A recent case before the Superior Court of Justice has provided the Court with an opportunity to canvass the law with respect to compliance applications. In MTCC No. 933 v. Lyn (2020) ONSC 196, a resident began to experience excessive noise from a neighboring unit throughout the night and into the early hours of the morning. The resident took steps to minimize the extent to which her sleep was disturbed, to no avail. She…

In a recent case (Lucas et al v. 1858793 Ontario Inc. o/a Howard Park et al., 2019 ONSC 7402), a condo developer was unsuccessful in its attempt to terminate a pre-construction agreement of purchase and sale and keep the deposits. Background Facts In January of 2015, the purchasers entered into an agreement (the “Agreement”) to purchase a unit in a condominium to be constructed. The purchase price was $369,000. Over the course of the…

In a previous post, we discussed the high costs of ignoring a CAT order in a recent court decision. Here, we focus on offers to settle in litigation. Rule 49.10 of the Rules of Civil Procedure deals with cost consequences for a party’s failure to accept an offer to settle. Generally speaking, in litigation, a successful party is entitled to costs on a partial indemnity basis (around 60% of legal costs incurred). However,…

Condo corporations are unique statutory creations with certain rights, abilities, and obligations, including commencing lawsuits. Subsection 23(2) of the Condominium Act requires written notice be given to the all owners in the corporation’s record of owners before commencing an action. There are instances, whether through error, inadvertence, lack of time, miscommunication, etc., that the required notice to owners is not provided before the action is commenced. The established law, going back to a Court of…

The first board of directors of newly registered condo corporation, will often be faced with many tasks that follow once  the turnover of  the condominium corporation from the declarant to the unit owners takes place. One item that sometimes is missed, is the securing of as-built drawings. Section 43(5) of the Condominium Act, 1998 (the “Act”) requires the declarant to provide certain documents and warranties to the Board within 30 days of the turnover meeting. …

CAI Canada is holding a luncheon seminar Condo Insurance in 2020 and Beyond- How Can We Be Protected next Thursday January 29th, 2020 at Parkview Manor 55 Barber Green Road, Toronto click here for more information.  …

Amlani v. York Condominium Corporation No. 47, a recent case of the Superior Court of Justice, has created buzz within the Ontario condo community. The case revolves around the conduct of a condo corporation in addressing smoke migration, the Corporation’s ability to charge back its legal costs in dealing with the owner, and “grandfathering” or exempting residents when passing rules. We believe there are two key takeaways from the Amlani decision: Be reasonable! Absent an…