BC couple ordered to pay $15K for having BBQ on patio
A BC couple embroiled in a 15-year legal battle with their strata has been ordered to pay $15,400 for having a barbeque on their patio.
According to a July 31 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, that was just the beginning. Wendy Joan Harvey and her spouse Douglas Michael Edgar have been ordered to pay almost $22,000 to cover fines for the barbeque and unauthorized alterations they made to their deck.
While the figures are substantial compared to most strata disputes, the amount is a fraction of the $53,400 in outstanding bylaw fines Strata VR390 was initially after.
The decision says Harvey and Edgar live in a two-storey townhouse at the bottom of a 12-storey Kerrisdale highrise where each condo covers an entire floor.
Harvey bought the 1,600-square-foot townhouse in 2005 for $610,000, which BC Assessment says is now valued at $1.3M, although even a decade ago the couple estimated it at $2.3M.
The couple didn't live in it for roughly seven years after buying it as it was being renovated but have been mired in endless legal disputes with the strata since the beginning.
The issue seems to have arisen when a leak was found in the building which needed $300,000 of work and the couple disagreed about the renovations.
Harvey and Edgar wanted the repairs to accommodate alterations which they planned to make.
The two sides couldn't agree on this and the couple went ahead and undertook "significant" work without the Strata's permission.
READ MORE: Kelowna woman wins legal fight with strata over moved parking spot
A 2010 BC Supreme Court decision says the couple removed brick pavers and concrete topping from the patio adjacent to their unit, altered landscaping, and removed gypsum panels and steel studs from the exterior wall of their unit.
The court document says in 2009 Edgar removed material used to test for water, stating there was no reason to have it. Days later he pushed a ladder over so a construction worker couldn't get access to a deck. The police were called but "declined to interfere."
The costs of the work ballooned as the construction work dragged on. What should have cost $250,000 and taken three months still wasn't completed three and a half years later "in large part due to the lack of cooperation and ongoing demands from the (couple)."
Years later the strata tried to sue for the delays arguing they added $178,000 to the price tag, plus $95,000 for damage Edgar caused to the building.
Following the delayed repairs, the Strata got a court order preventing the couple from interfering with the construction.
Justice Bruce Preston described Edgar's actions as a "campaign of guerrilla warfare" against the Strata.
"Mr. Edgar is the kind of neighbour for whom fences were developed," Justice Preston said in the decision.
The Justice ordered the couple to pay the Strata $70,000 in special costs and court documents say the couple paid up.
However, that didn't stop the litigation.
READ MORE: BC strata bills $1,900 for drunken flower pot mishap; loses in court
The legal fight went on and in 2013 the Strata took Harvey to the BC Supreme Court stating that their "unwillingness or inability" to abide by previous court orders meant they should be forced to sell.
The Strata asked the court for an order to force the sale of their home and bar them from ever living in the building again.
The hearing went on for two weeks but ultimately, the Strata failed to have the couple evicted with the judge calling it an "extreme remedy."
After that, even a decade later, the lawsuits continued.
In the last four years, there have been 10 decisions issued by the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal with the couple launching the action on eight of those occasions.
In 2019, Harvey argued a special general meeting held by the Strata was significantly unfair and targeted against her to make her get rid of her two wood-burning fireplaces. She lost.
She raised the issue of the wood-burning fireplaces once more a year later in another court filing, but lost again with the Tribunal ruling the issue had already been dealt with.
In another court filing to the Tribunal, Harvey argued the strata removed plants and an outdoor wooden bench in the common area outside her townhouse.
Again, the Tribunal refused to resolve the dispute stating it had already been dealt with in an earlier decision.
READ MORE: BC strata that ignored water issue for decade ordered to pay condo owner $12K
In the latest court battle, the Strata claimed $53,400 for outstanding bylaw fines dating back to 2009.
However, the Tribunal ruled that fines issued prior to 2013 were out of time under the former Limitation Act, wiping $31,000 of fines that had been issued.
However, the Tribunal still upheld the $200 weekly fines the Strata issued between 2016 and 2017 for having a barbeque and propane tank on their patio. The fines totaled $15,400.
The Tribunal also ruled the couple pay the Strata $4,400 in fines related to unauthorized alterations to their deck, plus almost $2,000 in interest.
The Tribunal dismissed Harvey's $413,800 claim for aggravated and punitive damages.
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