What is the effect of a single email to the Respondent Owner of a Strata Plan, demanding payment of the Special Levy, before handing the matter over to their lawyers and incurring legal costs?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from The Owners, Strata Plan NW 2089 v Ruby, 2019 BCSC 1485 (CanLII):
In my view, this entire proceeding could have been avoided had the petitioner sent a single email to the respondent, demanding payment of the special levy, as it had in the past, before handing the matter over to their lawyers and incurring legal costs. The respondent was not a “delinquent owner” in the context of [The Owners, Strata Plan KAS 2428 v. Baettig, 2017 BCCA 377]. Upon receipt of the first email demanding payment of the special levy the respondent promptly acknowledged his liability and agreed to pay. He did not agree to pay legal fees which he felt were needlessly incurred. Regretfully, he was not permitted to pay the special levy unless it was accompanied by full payment of the legal fees claimed. The escalating claim for legal fees became a club to cow the respondent into submission.
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