A BC homeowner felt his strata overcharged him for using the property’s EV charger, so he pursued legal action.
In the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal dispute, John Curtis asked the tribunal to order the strata to reduce his charging fee.
The strata’s defence was that the user fee it charged was permitted by its bylaws and was “reasonable.”
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In 2023, the strata passed a resolution to amend its bylaws, which led to the creation of a $35 charge when using the charger in a user’s designated EV parking stall. The tribunal noted that the stall in question was common property, not Curtis’ private property.
Curtis has paid the $35 monthly fee since February 1, 2024, and told the tribunal they felt it was unreasonable. He reasoned that it didn’t reflect the electrical usage for charging his EV.
He provided calculations stating that his charge fee would amount to around $14 per month. The strata didn’t dispute those calculations but said imposing user fees based on each individual’s consumption wasn’t feasible. They added that the fixed rate was the most appropriate method.
The publicly posted tribunal decision stated, “The difficulty for the strata is that it provided no evidence or explanation of how it arrived at the $35 per month fixed user fee.”
Before the amendment to charge a $35 monthly fee passed, the strata previously tried to impose a user fee of $60 per month, but it didn’t pass. It used that to suggest that the $35 was acceptable. The tribunal didn’t agree.
The tribunal member overseeing the case said, “I find the mere fact that the owners rejected a $60 fee but approved a $35 fee does not, on its own, mean that the $35 per month user fee is reasonable.”
Ultimately, the tribunal didn’t agree that the $35 fee was reasonable.
For a remedy, the BC strata was ordered to reimburse Curits for the eight months he paid $35 to use the EV charger, equalling $280. Including tribunal fees, the strata had to pay Curtis $510.17.
Have you dealt with a situation like this with your strata?