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A world-first online dispute-resolution forum for BC strata owners is revolutionary but will cause certain headaches

Oscar Miklos Haddock & Company
REW

In July 2016, the long-awaited Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) opened its doors to the first wave of strata disputes. The CRT’s goals are ambitious, to say the least. It is the world’s first online dispute resolution tribunal of its kind and it aims to increase access to justice for thousands of British Columbians. Given the problems plaguing our province’s justice system, this goal is commendable without a doubt.

Notably, this same platform, while starting with strata disputes, will soon expand its jurisdiction to take over a large chunk of disputes currently resolved by Small Claims Courts. This will have a significant impact on British Columbia’s justice system as there are already talks to increase the monetary jurisdiction of Small Claims Courts from the current $25,000.00 limit such that these courts would then take over some larger disputes currently heard by the Supreme Court.  

Improved Access to Justice

While my goal is not to provide an exhaustive assessment of every facet of the CRT, I have had enough experience in resolving strata disputes in the pre-CRT era to acknowledge the fundamental change that the CRT has brought about. In short, prior to the CRT’s existence, strata home owners had virtually no cost-effective or easily-accessible options to resolve their disputes with their strata corporations. As such, many of these disputes simply remained unresolved. So, as far as increasing access to justice is concerned, the CRT gets my resounding approval.

Limits of Self-Representation

Like any system, the CRT is imperfect and at least one design flaw was obvious from the very beginning to perhaps all but those who despise the role of the legal profession in helping resolve disputes. The Civil Resolution Tribunal Act and the CRT’s Rules provide a general mandatory self-representation rule for parties. In other words, unless one of a narrow list of exceptions applies (ex. a party is a minor or of impaired capacity), parties are generally required to represent themselves before the CRT.

This self-representation rule has the potential to cause headaches for both strata owners and strata council members. Despite having legitimate causes of action, home owners are often ill-equipped to determine the adequacy of evidence, to make legal arguments or to understand the nuances of the Strata Property Act. The same applies for strata council members who volunteer their time to participate in the governance of their strata corporation. I cannot imagine many of these council members would have run for council had they known they were going to be asked to represent their strata corporation before a dispute resolution tribunal.

In all fairness, I understand that involving lawyers can sometimes serve to complicate matters and actually delay the resolution of a dispute. However, it is important to keep in mind that this unfortunate outcome occurs in only a small minority of matters. More often than not, adjudicators of all stripes are thrilledwhen at least one lawyer is involved in the dispute resolution process as it tends to focus the process on legal issues instead of getting side-tracked by emotional aspects of housing disputes. By removing emotion, lawyers can often assist parties in settling a dispute earlier than otherwise possible.

I gather that the logic behind the self-representation rule was to ensure that parties actively involve themselves in the dispute-resolution process rather than letting their legal representatives do all the heavy lifting for them. Without going any further, this goal can be achieved by simply mandating that parties remain actively involved throughout the process regardless of whether they are represented. In fact, it appears this has already been accomplished with a procedural rule that states a party who is represented “must be present, or otherwise fully informed and providing direct input, during facilitation, unless the facilitator excuses the party from doing so.”

Potential for Frivolous or Unfounded Claims

Another important consideration is that access to justice should have its limits (yes, you read that right). A fundamental problem occurs when a self-represented party (or otherwise a party that does not have to undertake any real cost-benefit analysis before launching legal action) decides to bring a frivolous, vexatious or unfounded complaint against another party. The end result is a waste of the other party’s and the justice system’s resources- in terms of both time and money.

Addressing Concerns

In response to the first of these two issues, I suspect the founders of the CRT will point out that the CRT’s rules contain a broad provision allowing its tribunal members to grant requests for representation when it is “in the interest of justice and fairness”. While the CRT’s founders have indicated that this rule will be applied liberally, it remains to be seen what percentage of requests for representation will actually be approved. In any event, this roadblock may dissuade some home owners from applying to the CRT in the first place given the uncertainty as to whether their request for legal representation will be approved.

Finally, in response to the second issue, the first phase of the CRT dispute resolution process features the “Solutions Explorer” – a web-based self-help tool for home owners to assess the merits of their dispute before undertaking further action. This tool can clearly benefit those who would otherwise not be able to afford a consultation with a strata lawyer. However, given the ability to simply click “next” and to breeze through the process, it is unlikely this web application will act as a sufficient deterrent for a party with a frivolous or unfounded case and an axe to grind.

For additional information on the Civil Resolution Tribunal and other strata property matters, visit HousingGuide.ca and StrataLaw.ca, both free online references for home owners in British Columbia. Finally, always remember that this article provides general information, not legal advice specific to your situation. If you have a legal problem, speak with a strata lawyer.

© 2016 Real Estate Weekly

Fairborne Homes launches second phase of 96-home development in North Vancouver

Simon Briault
The Vancouver Sun

Kindred

Project location: 600 Block East 3rd Street, North Vancouver

Project size: 96 homes, 617 to 1,108 square feet; priced from the mid $400,000s

Developer: Fairborne Homes Limited

Architect: Ciccozzi Architecture

Interior designer: Erin Kenwood Designs

Sales centre: 133 West 1st Street

Hours: noon — 5 p.m., Sat — Thurs

Telephone: 604 -770-0791

Website: kindredmoodyville.ca

Occupancy: Spring 2019

Peter Lafuente has an eye for multi-family real estate, so when his parents began to think about downsizing from their West Vancouver home, he was on hand to help them find something that would give them the new lifestyle they wanted.

“My parents are long-time West Vancouver residents,” Lafuente said. “My mom grew up in Ambleside and I spent my whole childhood there. They’re coming to the age where downsizing is something that they’re thinking about.”

Speaking of his parents’ decision to purchase an apartment at Kindred — a multi-family residential development by Fairborne Homes — Lafuente added: “I’ve worked in rental property management and I was familiar with the quality of the buildings that Fairborne has put up in North Vancouver.”

These include Capstone, Time and First Street West, the last of which houses the sales centre for Kindred. The 96-home development will comprise two five-storey buildings of one- and two-bedroom homes in the Moodyville neighbourhood of North Vancouver, a few blocks east of Lonsdale Quay.

“Moodyville is traditionally a neighbourhood of small, single-family homes,” said Cristy Edmonds, director of sales and marketing at Fairborne Homes. “There hasn’t been much in the way of change in the area for the past 70 years and a lot of the houses were built originally for workers in the World War Two era. A couple of years back, the City of North Vancouver approved a new community plan for the neighbourhood and that has allowed developments like Kindred to happen. This is the first project to come to market in this new and emerging neighbourhood.”

Edmonds said the location, on a south-facing slope with views of the water across to downtown, is proving popular with buyers. Kindred is on a transit corridor, within walking distance of the SeaBus at Lonsdale Quay and also connected to the Spirit Trail. This provides a walking and bicycle route right outside the development that can take residents across much of the North Shore.

“People want to be in that area of North Vancouver and there’s limited opportunities for new development,” Edmonds added. “That’s really what has made Kindred so appealing for buyers. There’s been a good mix: first-timers, move-up buyers and downsizers.”

Fairborne Homes, which Edmonds describes as “a relatively small company doing big things,” has been building homes in the Lower Mainland since 1996. The homes at Kindred will be in a contemporary West Coast style and highly energy efficient – built to LEED gold equivalency. Buyers get a choice of two colour schemes in the units, which have nine-foot-high ceilings (11 in top-floor corner homes) and laminate oak flooring throughout entry, kitchen, living and dining rooms.

“We were looking for something that would be low maintenance for them, where they could just lock up and leave whenever they wanted,” Lafuente said. “We got a beautiful two-bedroom, two-bathroom corner unit that faces southwest. It’s just under a thousand square feet, it has very nice finishing, 11-foot ceilings and a really beautiful patio. It’s going to be great for us as a family when my sister and I can come over with our significant others and we can all sit together in a covered outside space.”

Kitchens at Kindred feature stainless steel appliance packages, including a Fisher & Paykel counter-depth fridge and a gas cooktop and wall oven by KitchenAid. There are quartz countertops with full-height tile backsplashes, two-tone cabinetry with soft-close doors and drawers and islands with bar counter seating.

Bathrooms have quartz countertops, porcelain tiles on the walls and floors, frameless glass shower doors and soaker tubs. There are water-efficient symphonic flush toilets with soft-close seats and chrome bath and shower fixtures.

“We build homes for real people – these are not just small units for investors,” Edmonds said. “There are some very livable larger suites and that’s why we’ve seen downsizers buying homes at Kindred. They’re a nice size with generous ensuite bathrooms and the type of luxury features and details that people may not even have had in their single-family home.”

Kindred will also include an entertainment and social lounge complete with comfortable seating, flat-screen TV and wet bar with walkout access to a south-facing patio and barbecue area. There’s a bocce court, natural play area and community garden plots. For peace of mind, there is video surveillance at all entry points, a secure entry phone system with floor-controlled access and gated underground parking.

“The building will be ready in the spring of 2019 so that should give them enough time to do their downsizing,” Lafuente said. “It’s a perfect place for them and it’s pet-friendly – they look after my little dog when I can’t, which is most of the time.”

Homes at Kindred start in the mid $400,000s and range in size from 617 to 1,108 square feet. Fairborne Homes is launching the second phase of sales now.

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

RBC considers housing moves for Toronto area

Armina Ligaya
The Vancouver Sun

The CEO of Canada’s largest bank says it is time to consider bringing measures that cooled Vancouver’s sizzling housing market to Toronto.

Dave McKay, the chief executive of Royal Bank of Canada, cited a “somewhat dangerous mix of catalysts” in Canada’s largest city, such as ultra-low rates, lack of supply of single family homes, speculation, and foreign money coming in at an increasing rate since Vancouver instituted measures to dampen its market, including a foreign buyers’ tax.

“You’re seeing 20 per cent house price growth in a market where you shouldn’t see that much,” McKay said in an interview. “That’s concerning. That’s not sustainable. Therefore, I do believe we are now at a point where we need to consider similar types of measures that we saw in Vancouver.”

The surging housing market in Toronto, along with geopolitical uncertainty in the U.S. and Europe, may be the only things that could give RBC’s chief executive pause these days.

The bank on Friday posted a record $3-billion net income for its latest quarter, beating expectations with an increase of 24 per cent from a year earlier and showing strong growth across most divisions.

RBC reported diluted earnings-per-share of $1.97, up $0.39 compared to a year earlier. After adjustments, EPS was $1.87 compared to analyst estimates of $1.76, according to those surveyed by Bloomberg.

The bank also increased its quarterly dividend by 5 per cent to $0.87 per share, better than analysts had forecast.

“Overall, this feels to us a like a bit of a workmanlike quarter from Canada’s biggest bank,” CIBC Capital Markets analyst Robert Sedran said in a note to clients. “Canadian Banking did well, and so did the U.S. businesses (including the capital markets side). This is not the kind of quarter that changes an investment thesis, in our view, but rather one that supports our positive one.”

Canadian personal and commercial banking, excluding a gain on the sale of the U.S. operations of payments processor Moneris, rose 8 per cent year on year to $1.3-billion. The capital markets segment saw net income of $662-million, up 16 per cent from a year earlier. Wealth management earnings rose 42 per cent from a year earlier, to $430-million.

This gain in wealth management was driven in part by earnings gains at City National, a Los Angeles bank popular with Hollywood celebrities which RBC acquired in 2015.

While concerns surrounding Canada’s housing market continue to bubble, RBC said Friday the underlying credit quality of its residential mortgage portfolio continued to be strong.

“Given accelerated house price appreciation in both of these markets, we continue to closely monitor this portfolio with extra due diligence for higher value mortgages,” said Mark Hughes, RBC’s chief risk officer, on a call with analysts.

“Overall, we remain comfortable with our residential mortgage portfolio, given our clients ability to repay, and the underlying credit quality of this portfolio.”

Oil prices are no longer top of McKay’s mind the way they were a year ago, but they remain below 2014 peaks.

“While oil provinces are stabilizing, we expect employment trends to lag the recovery in the oil and gas sector,” said Hughes. “However the impact of elevated unemployment rates in oil exposed regions continue to be offset by lower than average unemployment rates in the larger markets of Ontario and B.C.”

Still, credit was a non-issue this quarter, analysts said.

Provisions for credit losses (PCL) came in almost $100-million below expectations at $294 million, said Barclays analyst John Aiken. This was an 18 per cent drop from the previous quarter.

The bank’s closely watched capital measure, the CET1 ratio, rose 20 basis points to 11 per cent — a capital level which RBC says gives it “flexibility.”

RBC is continuing to invest to drive organic growth at City National and its U.S. Wealth Management business, McKay said, ahead of an anticipated economic bump south of the border from U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-growth policies, such as deregulation and corporate tax cuts.

However, the lack of clarity around the details of Trump’s policies — as well as in Europe in the wake of Brexit and elections several countries including Germany — leaves RBC in a holding pattern, he said.

“We are not holding back growing our business, nor are we getting too far ahead of this,” said McKay, referring to RBC’s U.S. growth strategy and City National. “We are in a wait-and-see mode and trying to understand the impacts before we do anything. Again, it’s uncertainty. Some business groups can’t move forward until they have a greater degree of clarification there.”

RBC also announced a shuffle in its upper ranks. After three years as the bank’s group head of personal and commercial banking, Jennifer Tory will take on the role of chief administrative officer as of May 1. Neil McLaughlin, executive vice-president of business financial services for personal and commercial banking, will replace Tory.

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

Trumping the luxury hotels in Vancouver

John Mackie
The Vancouver Sun

Vancouver’s new Trump International Hotel comes with the hype we’ve come to expect from The Donald.

“Trump International Hotel and Tower will be the icon in the city’s skyline,” says the hotel’s website, “bringing an unprecedented level of luxury lifestyle and service that will anchor Vancouver as an international gateway city.”

But will it?

Vancouver already has several elite hotels that cater to high-end clients. Will the Trump International Hotel really up the ante?

It definitely has some eye-catching features. The hotel comes with a chauffeured Rolls-Royce “with custom Trump details” that guests can book to take them shopping. The hotel also offers a private jet service, which is surely a big draw for the one-percenters.

And it’s in a beautiful building, a twisting tower designed by the late, great Arthur Erickson.

That said, the entrance on Georgia Street is somewhat underwhelming — it feels like you’ve stepped into a bar. But there’s a reason for that — the hotel entrance is actually in the back lane.

Honest. The Georgia Street entrance is for the Champagne Bar, “a truly sophisticated setting for toasting the good life.”

The hotel also comes with an “ultra lounge” run by Drai’s, which touts itself as “the best club in Las Vegas.” (Drai’s initially tried to do a giant Vegas-style nightclub at the hotel, but the city turned it down — the lounge is a scaled-down version.)

There are 147 rooms in the hotel, which occupies Floors 5 through 21 in the 69-storey tower. (The upper floors are condos.) The units range in size from 343 to 2,053 square feet.

You could book a smaller room this week for $353.50 per night, and a 1,517-sq.-ft., two bedroom for $913.50, but the hotel appears to be sold out from Feb. 28 to March 2.

If you wanted to book July 1, the height of tourist season, a smaller room is $500, and the “grand deluxe,” 2,053-sq.-ft., two bedroom is $2,900.

Are the rooms more luxurious than rooms in existing luxury hotels like the Shangri-La, the Rosewood Hotel Georgia or the Fairmont Pacific Rim?

Probably not — they’re all pretty skookum.

The Shangri-La is one of Asia’s premier luxury chains, and its Vancouver hotel offers 119 rooms over 15 floors of the 62-storey tower, which is the tallest building in B.C. (According to Wikipedia, the Shangri-La is 659 feet high. Trump Tower is 616 feet, which makes it second tallest in Vancouver, but third in the Lower Mainland.)

Rooms at the Shangri-La range from 400 to 1,395 sq. ft., and rent for $400 to $3,000 per night.

The Rosewood Hotel Georgia made it onto TripAdvisor’s list of the world’s top hotels in 2014, coming in at No. 16. The historic hotel dates to 1927 and has played host to a who’s who of the rich and famous, including musicians like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Katy Perry.

Rooms in the 155-room hotel range from 325 to 1,500 sq. ft. The swankiest is the Rosewood suite, a 1,500-sq.-ft. space with two bedrooms, a living room and a dining area for eight. Oh, and each of the ensuite bathrooms features a “walk-in rainforest shower.”

What’s really appealing about the Rosewood suite is that it comes with a private rooftop terrace that can “comfortably host receptions for up to 20 guests.” It also comes with a fireplace and a “plunge pool,” which is a luxury-hotel version of a Jacuzzi.

The cost on July 1? Seven-thousand-five-hundred dollars per night.

If you want to be close to the water, the Fairmont Pacific Rim has one of the city’s best locations, on the waterfront at the foot of Burrard Street.

The 45-storey tower is also a hotel on the bottom, condo on top, with 366 rooms over the lower 22 floors. Rooms range from 400 to 2,200 sq. ft. for the three-bedroom “Prime Minister’s Suite,” which offers panoramic waterfront views.

But it’ll cost you — the Prime Minister’s Suite rents for $10,000 to $20,000 per night, depending on the season.

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

Liberals believe more density the answer to housing crunch

Mike Smyth
The Province

The Metro Vancouver housing affordability crunch was one of the biggest B.C. news stories of 2016 and triggered Premier Christy Clark’s most dramatic policy moves of that year.

Clark initially resisted intervening in a red-hot housing market that saw an explosion in home prices, driving the cost of a detached home beyond the reach of non-millionaires.

But as home prices went up, Clark’s approval ratings went down. Faced with an election in spring, she suddenly revered and executed a bold intervention.

Last summer’s 15-per-cent tax on foreign home buyers cooled off the highest end of the market. Then Clark rolled out $700 million worth of interest-free loans for qualified first-time homebuyers (foreign buyers excluded, of course).

On the surface, these aggressive moves seem counteractive. One was meant to cool off buyer demand, while the other is meant to simulate it.

Either way, the Liberals seemed pleased with the way both programs were received by voters. But the housing issue is still a tricky one for the Liberals as Clark prepares to hit the campaign trail is search of another election win in May.

For one thing, the price of Metro Vancouver housing is still sky high, though some analysts predict a softening this year.

And then there’s the missing piece of the Liberals’ agenda: How to increase more housing supply.

Last week’s B.C. budget featured few new housing initiatives, though Finance Minister Mike de Jong repeated a now-familiar theme: the need to get more homes built more quickly and put up for sale.

“We can’t just focus on getting more people into the market,” de Jong said. “On its own, without adding to supply, that’s just going to drive prices higher.”

Premier Christy Clark waves as B.C. Finance Minister Michael de Jong waits to deliver the pre-election budget on Feb. 21.CHAD HIPOLITO / THE CANADIAN PRESS

How is the government going to get more housing on the market? By pressuring municipalities to speed up building approvals and allow increased density — like taller condo towers — along transit routes.

The government is unhappy with what it views as the slow place of municipal building approvals. One of the government’s prime culprits? The City of Vancouver.

“They’re really slow — they’re known for it,” Housing Minister Rich Coleman told me. “I was talking to a builder and he told me just the building permit takes nine to 12 months to get. Not just the zoning or the development permit, just the building permit.”

The government released a list of six Lower Mainland municipalities that have a combined backlog of more than 100,000 proposed housing units (see breakdown below).

Some of the homes on the list are waiting for municipal zoning approval. Others are waiting for building permits. Still others are in the “concept planning” stage.

The City of Vancouver doesn’t like being singled out.

“The fact that they’re including ‘concept planning’ in their data tells you all you need to know,” Kevin Quinlan, chief of staff to Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, said in an email.

“That’s when a developer has initial conversations/proposal to the city. There’s nothing to approve at that point. It’s like saying there are 25,000 new babies waiting to be born and you include people who are thinking about buying a crib.”

Quinlan said the city is actually processing record volumes of new building approvals, pointing to nearly 26,000 new housing starts in December alone.

But de Jong said the government is developing a plan to get municipalities moving faster.

“We want to engage with communities to say how do we do this better, faster, more efficiently together,” he said, adding that the government might be willing to provide additional resources to municipalities to speed up building approvals.

Meanwhile, the government also wants to see more high-density building near transit stations, especially along Vancouver’s proposed Broadway SkyTrain extension toward the University of B.C.

Coleman said transit-linked densification will hinge on talks among the government, municipalities, TransLink and real-estate developers.

“It makes sense to put density around SkyTrain,” Coleman said. “You don’t build a $2-billion transit line and not have the population to support it.”

The government is considering a “transit-supporting levy” on developers to help pay for the expanded transit services. It would work this way: In return for a municipality allowing taller apartment towers near a transit hub, the developer would contribute cash to the transit expansion.

“Let’s say you’ve got density of 100 units on a piece of property,” Coleman said. “If they up-zone for another 50 units, would the developer consider investing in transit in that area? It just makes sense.”

But this has both developers and municipalities feeling nervous.

The idea “sounds like a complex new way for Victoria to impose the entire cost of transportation investment on municipalities,” Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs wrote in a blog post.

Meggs points out that municipalities already collect “community amenity contributions” from developers to pay for parks, community centres and child-care centres near new housing developments. He worries the provincial government is cutting in on municipal turf.

Developers, meanwhile, are concerned about new costs that could inflate housing prices.

“In principle, it makes sense that new development should contribute to the cost of new transportation needs — but costs always get passed along,” said Anne McMullin, president of the Urban Development Institute.

“It makes housing more costly.”

She warned that if the new costs are too onerous, developers would build elsewhere, defeating the purpose of the transit levy.

With municipalities and developers both wary, Christy Clark might avoid taking any more bold housing action — until after the election, if she wins.

Homes awaiting construction

This government breakdown counts homes in six municipalities that are either in the planning or policy stage; waiting for municipal zoning approval; or have been issued building permits pending future construction:

Richmond: 16,500
Surrey: 20,000
Burnaby: 30,000
Coquitlam: 5,500
New Westminster: 10,500
Vancouver: 25,500

Total: 108,000

Source: B.C. Ministry of Finance

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.