A BC strata corporation may commence lawsuits. However, in order to do so validly, such a lawsuit must be approved by ¾ of the owners at an annual or general meeting. If the strata corporation is suing some of its owners, they are not eligible to vote in respect to such a lawsuit. There are two levels of trial court in British Columbia: Supreme (with unlimited monetary jurisdiction) and Provincial (with limited monetary jurisdiction). A strata corporation can pass a bylaw permitting it to sue in Provincial Court on the collection of fines without the ¾ vote of its owners.

A strata corporation does not need approval by its owners to defend lawsuits.

Do all the owners have to contribute to the funding of the lawsuit?

Yes, except any being sued in the lawsuit by the strata corporation: s. 171 of the Strata Property Act.

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Our strata corporation was sued by a contractor for non-payment for services which we found to have been negligent. We would like to counterclaim against the contractor for deficiencies. Do we need the ¾ approval for a counterclaim?

In our opinion, yes, because a counterclaim is in the nature of a notice of civil claim which is the commencement of a lawsuit.

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Our council commenced a lawsuit in Supreme Court without the ¾ vote of the owners. Does this invalidate the lawsuit?

It can but s. 173.1 of the Strata Property Act permits a strata corporation to retroactively fix an otherwise unauthorized lawsuit.

For more information, view the full response.