Strata corporations granted wider powers to impose user fees on owners
Paul G. Mendes, Partner
Phone: 604-685-4894
Email: pgm@lmlaw.ca
The BC Government has amended s. 6.9 of the Strata Property Regulation to allow strata corporations to impose fixed rate and variable user fees for the use of common property and common assets. The amendment implicitly confirms that strata may impose user fees for the consumption of utilities.
Many commercial and mixed-use stratas have been imposing user fees for the consumption of utilities for some time. The common practice is to amend the strata’s bylaws to require a unit owner to pay a user fee for the consumption of the utility based on periodic meter readings. The new regulation endorses this practice and establishes non-exhaustive set factors that a strata may use to impose such user fees including:
(a) the user’s rate of consumption;
(b) the recovery of operating or maintenance costs by the strata corporation;
(c) the number of users;
(d) the duration of use.
Under the new regulation user fees may be for a “fixed amount” or “an amount to be determined on a reasonable basis,” which opens the door for variable consumption based user fees.
Unfortunately, the Government did not amend s. 116 of the Strata Property Act to permit a strata corporation to register a lien for unpaid user fees, meaning that a strata’s claim for unpaid user fees will remain unsecured by the lien and have no priority over other charges registered against the strata lot.
This amendment should be welcome news for stratas with unresolved disputes over utility consumption as well as stratas considering installing electric vehicle charging stations.
You may read the government’s announcement of this change here.
You may read the new regulation here.
WHAT WE DO: Lesperance Mendes advises strata corporations on bylaw amendments and bylaw enforcement matters, as well as strata fee collections and lien enforcement. If your strata wants to amend its bylaws to take advantage of this legislative change, contact Paul G Mendes, Partner, at 604-685-4894 or pgm@lmlaw.ca.
THIS ARTICLE IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE: This article provides general information and should not be relied on without independent legal advice.