Strata revokes resident's access to parking stall after 12 years of use

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An owner of a strata lot had a parking stall she used for over 12 years revoked by the strata corporation, leading her to sue the strata in a small claims case.

A BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision outlines the issue that Elise Yuen Ching Chan took with her strata management group.

Chan parked in stall 4 for 12 years between 2006 and 2018, and she asked the tribunal to order the strata to designate it as limited common property.

In response to Chan’s request, the strata says that she knew her lot had no parking stall when she purchased it, while Chan says she bought her property with the understanding that a parking stall was included.

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The tribunal sided with the strata on that point but did consider that she parked in the stall for 12 years without issue.

In August 2019, the strata sent Chan a letter advising her that she did not have a parking stall in the parkade but would be provided two outdoor visitor stalls instead. Later that year, the strata said it would only provide her with one visitor stall. Since then, Chan has been paying to rent another owner’s stall in the parkade.

Interestingly, the strata refutes that stall 4 even exists as a parking stall, but plans that were made available to the tribunal say otherwise.

“I do not accept the strata’s submissions that there was never a stall 4, or that the stall 4 area has always been a walkway to the storage area,” said the tribunal.

The key point for the tribunal was the fact that the strata had let Chan park in stall 4 for 12 years, meaning that her expectation to continue to park in it was reasonable.

In the end, the tribunal ordered the strata to permit Chan to exclusively use stall 4 until Chan sells her lot, as long as she leaves two metres of space between her vehicle and the storage door. The strata was also ordered to pay $225 for tribunal fees.