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A BC Tribunal has ruled that a Peachland strata acted "significantly unfairly" after it charged home owners for geothermal heating which they didn't have.

According to an Oct. 29 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, unit owner Werner Suter took legal action against EPS1699 arguing he shouldn't have to pay towards a geothermal heating and cooling system which wasn't connected to his unit.

The decision said the Trails Place strata was built in two stages with the original 44 units being built between 2014 and 2016 and hooked up to geothermal heating and cooling. In 2021, 25 more strata units were added without geothermal and instead have natural gas furnaces and air conditioning.

However, the strata charged all strata members for the geothermal, costing home owners between $30 to $61 a month.

Suter was charged a geothermal fee of $41 a month.

He raised the issue with the strata saying he shouldn't have to pay for something in which he has no benefit.

The Strata took the issue to a meeting but it was defeated at a vote.

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Suter then took his gripe to the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal and argued it was "significantly unfair" and that the geothermal fee should only be charged to the geothermal unit owners.

The strata disagreed saying it took the issue to a vote and approving Suter request's after it failed at a vote would be breaking the law.

However, the Tribunal ruled that despite the democratic vote, the outcome was still significantly unfair to owners of non-geothermal units.

"Previous... court decisions have found that it was significantly unfair for a strata to calculate expenses based on an incorrect schedule of unit entitlement," the Tribunal ruled. "There is no evidence before me that the non-geothermal unit owners benefit in any way from the geothermal equipment."

The Tribunal said that on top of the geothermal charges Suter also has to pay for his gas which is roughly $65 a month.

"The geothermal unit owners also undisputedly receive free yearly maintenance of their geothermal systems under the strata’s contract with its geothermal supplier, while non-geothermal unit owners must arrange and pay for their own heating and cooling system maintenance," the Tribunal ruled.

Suter also points out that it's unlikely that the non-geothermal units could be connected to the geothermal system in the future.

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"I find it is objectively reasonable for Mr. Suter to expect that he will not be expected to subsidize other owners’ heating and cooling costs by contributing to the geothermal fee, despite not deriving any benefit from the geothermal system and not receiving a similar subsidy of his own heating and cooling costs," the Tribunal ruled.

The Tribunal went on to say the "geothermal fee is inequitable and unduly burdensome."

"Despite the strata’s good faith efforts to address Mr. Suter’s concerns... I find that its practice of including the geothermal fee in its operating budget is significantly unfair to the non-geothermal unit owners," the Tribunal ruled.

The Tribunal ultimately ordered the strata to "immediately" stop charging geothermal expenses to the non-geothermal unit owners.

As Suter hadn't asked to be reimbursed the Tribunal made no ruling that he should be refunded.

The Strata argued Suter should cover its $10,000 legal bill, but the Tribunal dismissed the argument as the strata lost.

The Tribunal also ordered the Strata not to pass on any portion of its legal bill to Suter.

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