A strata in Maple Ridge, B.C., has been ordered to reimburse an owner $400 for a fines it levied over hallway noise and a French fry found in an elevator.
BCFS Residential Rentals Ltd. (BCFS), which owns two lots in the strata, claimed the strata used CCTV recordings to enforce its bylaws and impose fines against a tenant contrary to the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and the Strata Property Act (SPA), tribunal vice chair J. Garth Cambrey said in his Oct. 25 decision.
BCFS sought an order that the strata reimburse it $400 in fines and stop using CCTV recordings to monitor residents and enforce its bylaws.
The strata, however, denied using CCTV recordings contrary to the PIPA or the SPA and said the bylaw fines it imposed against BCFS are valid. It also said the tribunal did not have jurisdiction to hear the dispute and that the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) was the proper venue.
Noise, French fry fines caught on tape?
Cambrey said the strata wrote to the owner in March and April 2022 with complaints about the tenant.
The first was about loud hallway noise in the early hours of Dec.17, 2021.
“According to the complaint form in evidence, the ‘council’ made the complaint,” Cambrey said.
That led to a $200 fine.
The second complaint was about “dropped food on the floor” in the parkade elevator lobby on March 17, 2022.
That led to another $200 fine with both amounts levied April 27, 2022.
Cambrey said a video recording showed that dropped food to be a single French fry.
“Again, the complaint form in evidence says the “council” made the complaint,” Cambrey said. “Other than the CCTV recordings, there is no supporting evidence, such as witness statements, confirming the . . . tenants alleged conduct.”
No supporting evidence
Cambrey said BCFS and its tenant disputed the French fry fine in April 2022.
He said BCFS requested further details because the letter’s reference to “dropped food” was unclear.
The strata then provided the two CCTV recordings in dispute.
“It was not until after BCFS paid the fines in June 2022 that it discovered the strata relied on the CCTV recordings,” Cambrey said. “I infer BCFS did not discover that the strata relied on the CCTV recordings until September 2022 as that is when BCFS filed its OIPC complaint.”
Cambrey said the OIPC found the strata used the CCTV to enforce its bylaws, an action contrary to and not authorized by the privacy law.
“I put considerable weight on its finding,” Cambrey said. “I also reviewed the recordings for both the noise and French fry complaints and find it would not have been possible for the strata to identify the . . . tenants without the recordings, since there is no other supporting evidence about who was responsible for the noise and French fry, other the council complaints.
“I find that it was significantly unfair for the strata to rely on the video recordings because that use contravened the PIPA,” Cambrey said.
The strata maintained it had followed its privacy law. Cambrey said that was not possible as the bylaw had not been filed with the Land Title Office until Feb. 26, 2024, well after the strata imposed the fines in April 2022.
Cambrey ordered the strata to pay BCFS $663.99 as reimbursement for the fines, $38.99 for pre-judgement interest and $225 for tribunal fees.
