Condominium Smarts: Are age-restriction bylaws nonetheless enforceable?

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Pricey Tony:

Now we have a scenario in our strata company that has brought on a good quantity of confusion. A 55-plus resident has handed away, and the youthful partner, who’s 48 years outdated, stays within the unit. We handed our bylaw in 2021, and the youthful partner was residing with the 55-plus proprietor then.

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So now now we have house owners insisting the youthful partner is now not exempt, and he or she can’t remarry or prolong her household and have the exemption advantages.

The Rules lately adopted within the Act add to the confusion as a result of they handle occupants who’re exempt as a specified resident however don’t handle the difficulty of a change in household standing of an exempt individual as a result of they had been both a resident on the time the bylaw was handed or if their household standing adjustments.

May there be extra adjustments to those laws to make clear this? Thanks to your latest columns on the adjustments, however it’s sophisticated for volunteer strata councils.

— Eileen H., Qualicum

Pricey Eileen:

When Invoice 44 was handed in November of 2022, two adjustments affected age-restriction bylaws.

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The primary was apparent, bylaws had been restricted to 55 and over, and lodging needed to be made for caregivers and live-in help individuals.

The second extra delicate change was the removing of the part that excluded Age Restriction by-laws from different legal guidelines, such because the BC Human Rights Code. This was a major change, because it now opens the door to unfair utility or enforcement of an age-restriction bylaw that violates household standing, lodging or the intent to accommodate.

Whereas the Act made a provision that an individual who’s underneath the age restriction on the time a bylaw is handed is exempt from the bylaws, the regulation now classifies this individual as a specified resident as nicely. The exempt or specified residents could now have a change in household standing, together with spousal relationships and youngsters.

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There are conditions that aren’t contemplated which can be already inflicting points for strata companies. For instance, within the case the place a specified resident, comparable to a 55-plus or exempted resident when a bylaw is handed, has a partner or kids, and the desired resident passes away, or there’s a separation, and there’s no longer a specified resident related to the exemptions, what occurs to the spouses and youngsters?

Strata companies and their authorized advisors will likely be wanting carefully on the Human Rights Code and the structure of their bylaws to navigate by means of some awkward conditions.

Undoubtedly we are going to see selections from the Civil Decision Tribunal, however within the brief time period, train endurance, accommodate residents and search authorized recommendation in your 55-plus bylaws.

Tony Gioventu is government director of the Condominium Dwelling House owners Affiliation. E-mail [email protected].

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