Strata rightfully shut off EV charger for nonpayment, tribunal says

A Vancouver strata has won a civil case brought by a condo owner who says his electrical vehicle charger was unfairly shut off.

Milad Rostamkhani is an owner at the Shangri-La, at 1111 Alberni St., and alleged in a civil resolution tribunal (CRT) complaint that the strata is charging him $1,911 for his EV charging station that he claims he has already paid.

The claim also alleged that the strata overcharged for the initial EV charger installation and that power to his EV charger was shut off unfairly.

In response, the strata notes that Rostamkhani never paid the outstanding balance, that reimbursements for potential overcharges are not due until the EV charger project is complete, and that it had turned off power to Rostamkhani's charger for an outstanding balance.

In 2017, the owners of Strata Plan BCS 3165 launched an EV charging station installation project at the request of several owners. The project would install up to 50 charging stations and would be done at participating owners' expense.

Those who opted into the project's first phase would be responsible for a share of the initial installation costs, additional owners who join in later phases would pay into the project with those costs reimbursed to the first round of participants as a credit.

A total of 32 owners agreed to the first phase of the project, among them Rostamkhani. The strata calculated the total cost for each owner would be $3,822, and alerted them that a 50 per cent deposit of $1,911 was to be paid to get the project off the ground in 2018, with the balance to be paid before chargers were activated the following year.

Rostamkhani paid his first instalment of $1,911 in June 2018.

In April 2019, the first round of chargers were completed and unbeknownst to the strata, Rostamkhani's charger was activated despite his outstanding balance.

In January 2021, an audit completed by the strata found that 17 owners, including Rostamkhani, still owed a remaining balance. The strata followed up with Rostamkhani about the outstanding balance until July 2021, at which point power to his EV charger was shut off for nonpayment.

In response, Rostamkhani claims he paid the remaining balance in April 2019 by a cheque left with the building's concierge and shared a carbon copy of the cheque as proof to the CRT.

“The strata submits, and I agree, that a carbon copy cheque is not proof of payment, but rather only shows that Mr. Rostamkhani wrote a cheque for $1,911 at some point,” read the CRT ruling released this week. “It does not mean the cheque was delivered, cashed or cleared the bank.”

Rostamkhani argued that his bank does not share cheque statements dating as far back as April 2019, but the bank confirmed with the strata that it is possible to view or print cheques online or at a branch, but that if money never left the account, no cheque would be shown on record.