B.C. condo owners’ group ordered to repay owner for cockroach control bill

The Civil Resolution Tribunal has ruled that a British Columbia condominium owner should be repaid thousands of dollars she was charged to eradicate a cockroach infestation in her building.

The decision published last week says the homeowners’ group is obligated to address the problem under its duty to repair and maintain common property, and Alanna Hurren should not have been made to pay the $4,588.50 pest control bill.

The decision says the owners’ group said Hurran was charged because the pest control company, which attended the building several times between 2021 and 2022, identified her lot as the source of the infestation and claimed she did nothing about it.

It says expert evidence was required to support the claim that it began in Hurran’s condo, but none was submitted.

“The problem with this statement is that the qualifications of the technician are not included, as required by CRT Rule 8.3. The technician’s notes have not been provided. A summary of the technician’s notes completed by the office assistant, rather than by a qualified expert, is not sufficient, in this case, to prove the cause of damage to common property,” said Maria Montgomery, the tribunal member on the case.

It also says the group was unable to prove their claim that Hurren didn’t co-operate with pest management treatments.

“The only indication that Mrs. Hurren was not cooperative is an email from the pest management company stating that Mrs. Hurren was a few days delayed in returning their phone call,” said Montgomery.

“In my view, the strata has not established that Mrs. Hurren was so uncooperative with pest management treatments that they could be considered the cause of further infestation. I note an email from the pest management company on December 10, 2022, stated that Mrs. Hurren was cooperative.”

The Sept. 24 decision says the group should pay the woman back in full within 30 days along with post-judgment interest.