Following a prior ruling ordering the discharge of a condominium common expense lien under s. 85 of the Condominium Act, the court determined the appropriate costs award.
The court emphasized that costs are discretionary under s. 131(1) of the Courts of Justice Act and guided by the principles in Rule 57.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, including complexity, importance of the issues, and litigation efficiency.
The court found that the responding party’s former counsel had taken an unnecessarily complex and evasive approach to what should have been a straightforward statutory process, generating unnecessary expenses.
While the conduct did not warrant substantial indemnity costs, it justified a level of costs between partial and substantial indemnity.
The applicant was awarded $10,000 in legal fees plus HST and $1,098.75 in disbursements.
