Condo Smarts April 23, 2025
Default Payments

Dear Tony: I received a notice from my management company that my strata fees were in arrears and a lien would be filed if I did not pay the balance owing. Our strata have authorized direct payments each month and I checked my statements and all payments have been withdrawn with no issues. The management company advised that our payment authorizations include fines for penalties and damages, so they applied my strata fines to fines without providing notice. They advise the form authorizes them to apply funds to any outstanding amounts owing. The strata council advised that we had an unauthorized alteration in our unit and they have been imposing fines of $200 / week for the last 3 months. We purchased our unit and 2023 and nothing has been changed and were unaware of any alterations. This is really unfair without any opportunity to dispute these claims. JL

Dear JL: A strata corporation cannot divert funds that were scheduled and intended for the payment of strata fees or designated for special levies to resolve claims of penalties or damages. These even include the late payment of strata fees. While the bank approval form may have included the ability to charge fines or damages, it does not replace your authorization for strata fees or override the requirements of the Strata Property Act. A strata corporation cannot impose a lien for fines, penalties, insurance deductibles or damages. This application may only apply for strata fees, special levies, and a rate of interest if that is included in the bylaws and complies with the Act. Under the Act, a strata corporation must not: impose a fine against a person, require a person to pay the costs of remedying a contravention, or deny a person the use of a recreational facility, for a contravention of a bylaw or rule unless the strata corporation has received a complaint about the contravention, given the owner or tenant the particulars of the complaint, in writing, and a reasonable opportunity to answer the complaint, including a hearing if requested by the owner or tenant, and if the person is a tenant, given notice of the complaint to the person's landlord and to the owner. Your remedy is to demand a hearing with the strata council and request all communications and minutes itemizing decisions of the strata council to authorize and apply the enforcement without notice. The strata council must convene the hearing within 4 weeks after the request, and they must provide you with a written decision within 7 days of the hearing. If you have not resolved this in a satisfactory manner consult a lawyer or commence a claim with the Civil Resolution Tribunal. As this is a matter that may affect your credit rating or ability to sell. A notice from your lawyer is the most expedient method to address the error.

tony@choa.bc.ca
Tony Gioventu, Executive Director CHOA

Kindly note CHOA is a member-based, non-profit association. If your strata is not currently a CHOA member please consider joining – membership details are posted on our website at: https://www.choa.bc.ca/about-choa/join-choa/