B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has rejected the case of a man who claimed his Vancouver strata disposed of a $4,760 bicycle.
Unit owner Marcus Keighron said the strata improperly and illegally disposed of the bike and claimed the purchase price.
The strata denied liability, saying Keighron did not own the bike and lacked standing before the tribunal to claim for it.
“It also says that it properly disposed of the bike and provided appropriate notice before doing so,” tribunal member David Jiang said in his May 12 decision.
Bike room audit
Jiang said council minutes showed the strata decided to audit its two bike rooms in late 2021. That audit consisted of checking bike ownership and disposing of any untagged bikes.
The strata sent various notices about the audit. A Feb. 14, 2022, notice said that owners and residents had to tag their bikes to confirm ownership by March 14, 2022.
After the deadline passed, the strata removed or relocated untagged bikes, removing bike locks as necessary. It moved the untagged bikes to the exterior of the northernmost bike room and left them there for a month for owners to claim.
“On April 14, 2022, the strata disposed of the remaining unclaimed bikes,” Jiang said.
Ten days later, Keighron emailed the strata and said two bikes were missing from the bike room. One was found and returned but the second could not be located.
Keighron requested a hearing, and the strata held it on Oct. 23, 2023.
At the hearing, Keighron said the bike belonged to SP, his former common law partner.
The strata did not compensate Keighron for the bike and it remains missing.
The tribunal's ruling said the bike was given to the former partner by another person.
As such, Jiang said, Keighron lacked standing to claim for the bike and dismissed the claim.
Jiang said the other two people might be able to make a claim for it.
