Morley Hanson

Choosing not to fine a bylaw complaint is not, on its own, significantly unfair, because the Act gives Council real discretion in how it enforces the bylaws. What the case law consistently punishes is not the choice itself, but a Strata that had enough information to make that choice and did not make it, whether through an unexplained refusal to reach a conclusion, an unwillingness to act on evidence it obtained itself, or no investigation at all.

A Strata's power to recover legal costs on a lien is broader than a court's ordinary costs award. It begins only when a Certificate of Lien is registered, it includes only costs that were reasonably necessary to register or enforce that lien, and it ends when the arrears are paid.

A fair process and a technically compliant formula do not, on their own, authorize charging an Owner for something they do not benefit from, reversing a cost arrangement Owners have relied on for years, or holding onto money the Strata was never entitled to in the first place.