Some residents of a Surrey condo building are rising up against their strata council after they say they were issued $40,000 in fines in a single month — including a $200 fine for cardboard that wasn’t disposed of correctly.
Errol Polvah has been outside Surrey’s D’Corize building on 104th Avenue hoisting a sign which reads, “Stop Strata Insanity” after he grew tired of residents receiving fines for all kinds of mistakes that are associated with condo living.
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“I got a $200 fine for driving away before the gate was fully closed,” he said.
Meanwhile, D’Corize resident Ila Ieraci’s daughter said she received a total of $400 in fines for not disposing of boxes correctly.
“She got a $200 fine for the cardboard and a $200 fine for the trash,” she said.
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Building residents have banded together in response to the fines.
But what has intensified this intra-condo fight is the fact that surveillance cameras have been installed throughout the building, with three spotted in the garbage room alone.
One of the cameras started blinking while Global News was there.
‘Safe and efficient building’
The president of the strata wouldn’t speak with Global News on camera, but he said that he’s following all the rules that govern stratas, and that he runs a safe and efficient building.
But some residents, like Amy Ulici, are scared to come home; she said she recently received a $280 fine for using signs to alert residents about the enforcement.
“It’s terrifying, I hate it,” she said, becoming visibly emotional.
- With files from Paul Johnson