MTCC 723 v Dante Reino – Ontario Court of Appeal Releases Decision on Status Certificates

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently issued a decision on the importance of issuing accurate status certificates, even if prior status certificates may have failed to do so. The case involved a unit owner who purchased a unit in 2013 and received a “clean” status certificate at that time. However, when the owner decided to sell his unit in 2016, a new status certificate noted that the unit was in breach of the condominium corporation’s Declaration due to unauthorized alterations. The application judge sided with the owner and directed the condominium corporation to issue a status certificate clear of these statements. However, the Ontario Court of Appeal granted the appeal and set aside the application judge’s decision. The court noted that if a condominium corporation becomes aware of circumstances that must be disclosed under Section 76 of the Condominium Act, it must include this information in the next status certificate. The court also stated that the owner has a remedy if the condominium corporation negligently issued the clean status certificate in 2013, but did not comment on whether the corporation had inspected the unit prior to issuing the status certificate.