CAT Case 21 concluded on February 10, 2023 with Vice-Chair, Michael Clifton awarding nearly 60% of the $45,000 expense the condo community incurred in relation to dealing with the matter.
This case highlights the need for off-site condo owners to be engaged in managing issues related to tenants living in their unit.
It also offers greater insights into what the CAT will find "reasonable" in terms of legal costs for similar cases moving forward.
Recent CAT cases involving respondents intentionally causing disturbances and frequent harassment have only seen awards of about 20% of legal costs.
The CAT has also opined that the legal costs that a condominium community has to pay to enforce rule compliance through a CAT case should be considered "part of doing business" even - it would appear - when the respondent is at fault.
It will be interesting to see how the CAT applies this standard in cases moving forward.