Bylaw Enforcement: Working a Violation Case

Pastrata walks council through a bylaw complaint one step at a time, following your building's jurisdiction's procedure. For BC buildings that is Section 135 of the British Columbia Strata Property Act (SPA); buildings elsewhere never see BC law, caps or tribunal. Each case says what to do next and when it's due, explains why, and shows the exact wording of the law. Following the procedure makes a fine more likely to hold up if the owner or tenant challenges it at the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT), but no tool can promise an outcome: the tribunal decides each case on its facts. Pastrata gives procedural guidance, not legal advice.

Required Roles & Capabilities

Enforcing bylaws and reviewing complaints is role-governed and capability-gated:

Residents & Owners: Verified residents and unit owners can report observed contraventions (if resident reporting is enabled) and view notices, evidence, and hearing dates for allegations issued against their unit.

Quickstart: Reading a Case

Open a case from Violations (/[building]/management/violations/[id]):

1. The top of the case names who the complaint is about, says in one sentence where it stands (for example, "Waiting for Unit 407 to answer: 9 days left."), and shows the one button that moves it forward. Other actions your role allows sit beside it as smaller buttons.
2. The timeline runs complaint received → written notice → their answer → hearing → council decision. Finished steps show their date, the current step its deadline, and later steps what unlocks them. When a hearing has been requested, the hearing step shows the date it must be held by (BC: within 4 weeks of the request, SPA s. 34.1(2)) and says Overdue once it passes; after the hearing, the decision step shows when the written decision is due (BC: within a week, s. 34.1(3)).
3. Why? on any step gives the reason in plain language, then the provision it comes from, word for word, with a link to the official text. If Pastrata doesn't have your jurisdiction's rules yet, you get the plain-language reason and a note to check your own legislation.
4. Tabs below hold the records: Evidence, Messages (the respondent's answers), Hearing (council only) and Binder.

A case can also be opened straight from a resident's complaint in the inbox: see How to Open a Case from a Complaint in the Inbox.

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Step-by-Step Guides

1. How to Report a Contravention & Complete Intake

Log alleged infractions with verifiable particulars to establish a factual record:

1. Navigate to Violations (/[building]/management/violations) and click Report Violation (/[building]/management/violations/new). The violation list surfaces key context on each row, including the accused party, cited bylaw, and current statutory due-process stage.
2. Select the infraction location (e.g. Unit 304 Balcony or P1 Visitor Parking).
3. Enter detailed descriptive particulars of the alleged conduct.
4. Select the initial severity level (MINOR, MODERATE, MAJOR, or CRITICAL).
5. (Optional) Choose the Unit the complaint is about and enter the specific bylaw or rule reference (e.g. Bylaw 3.1 - Noise & Nuisance). Once a unit is chosen, Pastrata shows its history for the last 12 months (earlier complaints, reminders or notices, and decisions) and recommends a path: a friendly reminder for a first complaint, or the formal complaint process when there have been repeat complaints, an earlier reminder or decision, or the complaint is major or critical. The recommendation is guidance; council decides.
6. If a case about the same unit and bylaw is already open, Pastrata offers it. Click Add to the open case to add this report to it instead of opening another. The reporter gets their own request, and it receives the case's updates.
7. Upload supporting photographs, audio logs, or witness statements.
8. Click Submit Violation. The case opens on Written notice, with "Next: give … the complaint in writing." at the top.

1a. How to Decide What to Do with a New Complaint (the Next Steps Card)

When a resident's complaint arrives as an inbox request, the Next steps card at the top of the request (/[building]/inbox/[requestId]) answers the first questions for you. You need the Create and manage violations capability (VIOLATION_MANAGE). The AI reading is available for BC buildings.

1. Read what it is. The card says whether the complaint looks like a contravention of a registered bylaw (for example, Looks like a contravention of Bylaw 3.2 Nuisance), quoting the bylaw word for word with a link to your bylaws. Or it says that no registered bylaw clearly covers it, that your bylaws aren't on file yet (with an Upload bylaws link if you can upload documents), or that it belongs with someone else: the police, the city's bylaw office, the Residential Tenancy Branch, or the unit's landlord. A repair request or a question gets no card.
2. Check the facts. Who reported it and when, when it happened, the unit it names and who lives there, how many attachments came with it, and the unit's complaint history for the last 12 months. If a case about the same unit and bylaw is already open, the card links to it.
3. Pick an option. The card lists four, each with what it means, and marks the one it recommends and why:
   • Friendly reminder: no formal steps, and no fine possible. A good first move for a first-time issue.
   • Formal complaint process: required before any fine, charge for fixing the problem, or ban from a facility.
   • Not a strata matter: point the complainant to the right place, with a drafted reply.
   • Dismiss: record your reasons and tell the complainant.
4. See what the law requires. Before council can fine, the card lists the steps: a complaint received, the particulars in writing to the owner or tenant, notice to their landlord and the owner if they're a tenant, a reasonable chance to answer, and a hearing if they ask. Click Why? on any step for a plain-language reason and what goes wrong if it's skipped, then the exact wording of the law with a link to the official text. A strip shows the dates the formal process would set if you sent the notice today: when their chance to answer would end, that a requested hearing must be held within 4 weeks, and that the written decision is due within a week after it.
5. Act. The button under the options does the one thing your chosen option needs, with a draft ready to review:
   • Review and send the reminder (INBOX_OUTBOUND): sends a friendly reminder to a member of the unit as a message from management. No case is opened, and the reminder counts towards the unit's history, so the next complaint recommends the formal process.
   • Open the case and send the notice: opens the case from the request (see 1b).
   • Review and send the reply or Review and dismiss (INBOX_MANAGE): posts your reply on the complainant's request, keeps council's reasons as an internal note, and closes the request.

The drafts are written by AI in each reader's language. They never name the complainant, never cite legislation and never promise an outcome; read them through and change anything before you send. The card is procedural guidance, not legal advice.

1b. How to Open a Case from a Complaint in the Inbox

When a resident's complaint arrives as an inbox request, open the case from the request instead of re-typing it:

1. Open the request in the Inbox (/[building]/inbox/[requestId]) and choose Open the case and send the notice on the Next steps card, or click Handle as a bylaw complaint. You need the Create and manage violations capability (VIOLATION_MANAGE), and violations must be turned on for the building.
2. Pastrata first checks the complaint against your registered bylaws and shows the verdict at the top: the bylaw it matches (for example, Matches Bylaw 3.2 Nuisance), or that no registered bylaw clearly covers it. This is procedural guidance, not legal advice.
3. Below the verdict, the case is filled in from the request: the resident's messages as the particulars, the unit the complaint names and, when that unit has one member, that member as the respondent. Check the severity and location and change anything that's wrong.
4. Click Open enforcement case. The case opens on the same request: the resident who sent it is recorded as the reporter, and the photos and files they attached are kept as evidence, each with a SHA-256 fingerprint.

The request then shows an Enforcement case panel with the case's stage and next deadline, and the case's Messages tab links back to the request.

What the resident who complained sees. They get short updates on their request when the case opens, when the other party is given notice, while council reviews it, when council decides, and when it closes. They never see the other party's response, any hearing details, or the penalty. Those stay on the case and the request's internal tab.

2. How to Check the Bylaw (Optional AI Check)

Before you send a notice, check that what was reported breaks a bylaw your building has registered:

1. On the case's Written notice step, click Check the bylaw first (VIOLATION_MANAGE). The check is available for BC buildings; elsewhere it isn't offered, because it is written for BC's law.
2. Pastrata's AI compares the complaint with your registered bylaws and shows:
   • Risk, in plain words: No problems found, Low risk, Some risk, High risk or Serious problem, with a one-line reason.
   • Best-matching bylaw, with how closely it matches and how sure the AI is. If no bylaw covers the conduct, or none are on file, it says so.
   • Fine limit: $200 per bylaw contravention, $50 per rule, or $1,000 for a short-term rental bylaw (Strata Property Regulation 7.1), or your bylaw's own lower limit.
3. Read What the AI found and Watch out. If another bylaw fits better, click Use this bylaw.

Treat the result as a second opinion, not legal advice. A high-risk result is a reason to consider a warning instead of a fine, or to ask your property manager or lawyer.

3. How to Send the Written Notice (SPA s. 135(1)(e))

Under BC SPA s. 135(1), a strata corporation must not fine an owner or tenant, require them to pay the costs of remedying a contravention, or deny them the use of a recreational facility unless it has received a complaint (s. 135(1)(d)) and given the person the particulars of the complaint in writing and a reasonable opportunity to answer it, including a hearing if requested (s. 135(1)(e)). If the person is a tenant, the strata corporation must also have given notice of the complaint to the tenant's landlord and to the owner (s. 135(1)(f)), before any fine:

1. Click Send the notice (VIOLATION_MANAGE).

2. Set Days to answer (at least 14). The Act requires only a reasonable opportunity to answer and sets no number of days; Pastrata requires at least 14 because that period is commonly accepted at the CRT.

3. Read How it is sent. There is no choice to make. Pastrata emails the notice only to a person who gave an email address for receiving notices (s. 61(1)(b)(vii)) and gave no address outside the strata plan (s. 61(1)(a)). An address in another building of the same strata plan isn't outside it. Their sign-in email is never used, because it isn't an address given for notices. Everyone else is served by council, and Pastrata doesn't mail it for you: a letter printed and posted outside Canada isn't "mail" for the Act.

4. Click Preview letter to read the notice and its key dates:

   • Sent: the day it goes out.
   • Counts as delivered: 4 days later for an email (BC SPA s. 61(3)). Counting starts the day after it is sent, and if that day is a holiday, it's the next day that isn't (Interpretation Act ss. 25.2(2)(a) and 25(3)).
   • Answer due: the end of the day your chosen number of days after it counts as delivered, or the next day that isn't a holiday.

   Every date on the letter is the calendar date in your building's local time zone, so a notice issued late in the evening is dated that day, not the next. The key dates beside the letter, and every date on the case screen, use the same time zone, so they match the letter even when your computer or phone is set to another one. The letter states the Date Complaint Received, the day the violation was logged, rather than asserting a separate incident date. Describe when the conduct happened in the violation's particulars.

5. Check Who will be served. Pastrata lists everyone the notice will go to, why, and whether Pastrata emails it or You serve them (with the reason, such as an address they gave outside the strata plan):

   • Respondent: the owner or tenant the complaint is about.
   • Owner and Landlord: added automatically when the respondent isn't an owner of the unit, as s. 135(1)(f) requires. Owners come from the unit's owner members; the landlord is the landlord on the unit's current tenancy or lease, even if they don't live in the building.
   • Unit member: when no individual respondent is named, every member of the unit is served.

6. If the respondent is a tenant and no owner or landlord of the unit is on Pastrata, you can't issue the notice yet. Give the owner or landlord notice of the complaint another way (for example, mail them the letter from Preview letter), then record it under Owner or landlord served outside Pastrata: their name, whether they're the owner or landlord, how it was delivered (by hand, left with an adult occupant, under the door, mail, mail slot or mailbox, fax or email, as in SPA s. 61(1)), where it went, and the date.

7. Click Send the notice. If Pastrata emailed everyone, the case moves to Their answer, and View proof of service appears on the notice step. The proof of service lists each recipient with the role they were served in, how they were served and when it counts as delivered, and lists landlord and owner service under s. 135(1)(f) separately.

8. If anyone is served by council, the case says how many still need serving and its action is Record service. Serve each of them yourself: hand it to them, or mail it, leave it with an adult occupant, put it under the door or in their mailbox where s. 61(1) allows, using the letter from Preview letter. Then open Record service (or View proof of service), click Record service beside the person, and enter how it was delivered, where it went, and the date. An email that bounced shows as not served too.

   • Their notice counts as delivered on the day it was handed over, or 4 days after it was mailed or left (s. 61(3)), moved off a holiday.
   • The answer period runs from the latest day it counts as delivered to anyone, for the days you chose. Recording late service moves the deadline later.
   • No fine can be imposed until everyone is served. The decision notice works the same way: record service for anyone Pastrata couldn't email from proof of service.

4. While They Answer

Council can't fine while the respondent still has time to answer:

1. The top of the case counts the days left, and the Their answer step shows the deadline.
2. There's no fine button yet: the Council decision step says when it unlocks. The fine is part of Record the decision once council can decide.
3. Their written answer appears on the Messages tab (INBOX_MANAGE), with a link to the full conversation.
4. The case moves to Council can now decide when the deadline passes with no hearing request, when a hearing is recorded, or when the respondent waives a hearing.

5. How to Hold and Record a Hearing (SPA s. 135(1)(e))

If the owner or tenant asks to be heard, council hears them in person at a council meeting before deciding (Strata Property Regulation 7.2):

1. When a hearing is requested, the case asks you to hold it and shows the date it must be held by. In BC, council must hold the hearing within 4 weeks of the request and give its written decision within a week after it (SPA s. 34.1). After the meeting, click Record the hearing (VIOLATION_MANAGE). If they asked to be heard outside Pastrata (by letter, say), record the hearing from the Hearing tab.
2. Enter the Hearing date and Who was there.
3. Tick whether they attended (in person or by video).
4. Under What they said, record their explanation, any documents they gave, and any witnesses.
5. Under Council's private discussion, record your reasons and how you weighed what you heard.

   Council only: the private discussion is visible only to council and property managers on the Hearing tab. It is never shown to the respondent or in public meeting minutes.

6. Click Save the hearing record.

6. How to Record the Decision

Once the case says council can decide, click Record the decision and choose:

• Fine (VIOLATION_FINE): charge a fine and send the written decision.
• Resolve without a fine: they complied, or council gave a warning.
• Dismiss: the complaint didn't hold up.

A fine is refused while any required step is unmet: the particulars in writing, notice to a tenant's landlord and owner, the chance to answer, a requested hearing, and a decision that nobody complained about, or with a conflict of interest, took part in (SPA ss. 135, 136, 32). Pastrata says which step is missing. Unlike other regulatory guidance, these can't be overridden with a recorded reason.

Fining depends on your building's jurisdiction. If Pastrata doesn't have the fining rules for it yet, or the jurisdiction doesn't let a strata corporation fine, the case page says so as soon as you open it and there's no fine choice. You can still send notices, record hearings and resolve the case. For BC buildings, the rules are built in: the Regulation 7.1 limits below, a hearing only if the respondent asks for one, and disputes to the Civil Resolution Tribunal.

Ontario buildings

An Ontario condominium corporation can't fine, so there's no fine choice on an Ontario case. Enforcement means requiring compliance, then asking a tribunal or court to order it:

1. Tell them in writing. The notice is a Notice of By-law Contravention under the Condominium Act, 1998. It says what they must comply with, and that the corporation can't fine. If the respondent is a tenant, the owner gets notice too, because an owner must take reasonable steps to make sure their occupier complies (s. 119(2)).
2. Give them time. The Act sets no period. Pastrata recommends 14 days, counted from 4 days after the notice is sent.
3. If it continues, apply for an order. The Condominium Authority Tribunal (CAT) hears disputes about provisions on pets, vehicles, parking and storage, and nuisance, annoyance or disruption, among others. Other disputes go to mediation and arbitration, then the Superior Court of Justice. Costs an order requires the owner to pay can be added to the common expenses for their unit.

The case's Why? quotes the Condominium Act, 1998 and O. Reg. 179/17. The Act gives no right to a hearing before the board, so an Ontario case shows a hearing only if the respondent asks to meet the board. Pastrata gives procedural guidance, not legal advice.

To fine:

1. Enter the amount. The form shows the limit and won't accept more:
   • Bylaws: $200 (BC Strata Property Regulation 7.1).
   • Rules: $50 (BC Strata Property Regulation 7.1).
   • Short-term rental bylaws: $1,000 (BC Strata Property Regulation 7.1).
2. Set the due date.
3. Enter the Council motion (e.g. Moved by Jane Doe (President), seconded by John Smith (Treasurer)).
4. Add any notes.
5. Click Impose Fine. Pastrata:
   • Adds the fine to the unit's account.
   • Sends the written decision to everyone who got the notice (SPA s. 135(2)).
   • Marks Council decision done on the timeline, with the amount.
6. Click Close the case once it's settled.

7. How to Download the Case Binder

If an owner or tenant disputes a fine at the Civil Resolution Tribunal, you'll need the whole record in one place:

1. Open the Binder tab and click Download the case binder (VIOLATION_MANAGE).
2. Pastrata builds one PDF containing:
   • Cover Page & Section 135 Procedural Checklist: Verified timestamps for intake, notice issuance, deemed delivery, response period, hearing, and decision, plus a separate line for notice to the landlord and owner when the respondent is a tenant (s. 135(1)(f)).
   • Table of Contents: Hyperlinked section bookmarks with running page numbers.
   • Intake Particulars & Registered Bylaw Text: Full registered bylaw text cited with land title registry confirmation.
   • Evidentiary Exhibits: High-resolution photos, time logs, and documents stamped with cryptographic SHA-256 hashes.
   • Statutory Notice & Proof of Service: Formal notice letter, the delivery record for each recipient and the role they were served in, and any landlord or owner served outside Pastrata.
   • Hearing Record: Attendee roster, resident representations, and council resolution.
   • Decision Notice & Unit Ledger Excerpt: Proof of penalty notification and accounting ledger verification.
3. The browser downloads the tamper-verified PDF ([building]-violation-[id]-case-binder.pdf).

For a BC building the binder is laid out as a Civil Resolution Tribunal submission, citing the Act beside each checklist line and section. In a building whose jurisdiction Pastrata has no guide for, it is a plain case record with the same sections: it names no statute or tribunal, and the checklist asks council to check the procedure against its own legislation.

The Binder tab also has View proof of service and the case's escalation history.

8. How to Resolve a Violation (Context-Aware Resolutions & Offline Outcomes)

Click Resolve (VIOLATION_MANAGE), or Close the case after a decision.

Pastrata automatically evaluates the case history and in-app escalation stages to present contextually relevant resolution types:

• Complied: Universally suggested when the resident has remedied the issue or complied with bylaws.
• Hearing Resolved: Suggested when an in-app hearing was requested, scheduled, or conducted.
• Fine Imposed: Suggested when an in-app fine charge was levied.
• Legal Referred: Suggested when the violation was formally escalated to legal referral.

Resolving Offline or External Outcomes (Escape Hatch)

If council handled a dispute step outside Pastrata's digital workflows (such as a verbal hearing during a routine council meeting, an offline check payment, or external counsel engagement):

1. In the Resolve dialog, click Show all resolution types.
2. The dropdown expands to display Suggested Resolutions and Other Resolutions (Offline).
3. Selecting an out-of-context resolution displays an informational advisory callout confirming that no unlinked ledger charge or hearing record will be generated.
4. Enter detailed notes explaining the external circumstances and dates so the record shows what happened and when.
5. Click Resolve to close the case.

9. How to Use the Next Steps Card and Merge Duplicate Cases

Every case shows a Next steps card to council and managers (VIOLATION_MANAGE):

1. History for this unit: earlier complaints, reminders or notices, and decisions in the last 12 months, with the recommended path and why.
2. Open case about the same unit and bylaw: if this case hasn't started the formal process (no notice of complaint, hearing, fine or further occurrence yet), click Merge into open case. Its report and evidence move to the open case, its reporter is told their report joined it, and the duplicate case is removed.

The person complained about never sees how many reports a case has.

10. How to Fine a Continuing Contravention (SPA s. 135(3))

Once council has completed the complaint process and given its written decision, it can fine a continuing contravention of the same bylaw without serving a new notice of complaint:

1. On the case, under Next steps > Continuing contravention, click Log a new occurrence, enter when it happened (after the decision) and what happened, and save.
2. Check Each further fine relies on: the notice of complaint, the end of the chance to answer, any hearing, and the written decision. This is the completed process that covers the new fine.
3. Click Fine this occurrence (VIOLATION_FINE). Enter the amount, the due date, and how often your bylaws allow a fine for a continuing contravention, then confirm that your bylaws set that frequency.
4. Click Impose further fine. Pastrata refuses the fine if it comes sooner than the regulation allows (every 7 days in BC; daily for a short-term rental bylaw) or sooner than your bylaws allow, or if it's over the statutory or bylaw cap. The respondent is notified; no new notice of complaint is sent.
5. The CRT evidence binder adds a section listing each continuing-contravention fine next to the original compliance it relies on.

A case closed with an outcome other than a fine can't take further occurrences. A new contravention needs a new case.

11. How to Run a Case from the Mobile App

Council members and property managers can follow and decide a case from the Pastrata mobile app. The case screen is the same as on the web: who the complaint is about, one sentence on where the case stands, and the one action that moves it forward.

1. Tap More, then Violations. If you can manage violations (VIOLATION_MANAGE), you'll see every violation in the building, each with who it's about and where it stands (for example, how many days they have left to answer); tap Report to file a new one. Everyone else goes straight to the report form.
2. Tap a violation to open it. The top of the case shows the same sentence and the same main action as the web for every stage: Send the notice, Record the hearing, Record the decision or Close the case, or none while the answer period runs. Other actions your role allows (escalate, resolve, dismiss, and recording a hearing they asked for) sit below it. Nothing that can't be done yet is offered: fining waits for Record the decision, which holds the fine, resolve and dismiss choices. What was reported opens the details.
3. Send the notice opens the case on the web, where the notice is prepared and sent.
4. Record the hearing asks for the hearing date (your building's date), who was there, whether they attended, what they said, council's private discussion (council only) and the outcome so far.
5. Record the decision asks what council decided: a fine (VIOLATION_FINE), resolve without a fine, or dismiss. The same statutory caps and decision notice apply as on the web. The fine form lists who gets the written decision: the respondent, and the owner and landlord if the respondent is a tenant.
6. What happens next lists the steps: complaint received, written notice, their answer, hearing and council decision, each with its date, deadline or what unlocks it. Tap Why? on a step for a plain-language reason, then the wording of your jurisdiction's law with a link to the official text.
7. Below the steps, switch between Evidence, Messages (INBOX_MANAGE), Hearing and Binder. The binder downloads, and the proof of service shows, on the web.
8. The Next steps card shows the unit's history, the recommended path (until the notice is sent), any open case about the same unit and bylaw, and whether a continuing-contravention fine is available. Adding reports to a case, merging cases and continuing-contravention fines are done on the web.
9. A complaint that arrives in the Inbox shows Next steps on the request too: what the complaint likely contravenes and the recommended option, with its button. Tap Open the case and send the notice to run the bylaw check and open the case, prefilled from the request. Read the particulars before you open it: the respondent sees them. Keep the complainant's identity from the respondent is on unless you turn it off. Tap Options, what the law requires, and deadlines for the bylaw text, the unit's history, every option, the steps the law requires before a fine (each with Why?) and the dates if the notice goes today. From there you can also send a friendly reminder (INBOX_OUTBOUND), or reply to the complainant and close the request as not a strata matter or dismissed (INBOX_MANAGE). Once a case is open, the request shows its stage and next deadline; tap it to open the case.
10. Hidden from on the request lists the people it's about. They can't see the request, be assigned to it or be notified about it. On a complaint about a unit, Pastrata suggests hiding that unit.

12. How to Ask eConcierge About a Complaint

If you can manage violations (VIOLATION_MANAGE), eConcierge can tell you where a complaint stands and help move it forward:

1. Ask in plain language, naming the case or the unit: "What should I do about the noise complaint against unit 407?", "Can we fine unit 407 yet?" or "What happens if they ask for a hearing?". If more than one open case matches, eConcierge asks which one you mean.
2. The answer lists each required step and whether it's done, the next thing to do, and the dates that matter: when the respondent's window to answer closes, when a requested hearing must be held by (4 weeks after the request, SPA s. 34.1(2)), and when the written decision is due (1 week after the hearing, s. 34.1(3)). Each step quotes the Strata Property Act word for word, with a link to the official text.
3. "Can we fine them yet?" gets the same answer the fine form on the case would: if a fine would be refused, eConcierge says why and, where it's a matter of time, the date it opens.
4. Ask eConcierge to send the formal notice of complaint, schedule the hearing the respondent asked for, record the outcome (complied, unfounded, resolved at the hearing, or referred to counsel), or dismiss the complaint. Each one shows a confirmation card first, and nothing happens until you confirm.
5. Imposing a fine, recording a hearing that already happened, adding evidence and editing the case stay on the case screen.
6. On a case (/[building]/management/violations/[id]), click Ask eConcierge about this case to open a conversation about that case. You can then say "this complaint" or "them" without naming the unit.

eConcierge's answers are procedural guidance for your building's jurisdiction, not legal advice. If you're excluded from a complaint (for example, it's about you), eConcierge won't show you that case.

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Key Concepts & Building Policies

Why the Procedure Matters

The Civil Resolution Tribunal has set aside strata fines, even for contraventions nobody disputed, when the strata corporation skipped a step in Section 135. Common problems include:

• Imposing a fine before giving written notice.
• Giving too short a response period, or counting it from email dispatch rather than deemed delivery (+4 days under SPA s. 61(3)).
• Not holding, or not recording, a hearing the owner asked for.
• Exceeding the $200 standard or $1,000 short-term rental fine limits.

Pastrata builds these steps into the case so they're hard to miss. It can't guarantee how a tribunal will decide; if a case is contested or unusual, talk to your property manager or a lawyer.

Statutory Fine Caps (BC Strata Property Regulation 7.1)

Under provincial law, strata corporations cannot set arbitrary fine amounts. Fines must not exceed:

• $200.00 for each contravention of a standard bylaw.
• $50.00 for each contravention of a building rule.
• $1,000.00 for each contravention of a bylaw prohibiting or restricting short-term rental accommodations.
• A continuing contravention can be fined again only as often as the bylaws set out (SPA s. 132(2)(b)), and never more often than every 7 days, or daily for a short-term rental bylaw (Strata Property Regulation 7.1(2)).

Keeping the Complainant Informed (BC PIPA)

The person who complained hears on their own request, in their language, when their report joins an existing case, when council has formally notified the owner or tenant, when council has made a decision, and when the case is closed. These updates are fixed wording. They never include the respondent's identity or answer, anything about a hearing, the outcome or a fine. The respondent's written answer, hearing activity and decision details stay with council. If the complainant opens the case, they see only its stage and their own evidence. When a reporter asked to stay anonymous, their name is hidden on the evidence they uploaded, including in the evidence binder.

In-Camera Deliberation Shielding (BC PIPA)

While owners have statutory rights to inspect strata records under SPA s. 35 and s. 36, council deliberations involving confidential dispute discussions, legal counsel, or sensitive resident information are protected. Pastrata automatically isolates and protects in-camera hearing notes while preserving the official decision notice and motion text for the strata records.

Recusal & Conflicts of Interest (SPA s. 32 & s. 136)

A council member who is complained about must not take part in council's decision on the complaint (SPA s. 136(1)). Pastrata recuses them automatically when the person complained about holds a council or property-manager role: the case disappears from their case list, counts and inbox, and they see it only as the respondent, where they can still answer it and ask for a hearing. A manager excluded as a subject of the original request is recused the same way.

A council member who made the complaint has a conflict of interest (SPA s. 32): they must disclose it, not vote, and leave the meeting while council discusses and votes. When they open the case, Pastrata asks them to acknowledge this before they can act on it. After that they can follow the case and send notices, but they can't hold or record the hearing, record the decision, or close or dismiss the case. The acknowledgement is kept on the case and printed in the case binder.

Neither a recused nor a conflicted member can vote on the council motion that decides the case, and Pastrata won't link a hearing to a motion either of them moved, seconded or voted on. Everyone else on council sees who has stepped aside and why.

If every owner is on council, the respondent doesn't have to step aside (SPA s. 136(2)); the complainant's conflict still applies. If nobody is left to decide, the case says so and suggests next steps. This is procedural guidance, not legal advice.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can council issue a warning before imposing a fine?

Yes. The Notice of Complaint can request voluntary compliance or request a response without proposing an immediate fine. If compliance is achieved within the 14-day window, council can resolve the case without penalties.

What happens if the resident does not respond within 14 days?

When the answer period ends with no hearing request, the case says Council can now decide and offers Record the decision. Council reviews the evidence and decides by council motion.

Can tenants request a Section 135 hearing?

Yes. Under SPA s. 135, any person against whom a contravention is alleged—whether an owner or a residential tenant—has the statutory right to be given written particulars and the opportunity to respond or request a hearing.

The respondent is a tenant. Who else has to be told?

The tenant's landlord and the owner of the strata lot (SPA s. 135(1)(f)), before council can fine. Pastrata adds them to the notice of complaint automatically when they're on Pastrata, and the decision notice goes to them too (s. 135(2)). If neither is on Pastrata, serve them yourself and record it when you issue the notice; Pastrata won't issue it until you do.

The same unit keeps getting complaints. Do we start over each time?

No. Add the new report to the open case, or merge a duplicate case into it. If council has already decided and the conduct continues, log a further occurrence and fine it as a continuing contravention without a new notice of complaint (SPA s. 135(3)).

What does the complainant see?

Updates on their own request at each milestone, and the case's stage if they open it. Never the respondent's answer, the hearing, the outcome or a fine.

Why can't I see Impose Fine?

The fine is one of the choices in Record the decision, which appears once council can decide. Until then (the notice isn't out, the answer period is running, or a requested hearing hasn't been recorded), the Council decision step on the timeline says what it's waiting for. If council can decide and there's still no fine choice, either fining isn't available for your building's jurisdiction (the case page says so at the top), your role doesn't include VIOLATION_FINE, or you made the complaint and so have a conflict of interest (the case says so at the top).

The complaint is about me, and I'm on council. What do I see?

You're recused (SPA s. 136(1)). The case isn't in your management list, and opening it shows only that you're recused, with a link to your own view of the case, where you can read the notice and answer it like any other owner.