White Snow and Sunshine Holdings Inc. v. Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation No. 561, 2017 ONSC 4558
Decision Date: July 28, 2017
http://canlii.ca/t/h5bsj
The applicant owns the two commercial units in MTCC No. 561, a residential condominium. At present, the applicant’s employees are not allowed to use the condominium’s residential facilities (a swimming pool, a gym, squash court, etc.), although the applicant pays common expense fees. After unsuccessful negotiations with the Board, the applicant has brought this application to require that the corporation change its Declaration and allow his employees to use the recreational facilities.
Justice Lederer dismissed the application, drawing on Section 7(4) of the Condominium Act. He also noted a site specific by-law passed by the City of Toronto which required the developer of MTCC No. 561 to provide recreational space for the exclusive use of the residents of the building.
Comment: Costs of $11,000 were ordered payable by the Applicant.
Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation 1067 v. 1388020 Ontario Corp., 2017 ONSC 4793
Decision Date: August 14, 2017
http://canlii.ca/t/h5c30
The defendant owns 8 condominium units and 3 parking spaces in MTCC No. 1067. This dispute is over the defendant’s unpaid common expense fees, interest charges, and additional expenses. The parties resolved most of their disagreements before appearing in front of the judge. The remaining issues were the rate of interest charge, additional claimed expenses, and legal costs. In particular, the defendant claimed that the rate of prime plus 30% specified in the corporation by-laws, was excessive.
Justice Ferguson allowed the interest rate to stand but disallowed the corporation from claiming additional “collection” expenses. He also awarded costs of $30,000 to the plaintiff.
Comment: Familiarize yourself with a condominium’s Declaration and By-laws before moving in so fees and interest charges don’t come as a surprise!
Brief Notices
The LSUC has found that a lawyer engaged in professional misconduct by breaching the trust requirements for deposits under the Condominium Act, accepting cash payments over $7500, making unauthorized withdrawals from trust, and allowing another lawyer (neither an employee nor a partner) to use his trust accounts. Read the full summary of the decision. The penalty is a 2-month suspension, 6-months of financial reporting, and a spot audit requirement.
An appeal has been denied in Cheung v. York Region Condominium Corporation No. 759. (I summarized this parking dispute in the Mid-summer 2016 post.)
About the Image: Sculpture “Body and Soul” (Duk-Kyu Ryang, 2015) in front of the office building of the LVM, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, by Dietmar Rabich – Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link