Vaughan shooting gives industry, board members pause in condo disputes

The killings came just one week after a seemingly similar episode of violence in Rome where a man opened fire at a condo board meeting, killing three people.

Thestar.com
Dec. 20, 2022
Christine Dobby

A long history of grievances harboured by a building resident against members of a Vaughan condo’s board of directors appears to have spurred Sunday’s mass shooting and Ontario lawyers say the attack will leave other condo boards and residents reeling.

Three of the victims were members of the building’s condo board and the suspected gunman, who was killed by police at the Bellaria Towers complex, was 73-year-old Francesco Villi, York Regional Police confirmed on Monday.

Court documents and social media posts reveal that Villi was a resident of the building who had a years-long dispute with members of the condo board. He beleived the members were trying to harm him, in part through electromagnetic waves from an improperly built electrical room below his unit. Earlier this year, a court dismissed that claim as “frivolous” or “vexatious.”

The shocking killings came just one week after a seemingly similar episode of violence in Rome where a man opened fire at a condo board meeting, killing three people.

Cheryll Wood has practised condo law for a decade and said disputes have always been common but they’ve become even more frequent in recent years, particularly as people were confined to their homes during the pandemic.

“After learning about this tragedy today, I do think it’s going to impact directors and the condominium communities. People might wonder, could this happen in their own community?” said Wood, who is an associate lawyer with Davidson Houle Allen LLP in Ottawa.

“It’s not isolated,” she added, noting that while the majority of condo owners and board members treat each other with respect, there are numerous examples of recent rulings from Ontario courts related to harassment and other heated disputes between boards and owners.

“You’re dealing with people’s money and their homes and workplaces. People can be very emotional when it comes to their homes,” Wood said. “With condominium corporations there’s that shared community aspect that you don’t have in individual homes.”

Jonathan Fine, a lawyer with Lash Condo Law in Toronto, has been working in the field for more than 40 years. He said he’s been at many “unruly” condo board meetings in the past and has been able to manage the conflict.

But he recently began reconsidering, pointing to what he sees as a heightened level of violence in society more generally.
Fine said he was asked to chair a board meeting in Toronto where he understands “there are a lot of people involved who don’t have filters on what they say or do” and told the board he would not attend without a police presence.

“I’m not going to put myself in that situation,” he said, adding that if he had been hesitant in the past, Sunday’s events changed that. “Nor would I recommend that any condominium lawyer who chairs the meeting or has sent letters to unit-holders … go there anymore.”

“Before, it just was big mouths or people letting off steam that I could handle,” Fine said. “I don’t think I was ever seriously concerned about my personal safety, but I am now.”