Condominium lien discharged; enforcement legal costs cannot be added to common expenses without a court order.
The applicant unit owners sought to discharge a lien registered against their unit by the respondent condominium corporation.
The lien was for claimed arrears in common expenses, comprising legal fees incurred to enforce a prohibition on short-term rentals and a fire safety charge.
The Superior Court of Justice held that the lien must be discharged.
Following Amlani v. York Condominium Corporation No. 473, the Court ruled that under s. 134(5) of the Condominium Act, 1998, a condominium corporation cannot add compliance and enforcement legal costs to common expenses without a court order, notwithstanding any indemnification clauses in the declaration.
Additionally, the fire safety charge could not support the lien because the corporation provided misleading notice, explicitly advising the owners that this charge was not included in the registered lien.
The applicants' claim for an oppression remedy was dismissed.
