{"id":705518,"date":"2026-05-31T09:15:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T09:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/705518\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T09:15:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T09:15:21","slug":"condo-board-charges-ontario-homeowner-166000-in-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/705518\/","title":{"rendered":"Condo board charges Ontario homeowner $166,000 in a day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Littered across the kitchen counter of Stuart Weinstein\u2019s one-bedroom condominium is an array of real estate<\/a> agent cards. Tucked in the corner of the\u00a0living room sits an open box filled with legal documents compiled over the years. Desperate to sell his 12th floor\u00a0unit, Weinstein now spends much of his time sifting through old paperwork in an attempt to free himself from a dispute with his condominium board that has consumed his life.<\/p>\n

In the space of eight years, Weinstein went from being the lone dissenter over a roughly $10,000 plumbing repair bill levied by his condo corporation to more than $262,000 in debt, with a lien on his one-bedroom condominium leaving him on the verge of losing his home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re using my ledger as a cash register,\u201d Weinstein told the Star.<\/p>\n

In 2018, the condo corporation at 30 Harrison Garden Blvd., located near Yonge Street and Highway 401 in North York, informed unit owners that plumbing throughout the building had to be replaced, leaving each owner responsible for upwards of $10,000 in costs.<\/p>\n

Weinstein, 59, who has owned his unit for more than 20 years, opposed the decision, arguing there was nothing wrong with his plumbing and disputing the process used to impose the work.<\/p>\n

Following a 2019 resolution attempt, an arbitrator sided with the condo board and ruled Weinstein had to\u00a0replace the plumbing in his unit and pay significant legal costs. Judges later upheld the arbitrator\u2019s decision, awarding additional enforcement-related expenses to the condo.<\/p>\n

After the arbitration award and subsequent court decisions were added to his unpaid common expenses, the condo corporation placed a lien on his unit in December 2019.<\/p>\n

\"Stuart<\/p>\n

Weinstein has been fighting his condo board for years while the bill grows. This month, the lawyer for the board issued a notice of sale, giving Weinstein until July 8 to pay off his debt.<\/p>\n

Jonah Kane Photo<\/p>\n

Since then, Weinstein says they\u2019ve added tens of thousands of dollars in additional legal fees to his ledger without judicial oversight and have refused to provide invoices for them \u2014 a process both he and the condo corporation acknowledge is permitted under Ontario\u2019s Condominium Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His shoulders slumped as he sat in his largely empty apartment, dejected, the warm tones of his boxy unit tempered by the blue pinstripes of his freshly ironed dress shirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hardly even stay here anymore,\u201d he murmured. \u201cIt feels like they\u2019ve stolen my home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He says his case is a cautionary tale for condo buyers, as the law allows certain disputes to be converted into common expenses and enforced through liens \u2014\u00a0legal claims placed on someone\u2019s property to secure a debt\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that can be applied without a judge first signing off, allowing costs to grow quickly.<\/p>\n

Weinstein is now trying to sell the property but says he\u2019s been unable to do so with a lien registered on the title.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I want is to get the lien removed from my title so I can sell my home and move on,\u201d he said. \u201cInstead, the numbers just keep growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

From $10,000 pipe replacement to six-figure liability<\/p>\n

The dispute began in 2018 after Toronto Standard Condominium Corporation No. 1466 (TSCC 1466) discovered Kitec plumbing,\u00a0a recalled plumbing system associated with water damage and increased insurance risk, throughout the building.<\/p>\n

All owners agreed to the replacement, except Weinstein, who says he was unemployed and didn\u2019t want to foot up to $10,000 in costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was nothing wrong with my Kitec,\u201d he said, providing the Star with three separate inspection certificates stating his plumbing was in good shape.<\/p>\n

\"Weinstein2.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Inspection documents provided by Stuart Weinstein in his Kitec dispute against his condo board.<\/p>\n

Stuart Weinstein<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, under Ontario\u2019s Condominium Act, when an owner refuses to comply with mandatory repair work, a condominium corporation may apply to court for a compliance order.<\/p>\n

And in Ontario condominium law, certain costs arising from disputes \u2014 including legal and enforcement expenses \u2014 can be added to a unit\u2019s \u201ccommon expense\u201d account, the same ledger used for regular maintenance fees. Once recorded there, they are treated as arrears and can be secured through a lien against the unit.<\/p>\n

In Weinstein\u2019s case, the dispute was directed to arbitration, and in 2019 the arbitrator ordered\u00a0Weinstein to replace the Kitec and pay\u00a0just over $60,000\u00a0in legal costs.<\/p>\n

From that moment, things only worsened for Weinstein.<\/p>\n

Weinstein challenged the outcome,\u00a0but an Ontario Superior Court judge upheld the arbitrator\u2019s decision and granted an additional $70,000 for expenses related to enforcing it as well as $10,000 for legal costs, according to his lawyer.<\/p>\n

The court found that a significant driver of the unusually high legal costs was Weinstein\u2019s repeated attempts to bring urgent motions to remove the lien, which were ultimately dismissed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was I supposed to do? Nothing?\u201d said Weinstein, who represented himself at the time. \u201cI had to do something. I have been fighting like a desperate rabid dog in search of justice and I regret the classless nature of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says he feels betrayed by the Ontario government, which is supposed to protect condo owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Stuart<\/p>\n

Weinstein\u2019s lien payout statement has grown to approximately $239,000, with interest and additional costs \u2014 including the service of the notice of sale \u2014 further inflating his debt to more than $262,000.<\/p>\n

Jonah Kane Photo<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems there are two levels of justice. Unconscionable justice given to those represented by expensive lawyers, and justice for self-represented,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I could afford lawyers at the beginning, I would not be having my condo stolen as I will owe the correct $0, not the phantom $262,661.82.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weinstein says he challenged the arbitration award because\u00a0the arbitrator\u00a0had been disciplined by the Law Society of Ontario on multiple occasions \u2014 including once for misappropriating more than $60,000 from a client\u2019s divorce settlement in 2002, which resulted in him losing his licence to practise law \u2014 and had previously mediated cases involving the condominium corporation\u2019s then-law firm, Fine & Deo (now Deo Condominium).<\/p>\n

The condominium corporation\u2019s current counsel, Timothy Duggan, said\u00a0the arbitrator should not be discredited based on past disciplinary history, and that, regardless, Weinstein was reluctant to participate in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that Mr. Weinstein is the author of his own circumstances at this point,\u201d Duggan said.<\/p>\n

Costs mount as lien allows ongoing charges<\/p>\n

Over the next several years, additional legal fees were added to Weinstein\u2019s account. By October 2023, the condominium account showed multiple charges that appeared as \u201cmiscellaneous legal fees,\u201d amounting to more than $166,000.<\/p>\n

Duggan told the Star that \u201cthere\u2019s no requirement in the statute for the condominium corporation to register a new lien in respect of future defaults.\u201d<\/p>\n

This means that once a single lien is applied, the corporation can continue adding legal fees to the ledger without further judicial oversight \u2014 a system that, Duggan says, reflects the statutory framework, even if it feels aggressive to homeowners like Weinstein.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bill the corporation, and the corporation applies charges to the ledger,\u201d Duggan said. \u201cWe may provide them with our opinion as to whether or not the amount is properly added to the unit owner\u2019s ledger as a charge back, depending on the individual circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight years after first being billed for the plumbing replacement, Weinstein\u2019s lien payout statement\u00a0has grown to approximately $239,000, with interest and additional costs\u00a0\u2014\u00a0including the service of the notice of sale \u2014\u00a0further inflating his debt to more than $262,000.<\/p>\n

Weinstein\u2019s most recent lawyer, Steven Bookman,\u00a0says the condominium corporation has failed to produce invoices or supporting documentation to substantiate the extra charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have asked them to provide us with the details of what these are for and they are ignoring us,\u201d Bookman said. \u201cYou can\u2019t say you owe me almost an extra $100,000 without itemizing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n \"A
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

The one bedroom plus den last sold for $1.03 million in 2021.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n \"A
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

The one bedroom plus den last sold for $1.03 million in 2021.<\/p>\n

In 2025, TSCC 1466 the condo corporation changed its position and offered a cost reduction that almost matched the unexplained amount on his payout statement. But Weinstein refused the offer, questioning the legitimacy of the entire payout statement.<\/p>\n

Instead, he inquired about the extra charges, and why TSCC 1466 is offering to forfeit them without him ever seeing the invoices.<\/p>\n

\u201cAssuming the legal fees were legitimate \u2014 or even if they weren\u2019t \u2014 this reduction would kind of wipe them out,\u201d Bookman said.<\/p>\n

The Star reached out to Duggan inquiring about the extra charges, but he said TSCC 1466 will not be commenting on any issue related to a \u201cpotential settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n

On May 21, Duggan issued a notice of sale on behalf of the condominium corporation, giving Weinstein until July 8 to pay off his debt.<\/p>\n

Bookman confirmed that TSCC 1466 can legally sell the home\u00a0under power of sale if Weinstein \u201cfails to pay legitimate fees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Condo lien powers face judicial scrutiny<\/p>\n

Ottawa lawyer Rodrigue Escayola, who has litigated similar disputes,\u00a0echoed Weinstein\u2019s critique. Historically, he said, some condominium corporations, managers, and lawyers adopted a \u201chigh-handed\u201d approach, quickly converting compliance disagreements into financial defaults.<\/p>\n

Ontario courts have cautioned against treating compliance disputes as arrears disputes \u2014 most notably in Amlani v. York Condominium Corporation, a 2020 decision that\u00a0Escayola won and which he says reshaped condominium enforcement practice.<\/p>\n

In the Amlani case, the underlying issue was whether a unit owner was smoking in their unit. Rather than resolving that allegation first, the corporation attached legal fees to compliance letters. When the owner did not pay, the dispute shifted from a conduct issue to an arrears dispute \u2014 eventually ballooning to roughly $25,000 without a ruling on the original allegation at that stage.<\/p>\n

The corporation then triggered a power of sale. But the Ontario court cautioned against treating compliance enforcement as arrears collection in this way, emphasizing that liens are intended to secure unpaid common expenses rather than escalate disputed allegations into debt enforcement.<\/p>\n

\"Stuart<\/p>\n

Weinstein says he\u2019s desperately trying to get Ontario\u2019s courts to re-evaluate his case.<\/p>\n

Jonah Kane Photo<\/p>\n

In Weinstein\u2019s case, the dispute was adjudicated through arbitration and later court decisions. However, Escayola says a similar concern can arise where\u00a0enforcement itself can generate additional legal fees that are added to a unit\u2019s ledger and treated as common expenses, allowing them to be secured through the same lien even after the original dispute has been decided.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiens were never meant to be a sword to enforce compliance. They exist to ensure payment of common expenses,\u201d Escayola said. \u201cI\u2019m not saying this is what\u2019s happened here, but there has been abuse in the industry \u2014 treating an owner like a money tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weinstein says he\u2019s now desperately trying to get Ontario\u2019s courts to re-evaluate his case.<\/p>\n

Till then, however, his anxieties surrounding the status of his unit are peaking as his July 8 deadline fast approaches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As his lawyer fees mount, Weinstein\u2019s had four buyers walk away after discovering the lien, which has to be fully paid out before any sale can close.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just asking to get out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Littered across the kitchen counter of Stuart Weinstein\u2019s one-bedroom condominium is an array of real estate agent cards.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48],"class_list":["post-705518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}