Dispute Resolutions
Our Jurisdiction
The Condo Act specifies that Condominium Authority Tribunal can resolve issues relating to records, unreasonable nuisances, governing documents and compliance with Settlement Agreements.
The Tribunal can’t deal with issues that are likely to cause damage to the condo or cause injury or illness to a person. The CAT also cannot accept cases about agreements between owners and condo corporations to install electric vehicle charging stations or modify common elements.
Records
Condo unit owners can file a case with the Tribunal if:
- They submitted a Request for Records and the condo corporation did not respond
- Their corporation refused to provide a record to which they believe they are entitled
- They disagree with the fee the corporation is charging
- They believe that the corporation’s records are not adequate
- They believe that the corporation is not keeping certain records or is not keeping them for long enough
Unreasonable nuisance-related disputes
You can file a case if a unit owner, occupant or condo corporation is interfering with your reasonable enjoyment of your condo because of the following nuisances:
Common scenarios:
- Another owner or occupant is causing one of the above nuisances
- The condo corporation is not taking proper steps to stop one of the above nuisances
- The condo corporation is causing the nuisance
Governing document-related disputes
Condo owners and corporations can also file Tribunal cases if someone in the condo community is not complying with the corporation’s governing documents or if the governing documents are unreasonable, inconsistent or were not properly implemented on issues relating to:
What are common issues with governing documents?
- The by-laws or rules are not reasonable
- The governing document is inconsistent with any of the documents above it in the ascending hierarchy of Rules > By-laws > Declaration > the Condo Act
- The condo corporation didn’t follow the procedural requirements to make, amend, or repeal provisions of the governing documents.
Compliance with Settlement Agreement
A party who believes that another party is not complying with a previously agreed upon Settlement Agreement can file a new CAT case to ask the Tribunal to order them to comply. Parties can only file this type of case if another party failed to comply with the Settlement Agreement within the past six months.
What is a Settlement Agreement?
Unit owners, condo corporations and other parties may choose to resolve their disputes through a mutually agreed-upon Settlement Agreement. This means that any party may suggest and vote on terms making up an acceptable resolution to a case during Stage 1 – Negotiation or Stage 2 – Mediation of the Tribunal’s three step dispute resolution process. The agreement becomes binding as soon as all parties agree to it and the case closes.