Vancouver Island townhouse owner loses access to guest suite following sex worker dispute

A Vancouver Island townhouse owner has lost the right to use thebuilding's guest suite for a yearafter he allegedly permitteda sex worker use it for her business.

The owner, who is only identified as T.M. in court documents, wasone of the original developers of Station Villa, a 22-unit mixed use complex in Langford, B.C.,according tocourt documents.

Heowns four commercial strata lots and one residential unit in the building andwas the president of the strata council during the peak of thedispute.

• Brothel next door?: Condo owners incensed by alleged sex trade suite'

In court documents, two ownersin the complexsay T.M. allowed a sex worker to use the guest suite. They also say the sex worker broke into the storage lockers of strata owners, according to their complaint made to the province's civil resolution tribunal.

There was alsoevidence of smoking and "potential drug use," according to the complaint brought by owners Paul Masse and Tomas Remington.

Used influence

The online civil resolution tribunaltook over hearing strata disputes from the B.C. Supreme Court in 2016.

Owners in theLangfordcomplexdispute say when they tried to make changes to how the guest suite is used,T.M. used his influence and connections to block the changes.

Masse andRemington went to thetribunal, allegingthe strata and T.Musedthe guest suite in a way that contravened the bylaws.

For his part, T.M. said he wasn't aware of his guest's commercial activities and wasn't aware of any complaints.

In a ruling, tribunal memberMaureen Abrahamfound T.M. in violation of the bylaws and found some fault with the strata for not enforcing its bylaws.

"Strata ownership requires owners to live cooperatively and respectfully with their neighbours: this is done by complying with the rules and bylaws," Abraham wrote.

T.M. lostthe use of the guest suite for a year, was ordered to pay any outstanding rental fees, and pay part of the court fees, totalling $112.50.

Treated 'unfairly'

The dispute began when neighbours noticed that T.M. was exclusively using the guest suite throughout 2016 but hadn't paidthe applicable fees.

Owners can book the furnished guest suite for their guests for $20 per week for a maximum of 14 days.

According to court documents, T.M. claimed he was being treated unfairly and argued he should be entitled to use the guest suite for extended periods becausehe ownedmultiple units.

• Court orders condo owners to sell following complaints of abusive behaviour

Eventually, neighbours filed a police report. The property manager advised them to change the rules around accessing the guest suite.

Swaying the vote

But the complainantsalleged that some strata council membershad a personal or business relationship with T.M., and refused to takeaction against him.

In an email exchange between a condo owner and a strata council member, the condo ownerexpressed frustration about T.M.'s guests, whomshe referred to as the "undesirables", but said she wouldn't take any punitive measures against him.

On November 23, 2016, during the strata's annual general meeting, the neighbours tried to introduce changes to how the guest suite is used.

Some of those changes included increasing the guest suite fee,changingthe length of time that a guest can stay there and requiringthat an owner pay a deposit to secure their booking.

But, T.M., who chaired the meeting as council president, cast 11 of the 12 votes. And the motion to change the guest suite bylaw was defeated.

Roughlyseven months later, when several council membersresigned, new rules around the guest suite were implemented.

On April 4, 2018, the tribunal ruled in favour of the applicants.