BC strata bills $1,900 for drunken flower pot mishap; loses in court
A BC strata that charged a condo owner $1,900 after his partner knocked over a potted plant while drunk on Canada Day, won't see a penny of the money after the case went to court.
According to a July 5 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, Strata Plan LMS 1716 billed Barie Regan $1,921 to replace four plant pots at the building entrance after one was knocked over.
The decision said video footage captured Regan's partner intoxicated at the main entrance to the Vancouver highrise in the early hours on July 1.
The camera caught Regan’s partner "manipulating a plant in a flowerpot" and the pot was later found on its side with a plant and soil from the pot strewn about.
Regan didn't dispute that his partner knocked the plant pot over but objected to the $1,900 bill.
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The Strata said the flowerpot was cracked and "had weakened the pot’s integrity" so it wouldn't be able to "withstand changes in temperature and seasonal moisture."
The Strata said it couldn't find an exact replacement so all four pots had to be replaced at the cost of $1,921.
Reagan disagreed and took the Strata to the Tribunal.
"Mr. Regan’s position is that there is no evidence the flowerpot was cracked nor any evidence that the pot could not be re-used," the decision read.
The Tribunal found that the photos provided as evidence from the Strata didn't show any cracks in the damaged flowerpot.
"Further, the only documentary evidence about the pot being cracked is a written statement from the strata’s building supervisor dated Dec. 2, 2022, made over 17 months after the flowerpot damage allegedly occurred," the Tribunal ruled. "I find it unusual for the strata not to take photographs of the pot that showed it was cracked before the Strata discarded it."
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The Strata also argued that the flower pot could not be reused.
However, the Tribunal ruled there is no evidence that the strata’s supervisor had the expertise to make such a claim.
"There is also no written statement from the landscape contractor to support that the flowerpot could not be re-used or that all four pots needed to be replaced," the Tribunal ruled. "I also note the replacement pots were a different colour (than) the one that was allegedly damaged, which seems inconsistent with the strata’s position that all four pots were replaced for uniformity."
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Ultimately, the Tribunal ruled that the Strata hadn't proven that Regan's partner damaged the flower pots to the extent it could not be re-used and ordered it to remove the $1,921 charge it had put on his Strata lot account.
The Strata will also have to pay Regan $225 to cover the Tribunal's fees.
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