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A B.C. condo owner has been awarded $1,000 after her strata failed to properly investigate multiple noise complaints.

According to a March 28 B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, Surrey strata LMS 4634 received numerous complaints from Eun Kyung Ahn about noise for her upstairs neighbours but failed to reasonably investigate the complaints.

The decision says the issue started in May 2021 when a family of four moved in above Ahn's condo unit.

The noise consisted of "children running and yelling, adults stomping, and people throwing, dropping, rolling and moving heavy things on the hard-surface floor," the decision says.

Ahn originally spoke to the family, who told her they would tip-toe when they walked and try harder to be quiet.

"But she felt their behaviour did not match their words," the decision says.

Ahn then complained to the strata saying she could hear "each and every step" and she was having trouble studying, working and falling asleep.

However, the strata replied the sound of children playing was ordinary living noise and she had to "endure" it.

At one point the family alleged that Ahn connected a speaker to the ceiling and played a variety of 'zombie music' and "bad annoying sounds like someone banging."

The family also says she swore at them through the speaker.

The strata then fined her $200 for noise and $200 for harassment.

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She continued to complain to the strata, and after five complaints the strata began to investigate.

The strata found that the family had put interlocking foam tiles down, along with rugs. In some areas two rugs.

It appears it didn't make a difference as Ahn continued to complain about the noise.

While many stratas have bylaws about flooring in an effort to reduce noise, this strata has no such bylaws on its books.

The decision says multiple recordings were submitted as evidence.

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Six months after the strata had said it was going to investigate, it conducted a sound test. One person stood in the upstairs condo and made noise, while it was recorded with a sound meter in Ahn's condo.

"Ahn says that sometimes the tenants’ noise was so loud and vivid that it sounded like they were living in her strata lot, which startled her," the decision says. "She says the most unbearable noise is the impact sound when the vibration travels through her ceiling and walls and throughout her strata lot. She describes it as 'torture' and 'violence' to her."

The decision says Ahn kept a log book in which she would record the noise daily.

The Tribunal says it accepts that Ahn found the noise intolerable at times, but this is insufficient and she must provide objective evidence that the noise is intolerable to an ordinary person.

She failed to do that and the Tribunal ruled that Ahn hadn't proven that the noise was "intolerable."

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However, that didn't mean the strata were off the hook.

"Based on the lack of explanation for how the council 'deemed' the noise not to be a bylaw infraction, I find there was effectively no investigation for the first four noise complaints. The strata did not do anything that could be considered an investigative step until Ms. Ahn’s fifth noise complaint," the Tribunal ruled. "I find the strata concluded, without investigation, that the tenant’s ordinary living noise was not a bylaw contravention no matter how loud it was. By doing so, the strata predetermined the outcome of Ms. Ahn’s complaints, which I find was unfair."

In a rare move, the Tribunal then ordered the strata to pay $1,000 in damages, although she'd claimed $20,000.

The Tribunal also ordered the strata to wipe the $400 noise and harassment fine because it hadn't followed protocol when they were issued.

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While she won a minor victory, the noise and the family, and what to do about it, all remain the same.

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