A BC homeowner began to get fined for violating strata bylaws because of her blinds, so she turned to the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal.
Rose Bevacqua told the tribunal that she received approval from the strata manager to replace the blinds in her strata unit with white or cream-coloured ones.
Shortly after, she was told that the blinds did not comply with strata bylaws, contrary to what she claimed she was told.
She paid $1,600 for the new blinds to replace the ones that were violating the bylaws.
Bevacqua bought her strata unit in early 2022.
According to the publicly posted decision, Bevacqua said that “through her realtor, she asked the strata manager if she could change the blinds, and the strata manager told her she could ‘change the style of blinds,’ if the new blinds were cream or white. So, Mrs. Bevacqua changed the blinds.”
Bevacqua was told on April 26, 2022, that her blinds violated bylaws.
The bylaw states, “An owner will not install any window coverings, visible from the exterior of his or her strata lot, which are different in size and colour from those of the original building specifications.”
Bevacqua was requested to change her blinds to ones similar to those of other units in the building.
In June 2022, Bevacqua had a formal hearing with the strata, but the strata’s position remained unchanged. On October 5, because the blinds hadn’t yet been changed, the strata informed Bevacqua that they would fine her every seven days until she complied. She then replaced the blinds and asked for reimbursement.
The strata denied her request for reimbursement, but the fines were removed.
Bevacqua said that she would never have changed the blinds unless she had received approval from the strata manager. She provided a voice-to-text transcription, claiming it was her conversation with the strata manager. The strata tried to dismiss the evidence but offered no statement from the strata manager denying it.
“The strata’s actions went beyond mere prejudice or trifling unfairness. Rather, they caused Mrs. Bevacqua to incur unnecessary expenses, which was significantly unfair,” the tribunal stated.
The BC strata was ordered to pay Bevacqua nearly $2,000, which included $1,600 for the reimbursement of the blinds and CRT fees.