempt of the previous Court Order and was satisfied that no other option was available other than eviction of the owners to protect the other residents. Therefore, the Court permitted the strata corporation to list the strata lot for sale and that the owners had to vacate their strata lot within 30 days. If the owners breached the second Court Order, the police are to arrest the owners and bring them to Court for a contempt of court punishment.

Originally, the strata corporation sought a Jordison Order at the first hearing regarding the behaviour of the problem owners. However, the Court was not convinced that a Jordison Order should be the first remedy and granted injunctions instead. This case, however, shows that with the proper evidence, the process to evicting a problem owner can be a fairly straightforward process and can be completed with two court appearances (which process has been streamlined significantly from the Jordison cases).

While expensive, the eviction of a problem owner may be the only actual remedy for a strata corporation and its residents when fines and even injunctions do not correct their behaviour.





TAEYA FITZPATRICK

Taeya Fitzpatrick has specialized in strata law for most of her practice, has won cases for her clients in the BC Supreme Court, the BC Court of Appeal, and assisted with a client succeeding in defending a Civil Resolution Tribunal claim. Taeya offers full services to a strata corporation or a strata owner from redrafting the strata’s bylaws, collection of outstanding strata fees or other charges, issues with bylaw enforcement, to amending the strata plan. For more information on the services provided, you can reach Taeya by email, phone: 250-763-4323, or at her Web Page

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