Nancy Houle

Following a successful application for a compliance order against the respondent unit owners for noise, harassment, and by-law breaches, the applicant condominium corporation sought full indemnity costs.

The court awarded the applicant its full costs of $17,645.67 pursuant to section 134(5) of the Condominium Act and the corporation's declaration, finding that innocent unit owners should not bear the expense of enforcing compliance.

The plaintiff condominium corporation brought an action against the defendant unit owners (the 'Majority') for unpaid condominium fees, special assessments, and a declaration of the validity of registered liens and notices of sale.

The defendants denied owing fees, claiming credits for water consumption and a right of setoff for promissory notes allegedly owed by the corporation.

The court rejected the defendants' claims for setoff and water credits, finding that the obligation to pay common expenses under section 84 of the Condominium Act is absolute and cannot be avoided due to claims against the corporation or other unit owners.

The court granted judgment for the plaintiff for the unpaid principal and compound interest, upheld the validity of the liens, but found some notices of sale invalid due to overstated arrears.