A Richmond business owner claiming persecution from a shopping mall strata was ordered to pay almost $50,000 for his “reprehensible” conduct in court.
Chang Ming Li was told by B.C. Supreme Court judge Karen Douglas that his behaviour was an “abuse of process.”
Li, who owned one retail unit and two office units at Aberdeen Square, next to Aberdeen Centre, stopped paying his strata fees in 2015, for an unknown reason.
To recover the arrears, the mall’s strata corporation registered liens against Li’s units in 2017 and filed B.C. Supreme Court petitions to recover the sum as well as late fines and legal costs.
Li was ordered to repay the strata fees, but the legal fees have yet to be determined until this day.
Although Li managed to repay the strata fees, the liens remained in place on his units because he has not paid the legal fees.
Li then applied to the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) in 2020 to resolve the liens registered against his units and claimed the strata and retail section of Aberdeen Square were persecuting him.
He claimed he was not allowed to vote at meetings and the strata failed to hold annual general meetings and failed to enforce bylaws on alterations and karaoke operations.
The CRT refused to resolve his claims as they should be dealt with at the B.C. Supreme Court.
Turning back to the B.C. Supreme Court in 2021, Li filed a petition to discharge the liens and for the CRT decision to go through judicial review.
His petition was dismissed because his liens claim was based on “a fundamental misapprehension” of the previous Supreme Court order and constituted an “impermissible collateral attack” on the strata corporation.
B.C. Supreme Court judge Karen Douglas decided Li should pay special costs to the Aberdeen Square strata corporation for his “reprehensible” conduct during the proceedings. Special costs are ordered in exceptional circumstances as punishment for such conduct.
“The petition was devoid of merit, brought for an improper purpose, comprised a collateral attack on decisions made in other proceedings, and was therefore an abuse of process,” read judge Douglas’ decision.
“This is not the kind of case where a party took a legitimate position that was ultimately unsuccessful.”
She added Li tried to re-litigate issues and accused him of deliberately wasting the court’s time.
Judge Douglas acknowledged Li was self-represented, but said he is regardless bound by the same rules as others who have lawyers.
Li’s conduct of making serious allegations of persecution without supporting evidence, said Douglas, was also “deserving of rebuke.”
He was ultimately ordered to pay the strata corporation special costs of $44,236.91 including fees, disbursements and taxes, as well as $5,000 in hearing fees.
