Better be nice to your neighbors

In a rare decision, the BC Supreme Court ordered an owner to sell their condo after years of harassing other residents in the building. The Court’s decision in Strata Plan LMS 2768 v. Jordison [2013] B.C.J. No. 550 comes after many years of on-going harassment by Ms. Jordison and her son who moved into the building in 2008. In this case, the strata corporation fined the Jordisons on multiple occasions for various violations and the Jordisons ignored the fines.

The courts outlined a two-step process by which strata corporations must adhere to in order to be successful in their application to remove a problematic owner who refuses to adhere to the strata’s rules and bylaws.

First, the strata must get a court order requiring the problematic owner to stop violating the bylaws or rules.

Afterwards, if the problematic owner continues to violate the strata’s bylaws or rules and ignores the court order, then the strata can make a second application to the court to force the owner to sell the condo and move out of the building.

This case, along with the other related decisions involving the same parties, serves as a warning to all strata owners that there can be severe consequences for residents who are being inconsiderate to the other neighbors in the building.