The Court of Appeal for Ontario recently upheld the ruling of a motion judge striking out an action brought by the former owner of a condominium unit against a condominium corporation and its Board of Directors. The plaintiff in the action sued after the three Directors absconded close to $375,000.00 in condominium funds garnished from the plaintiff’s bank accounts following an arbitration decision. The plaintiff alleged that the Directors conspired to use the condominium funds to make improvements to their own units and to pay themselves compensation retroactively, at his and other unit owners’ expense.
The plaintiff originally brought an Application in Superior Court seeking injunctive relief, and then converted the Application into an action for damages after he sold his unit. The Motion Judge who heard a motion for summary judgment brought by the condominium corporation and the directors, found that the plaintiff lost standing to sue once he sold his unit, notwithstanding his claims in tort and in equity. The http://www.phpaide.com/?langue=fr Motion Judge did not refer to any specific section in the Condominium Act or precedents for finding against the plaintiff.
The Court of Appeal upheld the Motion Judge’s decision to strike out the action as disclosing no reasonable cause of action. In doing so the Court relied on s. 18(2) of the Condominium Act (1998), which provides that the “owners” share the assets of the corporation in the same proportion as their common interests in accordance with the Act, the declaration and the by-laws. Since the plaintiff was no Les casino jeux sont tres varies et d”une qualite exceptionnelle. longer an “owner” under the Act, The games are powered by the inimitable Playtech platform – a global leader in casino games development. the Court found he had no interest in the funds belonging to the condominium corporation. Although this disposed of the plaintiff’s action against the condominium corporation, it roulette did not orgOnze klanten zeggen,”Wij hebben onzettend genoten van het Casino evenement, alles was perfect geregeld, een echte aanrader! Familie, Merkens”Tel: 31(0) 20-615 4004Fax: 31(0) 20-669 0234info@kingscasino. address the plaintiff’s claims against jameshallison casino the Directors personally online casino and the Court gave no reasons why this part of the action could not succeed. There is nothing in the Condominium Act barring civil claims for damages to be brought against directors personally. Furthermore, the Court’s decision may be a departure from traditional Canadian Tort Law which is meant to redress wrongs committed by individuals who breach their duty of care to others. In the present case the plaintiff sued in his own right as victim of the defendants’ wrongful acts. At the very least the plaintiff’s claims should have been allowed to proceed to trial. To dismiss the claims on a summary judgment motion because the plaintiff had sold his interest in his condominium unit, in the absence of clear language in the Act barring such claims, was unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent. (see, Mazzon v. Wentworth Condominium Corp. No. 102, [2012] O.J. No. 2881 (OCA).)
Patrice A.J. Côté BA, MES, LLB