Condo owners lose legal fight with Vancouver strata corporation over renting their units

Straight.com
Aug. 6, 2016
By Charlie Smith

The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld a Vancouver strata corporation bylaw that severely limited the number of condo units that can be rented.

Hycroft Towers at 1445 Marpole Avenue has 158 strata lots, according to the ruling written by Justice Gregory James Fitch. The council's bylaw only permits one unit to be rented or leased in the building at any one time.

Appellants John Elden Mathews, Zachary Hanson Mathews, Erika Mathews, and Barbara Lyn Mathews own three units in Hycroft Towers and objected to how the corporation dealt with the issue of renting in the building.

Under the Strata Property Act, strata corporations have the power to limit the number of rentals, but they must also set out the procedure for how this rule is administered.

Fitch noted that the respondent's bylaws "provide for a waiting list as a means of determining how the strata council would decide applications for permission to rent".

The appellants argued in court that the bylaw must also provide "the criteria the strata council will apply in deciding whether to grant permission to rent".

Fitch's ruling acknowledged that "any bylaw setting out a procedure for administering a rent restriction cap that purports to screen prospective tenants or impose screening criteria on owners who wish to rent their strata lots would run afoul of s. 141(1) [of the law]."

However, the judge pointed out that a waiting list for rentals, which is in place at Hycroft Towers, would not violate the act because there is no screening procedure. That's because units are made available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Fitch's written decision dismissing the appeal was supported by two other B.C. Court of Appeal justices: Kathryn Neilson (who recently retired) and Harvey Groberman.