Judge has to order Summerland condo owner to behave himself, pay thousands
If an unruly and disruptive owner of a small condominium in Summerland doesn’t pay thousands of dollars in fines and fees and doesn’t stop bothering the council or other members, he and his wife could be forced to sell their unit, a judge said.
August Flaman is the one who was caused so much trouble for the 12-unit La Vista Ridge complex that they got court orders to govern his behaviour, but he lives there with his wife who could suffer the same consequences.
“Certain individuals are not entirely well suited for living in a stratified situation wherein there are restrictions placed upon them which would likely not otherwise be imposed if they lived in a residence wherein they hold freehold title,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Briana Hardwick said in her decision. “This is, in my conclusion, one of those situations.”
None of the actions involved are so egregious they couldn’t have been solved by neighbourly neighbours, but because of his unruly behaviour, she said, she had to go through “seven binders submitted which, due to their size, cannot even be contained in a single banker’s box.”
Flaman was accused of doing repairs and installations of numerous items in his suite, including several which pierced the envelope of the building — a particularly troublesome activity because it can impact insurance and cause extensive damage to the building.
“The issues have escalated and it is asserted Mr. Flaman has conducted himself in a way which is alleged to be aggressive, intimidating and disruptive to the Strata Corporation’s governance, to the strata’s repair and maintenance program and disruptive to other use and enjoyment of property; as well as increasing common expenses,” Hardwick wrote.
Flaman has a lengthy history of breaking the rules and Hardwick chastised the strata council for enabling him in, for example, ordering repairs or changes to his unit without authorization, then seeking payment from the council. As his antics increased, his behaviour to other residents became confrontational, the judge said. He gave another resident the finger, intimidated another with his vehicle, snooped in another neighbour's home during an open house and tried to order people off common property. He so disrupted a contractor trying to repair a neighbour’s unit, they quit the job and a second one nearly followed them.
He was ordered to pay all fines and the strata’s legal fees, which weren’t quantified but are expected to be in the thousands of dollars. The court also ordered him to stop disturbing other residents, stop communicating with the strata council except under certain conditions, among many other orders. Hardwick noted that strata councils are volunteers trying to keep the peace and needn't be held to Flaman's subjective standards.
The strata initially wanted to compel Flaman to sell his unit and be barred from the building but later agreed with the judge that is a valid and likely future step if the conduct persists.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Marshall Jones or call 250-718-2724 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.
