A Vancouver condo owner will have to pay his strata council $22,000 after he rented out his home against the bylaws, according to a recent ruling from the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal.
The strata initially challenged Peter Gordon’s renting of his condo in May 2016, when they wrote a letter telling him he was breaking the rules and would receive a $500 fine.
The bylaws state only six units may be rented out at a time, and additional requests are referred to a waiting list. He could avoid the fine if he evicted the tenant in 90 days.
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Tribunal documents show Gordon did not end the tenancy and did not attend a strata hearing about the issue. As a result, the strata began charging fines.
Gordon challenged the strata’s decision in BC Supreme Court in May 2017, where Justice Christopher Grauer ruled the strata must forgive his fines up to that date, and hold a new hearing.
Gordon attended that hearing, but the strata found he was still breaking the rental bylaw and would fine him $500 every week, starting on June 1, as long as his home was rented.
In October, Gordon sent a letter asking for a “hardship exemption” that would allow his current tenants to stay in the condo until their lease was up, but the strata denied it because he had provided no proof as to why one was required.
After his denial, he took up the issue with the civil resolution tribunal.
In her ruling, tribunal member Kate Campbell wrote “the owner’s evidence is somewhat unclear” about why he needed a hardship exemption and denied the request as well.
Gordon has since sold his condo. Campbell ruled the $22,000 in fines be paid out from the proceeds of that sale, which are currently held in trust.
