Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• A condominium co-owner sought reimbursement from her syndicate after being charged for water damage repairs without any supporting evidence of fault.
   
• Quebec's Civil Code imposes a restitution obligation on a party that receives an undue payment under article 1491.
   
• Burden of proof on the question of fault rested with the syndicate, which called no witness or expert to support its position.
   
• Article 1074.2 C.C.Q. limits how a syndicate may recover repair costs from co-owners absent proven fault.
   
• Damages for stress, trouble, and inconvenience were awarded alongside restitution of the disputed amount.
   
• Forced intervention proceedings against the building's original contractor were dismissed for failure to provide prior notice of the alleged defect.

Facts of the case

Michelle Smith, a co-owner of a condominium unit, experienced a water leak at her unit on September 26, 2023. The leak was traced to faulty workmanship in a common area of the building — specifically, two screws driven into a pipe behind a wall separating her unit from her neighbour's. The Syndicat de la Copropriété Condos Flex held Smith responsible and debited her condominium account $7,352.21, without producing any invoices to substantiate the charge. Acting on the advice of a lawyer who was later provisionally struck off the roll of the Barreau du Québec for unrelated reasons, Smith paid the amount under protest and subsequently filed a claim at the Small Claims Division to recover it. Throughout, she consistently denied responsibility in writing and in person, through emails, a formal notice, and her eventual legal claim. Rather than reimburse her, the syndicate contested her claim and brought a forced intervention application against Les Propriétés Belcourt Inc., the general contractor and developer that built the property in 2014. No board member of the syndicate attended the hearing; the syndicate instead sent its superintendent, who had little knowledge of the matter's substance.

Policy and legislative provisions at issue

Two provisions of the Civil Code of Québec framed the dispute. Article 1491, paragraph 1, requires a party who receives a payment it was not owed to make restitution to the payor. Article 1074.2 addresses how a syndicate of co-owners may recover sums it pays for deductibles or property repairs: such costs can only be recovered from co-owners through their contribution to common expenses, subject to any damages obtainable from a co-owner proven to be at fault, and any clause departing from this rule is deemed unwritten. Also relevant were the general rules on burden of proof under articles 2803 and 2804, and the bar to recourse under articles 1590 and following, which the court applied to the syndicate's claim against the original contractor.

Reasoning and analysis

The court found Smith to be a young student who had been poorly advised and who acted in good faith throughout, paying the disputed amount only because she feared legal action and a legal hypothec if she refused. Having received a payment it was not entitled to, the syndicate became obligated under article 1491 to return the $7,352.21 to her. The court further reasoned that article 1074.2 prevented the syndicate from imputing the repair cost to Smith in the total absence of proven fault on her part. Critically, the burden of proving fault rested with the syndicate, and it failed to meet that burden, presenting no witness, no expert, and not even a board member to support its position. The court also accepted Smith's claim for $2,790.16 in damages for the stress, trouble, and inconvenience she suffered as a direct result of the syndicate's fault, negligence, and carelessness, finding the amount reasonable given the difficult situation and the resulting distress in her life. On the forced intervention claim, the court held that the syndicate had failed to notify Les Propriétés Belcourt Inc. of the alleged defect or place it in default before undertaking repairs, which barred that recourse entirely.

Ruling and overall outcome

The court granted Smith's principal claim in full. The Syndicat de la Copropriété Condos Flex was ordered to pay her $10,142.37 — combining the reimbursement of the disputed charge and the damages for stress and inconvenience — plus interest at the legal rate and the additional indemnity under article 1619 C.C.Q. running from January 9, 2024, along with legal costs. The syndicate's warranty claim against Les Propriétés Belcourt Inc. was dismissed, as were the related counter-warranty claims against 9025-5696 Québec Inc., 9184-6089 Québec Inc., and Placements Zem Inc.