B.C. tribunal upholds condo fines against couple for doorbell camera insults

RICHMOND, B.C. — British Columbia’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has upheld $800 in fines issued by a strata corporation against a Richmond, B.C., couple for yelling “profanity and insults” through their doorbell camera’s speaker.

The tribunal says in a decision release Friday that Ho Wing Chan and Hung Angela Cheung co-own a unit in a strata complex and were issued 18 fines in 2022 and 2023 for violating the complex’s bylaw against causing a nuisance or unreasonable noise.

The decision says the pair took the dispute to the tribunal, claiming the fines were unfair, while the owners group filed counterclaims for additional fines and an order for the couple to stop causing disturbances.

The ruling says video evidence submitted by the strata “clearly shows” the noise coming from the couple’s doorbell camera was loud enough to be heard in the complex’s common areas and in owners’ units across the street.

It says the couple disputed the fines saying they had the “right to yell inside their own property,” and used the speaker sometimes because of “suspicious shadows” around their doorway and fear of a break in.

The tribunal says the noises from the speaker were “excessive,” due to their frequency, intensity and the use of “profanity and insults” often late in the evening, and it ordered them to pay $800 in fines, plus $65 in interest.

The tribunal also ordered the couple to comply with the condo owner’s noise bylaw, but declined to order the couple to remove their doorbell camera.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2024

The Canadian Press