Miscellaneous Consumer Protection Legal Information (11:VIII): Difference between revisions

British Columbia's new ''Civil Resolution Tribunal Act'', SBC 2012, c 25 (''CRTA''), establishes a new dispute resolution body, the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT). The Tribunal provides a new online venue for the resolution of small claims matters. It encourages people to use a broad range of collaborative dispute resolution tools to resolve their disputes as early as possible, while still preserving adjudication as a last resort.

:'''NOTE:''' The CRT is relatively new and has been subject to ongoing amendments to its enacting legislation and associated regulations. Therefore, it is advisable to double check with the ''CRTA'' and its regulations to ensure that a potential claim can be brought under the CRT.

The CRT is able to resolve (and has initial exclusive jurisdiction of):

:Small claims disputes up to a maximum value of $5,000 (which is referred to as the “tribunal small claims” under s 118 of the CRTA, the amount of which is set under s 3 of the ''Tribunal Small Claims Regulation'', BC Reg 232/2018) for:

** Debt or damages;

** Recovery of personal property;

** Specific performance of an agreement relating to personal property or services; or

** Relief from opposing claims to personal property.

:Strata disputes between owners of strata properties and strata corporations for a wide variety of matters such as

** Non-payment of monthly strata fees or fines;

** Unfair actions by the strata corporation or by people owning more than half of the strata lots in a complex;

** Uneven, arbitrary or non-enforcement of strata bylaws (such as noise, pets, parking, rentals);

** Issues of financial responsibility for repairs and the choice of bids for services;

** Irregularities in the conduct of meetings, voting, minutes or other matters;

** Interpretation of the legislation (such as the ''Strata Property Act''), regulations or bylaws; and

** Issues regarding the common property.