B.C. man loses fight with strata over parking stall he had for years
A local resident lost a parking stall he had for years, so he initiated a legal fight against his strata at the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal.
Dedicated parking stalls in residential buildings can sometimes be problematic, especially if the one you’re using isn’t necessarily assigned to you.
That was the case for RA, who was renting out a strata unit he owned to two tenants (KC and TC). Both tenants had parking stalls, but one had to forfeit theirs.
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According to the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal’s decision, RA hoped for an order for the strata to return the parking stall and reimburse them for a bylaw fine relating to a metal storage box that was occupying it.
The strata’s reasoning for forcing the tenants to give up one of the stalls was that the forfeited stall was common property. Although the bylaw for this strata says parking stalls are common property, every strata lot is assigned one. Again, in this case, the tenants had two.
“Bylaw 37.1(f) says that leased strata lots are not eligible for more than the allocated parking stall and that owners who are leasing their strata lot and have a rented parking stall must give up their rented parking stall.”
The parking stall in question, number 67, was used by the tenant (who had been living in the unit since 2019) for three years, until the bylaw amendment came into play.
“On May 9, 2023, the strata decided at a council meeting to return parking stall 67 to the strata rental pool in accordance with the bylaws,” the tribunal decision says.
The tenants’ parking privileges ended on May 31, 2023.
Unfortunately for the impacted tenant, the tribunal determined that the strata was well within its rights to take back the stall.
“Rather, I find the strata is exercising its authority over common property,” the tribunal said.
It added that it didn’t believe the strata’s decision was significantly unfair to the tenant. The tribunal also dismissed the claim that this was a human rights issue.
While the strata owner couldn’t win back the parking stall, he convinced the tribunal to reverse any bylaw fines levied against the unit.
The tribunal dismissed all additional claims.
This isn’t the first time a fight over parking has gone to the tribunal. Last year, we covered a case involving someone who lost a stall they had access to for decades, not just a few years.