Q: Our strata corporation has an ongoing dispute about the fairness of cost allocations for utilities. In our building, only the penthouse units have gas fireplaces and gas cooking ranges and barbeque connections. The remainder of the owners believe this is unfair as we do not have any benefit from the utility in the same […]

A BC strata has been ordered to pay a resident $14,000 after it was found to have been negligent in repairing the exterior wall of a townhouse.  According to a June 1 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, Rupa Deb, who owns a townhouse in the 40-year-old strata, first noticed “sagging” from her bathroom titles in […]

Dear Tony: We have an ongoing dispute in our strata corporation about the fairness of cost allocations for utilities. In our building, only the penthouse units have gas fireplaces and gas cooking ranges and barbeque connections. The remainder of the owners believe this is unfair as we do not have any benefit of the utility […]

Ontario property managers are raising the alarm about the province’s growing condo market, saying there’s not enough of them to handle an expected influx of units.   Read the article………………………..

Q: We have a situation in our strata corporation that has caused a fair amount of confusion. A 55-plus resident has passed away, and the younger spouse, who is 48 years old, remains in the unit. We passed our bylaw in 2021, and the younger spouse was residing with the 55-plus owner then.  Read the Q&A……………………………….

Duncan is on a fixed income of about $2,000 per month. She’s already struggling to meet expenses by keeping the heat down to save money and cutting back on tv costs. She says she goes to the food bank to help with the cost of living.  She says her condo corporation had to replace the […]

A new report says for the first time ever, more than half of newly-completed condo investors in the Greater Toronto Area were losing money on their rental properties last year — and its authors expect the trend to persist. Read the article………………………..

There’s a good reason why a potential condominium buyer should look over the status certificate for the corporation, as one purchaser in Waterloo, Ontario, recently found out. But it is just as important, an Ontario Superior Court of Justice judge said in a recent ruling, that the status certificate indicates the potential for special assessments […]

Dear Tony: We have a situation in our strata corporation that has caused a fair amount of confusion. A 55+ resident has died and the younger spouse, who is 48, remains in the unit.   Read the Q&A……………………………….

A BC resident who spent $43,000 on lawyers fighting her strata over an extension that was built 45 years ago, got no relief in court and will still have her fate decided by her strata council.  According to a May 15 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, Strata VR42 took owner Cheryl Learmonth to the online […]

A Burnaby condominium owner is suing her building’s developer after the ceiling of her unit collapsed in the bedroom above her head while she was sleeping, as well as in the kitchen and living room.  Read the article………………………..

How do the new regulations grandfather people in our strata corporation with a 55-and-over bylaw? Our bylaw reads all occupants must be 55 and over. We are an intentional bare land community on Vancouver Island. Our community is not accustomed to children or families other than summer visits that we restrict to a maximum of […]

Dear Tony: How do the new regulations grandfather people in at our strata corporation, which has a 55-and-over bylaw? Our bylaw states that all occupants must be 55 and over. We are an intentional bare land community on Vancouver Island.   Read the Q&A……………………………….

Closing a small loophole in strata regulations around depreciation reports could yield big savings, says the president of B.C.’s largest property management company.  Read the article………………………..

Dear Tony: Our strata corporation was left with a $125,000 surplus at the end of the year. In addition to the annual budget, we authorized contingency funds to be used for the repair of several roofs, which was transferred to the operating fund. Because of construction delays and a decision to not have our windows […]

The Supreme Court of BC has ruled that Bruce Findlay and a land development company that he was a director with must pay $171,000 in damages to the strata corporation at the Seaview residential project in Ladysmith.   Read the article………………………..

A B.C. tribunal has called a strata “insensitive, stubborn, and high-handed” and ordered it to pay a condo owner $19,000 after it refused to grant her a hardship exemption and allow her to rent out her unit.    Read the article………………………..

Q: Our strata corporation is three years into its warranty, and as instructed, we have been providing claims information to our property manager and developer. We assumed these were valid claims because of the warranty, and the developer instructed us to notify them of everything.     Read the article………………………..

The vehicle belonged to Vikki Lorraine Hopes, who said that while insurance covered the damage the leaking ceiling caused, she wanted the strata to reimburse her for the deductible, which was $300.    Read the article………………………..

A penthouse co-owner and resident took his strata corporation to court over elevator noise, and he did pretty well in a small claims case.   Read the article………………………..

The province is making changes to its Strata Property Regulation that allowed some buildings to require tenants to be 55 years of age of older.  The strata age restriction regulation was first put into effect in November 2022 as a way to ensure there was housing for seniors in B.C.   Read the article………………………..

A Superior Court ruling in November cost a Mississauga condominium corporation more than $50,000, plus its own legal bills, for failing to act reasonably in considering an owner’s renovation requests.   Read the article………………………..

Dear Tony: Our strata corporation is three years into its warranty and as instructed we have been providing claims information to our property manager and developer.  Read the Q&A……………………………….

B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered a strata to pay an owner $1,181 after the council had items he had in the complex’s bike room thrown out.  Ales Eisner told tribunal member Sarah Orr that the strata removed his bikes and equipment from the room and disposed of them without proper notice.   Read the article………………………..

The City of Langford says the B.C. government has offered to help residents who have been ordered out of their homes at RidgeView Place, after the city revoked the building’s occupancy permit due to safety concerns.    Read the article………………………..

A Vancouver strata that denied a condo owner’s request for an exemption to rental rules has been ordered to pay over $19,000 in damages, in a decision that describes the council’s conduct as “insensitive, stubborn and high-handed.” Read the article………………………..

Absence of strata depreciation reports could bring future structural and financial problems for buildings in the province, says the Condominium Home Owners Association of BC.   Read the article………………………..

Q: Are age restriction bylaws a loophole to prevent rentals? We have a group of owners in our building advocating for age bylaws in the hope that we can prevent rentals on our property. We are only 48 units and self-managed, and our strata corporation is fully occupied. We hope to avoid a wave of investors […]

A group of condo owners in a suburb north of Montreal have learned that their recently built homes will have to be demolished — or repaired at an exorbitant cost — because of flawed construction and design, according to a lawsuit.   Read the article………………………..

Dear Tony: Are age restriction bylaws a loophole to prevent rentals? We have a group of owners in our building advocating for age bylaws in hopes we can prevent rentals on our property. We are only 48 units and self managed and our strata corporation is fully occupied. We are hoping to avoid a wave […]

The Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered the strata at the Lougheed-area Village Del Ponte townhouse complex to replace four failing skylights put in by previous owners in the 1980s and ’90s.   Read the article………………………..