By David Lu
I hope everyone is staying well. We planked the first wave and we can do it again. We are all in this together.
COVID-19 has significantly impacted the court system; although in many ways for the better. When COVID first struck, the courts pretty much shut down (except for the most pressing criminal matters). Since then the courts (including civil proceedings) have opened up considerably. COVID has forced the court system to innovate, transitioning from a predominantly paper-based system to one that is now predominantly electronic. Before COVID, you pretty much had to send everything to the courthouse by paper. But now many of the same documents can be submitted electronically.
Court hearings have also changed dramatically. In-person hearings have resumed somewhat (with significant COVID precautions put in place). But we’ve also seen an exciting increase in virtual hearings. I have personally done a few of them (both through Zoom and through teleconference) and they’ve all gone extremely smoothly. I fully expect these types of virtual hearings to continue even after COVID-19 is over.
In the condo world, this means that the courts are still an available tool if needed. Of course, some matters may not need court action right away (in my view, going to court is very often the last resort). Furthermore, the court’s capacity has not (as far as I’m aware) completely returned to pre-covid levels. However, for some situations where Court is absolutely needed, such as serious violations of a condo’s governing documents, the court system is absolutely a viable option for recourse – even during the pandemic.
I should also add that some types of condo disputes aren’t resolved in the courts. The Condominium Authority Tribunal (which is completely online) now has added jurisdiction to decide certain condominium disputes. There are also other types of disputes must be resolved through mandatory mediation and (if necessary) arbitration. Having said this, there are still many condo disputes in Ontario that are decided by the courts.
Over the past several months, our firm has dealt with several compliance matters that required a court’s immediate intervention. This has included dealing with instances where individuals breached COVID regulations/restrictions at condominiums. In our experience, the courts are definitely willing to assist in such cases. There have been instances were the courts have granted us an urgent hearing for these types of issues, so that they can be dealt with as fast as possible.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that a court proceeding is the first step when dealing with non-compliant behaviour at condominiums. Trying to resolve a problem through communication is almost always the logical “first step”. Often times, engaging with the person directly (sometimes with the involvement of legal counsel) will stop the non-compliant behaviour. However, for those instances where engagement doesn’t work, recourse through the court system is still available during this pandemic. David Lu is an Associate at Davidson Houle Allen LLP