In Matlock v. Ottawa-Carleton Standard, 2024 ONSC 6645
A condominium owner represented by Jason Rabin of Gibson Tanner Rabin LLP succeeded in a claim against his condominium corporation for unreasonable delay in repairing damage to his unit caused by a roof leak from the building’s mechanical room in December 2021. At the time the case was heard in 2024, almost 2 ½ years after the initial leak, the condominium unit was still not habitable and the condominium did not have a timetable for completion of the repairs.
In his June 4, 2024 decision, Justice Roger of the Superior Court of Justice, granted the application, concluding that there had been unreasonable delay in repairing the unit. Justice Roger, accepting the evidence of the applicant’s forensic engineer, concluded that the condominium should have repaired the damage by June 30, 2023 at the latest. Consequently, Justice Roger awarded the condominium owner applicant damages in the amount of $60,364.91 equal to approximately one year’s worth of his expenses in carrying the condominium unit that he could not enjoy, plus an additional sum of $5,498.36 per month for every month the condominium corporation failed to fix the unit.
On the subject of costs, Justice Roger accepted the condominium owner’s argument that under the Condominium Act, he was entitled to be reimbursed for the “full indemnity” legal costs he had incurred in bringing the application and not the “partial indemnity” costs normally awarded to successful litigants in Ontario. Although previous courts had awarded condominium corporations full indemnity costs under s. 134(3) of the Condominium Act, no court had previously awarded a condominium owner costs on this scale against a condominium corporation. Justice Roger accepted the applicant’s argument that s. 134(3) of the Condominium Act applied to condominium owners and awarded the applicant his full indemnity costs totaling $71,734.32.
