Special Levies: Who Pays When a Strata Home Sells

A special levy can add thousands of dollars to the cost of a condo or townhouse, and when a strata home changes hands, the payment dates decide who owes what. Here is how levies work under BC's Strata Property Act, what the Form B and minutes reveal, and what buyers and sellers can agree in the contract.

The short version

What a special levy is

A special levy is a charge on top of your monthly strata fees, raised for one purpose, such as a new roof or a building envelope repair. The resolution that approves it must set out the purpose, the total amount, how each unit's share is calculated, the amount for each unit, and the date or dates it must be paid, including any instalments.

The strata must account for the money separately from its other funds and use it only for that purpose. A bylaw or the resolution can set an interest rate for late payments of up to 10% a year, compounded annually, and the strata can register a lien against a unit for an unpaid levy after two weeks' written notice.

How a levy is approved

Most levies need a 3/4 vote at an annual or special general meeting, meaning at least 3/4 of the votes cast by eligible voters present in person or by proxy, not counting abstentions. Owners get at least two weeks' written notice, including the proposed wording. The exceptions:

• A different split. Dividing the cost other than by the strata's usual formula, to share that particular expense fairly, needs a unanimous vote of all eligible voters, not only those at the meeting.
• Insurance deductibles. A levy to pay a deductible for repairing or replacing damaged property needs no vote, unless the strata has decided not to repair.
• Urgent repairs. If a levy to maintain or repair common property or common assets, needed for safety or to prevent significant loss or damage, gets more than half the votes but less than 3/4, the strata can apply within 90 days for the BC Supreme Court to approve it.

Work recommended in the most current depreciation report can be paid from the contingency reserve fund with a majority vote, but a levy for the same work still needs 3/4.

How the cost is shared

Unless the owners vote unanimously for another formula, each unit pays according to its unit entitlement, the number in the strata plan's Schedule of Unit Entitlement. For a residential unit, it is based on habitable area in square metres, is the same for every residential unit, or is another number the Superintendent of Real Estate has approved. For example, if a building's unit entitlements add up to 10,000, a unit with an entitlement of 80 pays $6,000 of a $750,000 levy.

Who pays when a strata home sells

Section 109 of the Act sets the default for a levy approved before the unit is conveyed to the buyer, which is normally the completion date:

• The seller owes the strata the part of the levy payable before that date.
• The buyer owes the part payable on or after it, including an instalment due on the completion date itself.

So the due dates matter more than the date of the vote. If the $6,000 share above is payable in three instalments of $2,000 on September 1, 2026, December 1, 2026 and March 1, 2027, and the sale completes on November 30, 2026, the seller owes the September instalment and the buyer owes the other two. Section 109 applies only to a levy approved before the unit is conveyed. A levy approved after completion is raised from whoever owns the unit then, so the new owner owes it, even if it was discussed beforehand.

In Chau v. Chan (2020), the Civil Resolution Tribunal applied that rule to a roof levy approved 12 days before completion and due two weeks after it: the buyers were responsible. The seller had provided minutes discussing a possible levy, and the contract had no term requiring the seller to pay.

An instalment that is already due has to be dealt with by closing. The strata issues a Form F Certificate of Payment only if the seller owes nothing, a disputed amount has been paid into court or held in trust, or arrangements satisfactory to the strata have been made, and the land title office won't register the transfer without a current Form F.

What the Form B and minutes show

The strata must provide a Form B Information Certificate within one week of a request. For levies, it shows:

• Approved levies. Any amount the owner must still pay for a levy already approved, and when.
• Votes already called. Any resolution needing a 3/4 or unanimous vote that has been noticed but not yet voted on, which is how a proposed levy appears once a meeting is called.
• Financial pressure. Expected overspending on the current year's budget, the contingency reserve fund balance less spending already approved, legal proceedings and outstanding work orders. The budget and most recent depreciation report are attached.

The Form B binds the strata in its dealings with someone who reasonably relies on it, but only as of its date. Minutes show what hasn't reached a vote yet: engineering reports, quotes, repeat repairs and talk of a future levy. BCFSA tells buyers to review at least two years of strata meeting minutes.

Depreciation reports and the reserve fund

The contingency reserve fund is the strata's savings for costs that come up less often than once a year. The strata must contribute at least 10% of its operating fund budget to it each year, taking the most recent depreciation report into account.

Since July 1, 2024, stratas with five or more lots must get a depreciation report every five years and can no longer vote to defer it. In Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, apart from islands reached only by boat or air, stratas with no report since December 31, 2020 had to get one before July 1, 2026. The report includes a 30-year forecast and at least three cash-flow models for paying for the work, through the reserve fund, higher fees, special levies or borrowing, though the strata doesn't have to adopt any of them.

Put the report beside the Form B: if large items are due soon and the fund won't cover them, a levy or higher fees are likely. A missing or overdue report is a reason to ask more questions. I go through the rest of the package in the strata documents to read before buying.

What buyers and sellers can negotiate

The Act decides who owes the strata, but between yourselves, buyer and seller can share the cost another way. Common approaches:

• A credit. The seller covers some or all of an approved levy through a credit to the buyer on the statement of adjustments at completion.
• A holdback. For a levy that has been proposed but not yet voted on, part of the seller's proceeds is held back until the outcome is known.
• A cut-off. The contract says who pays a levy approved between acceptance and completion.
• A refund term. The Province says a levy refund goes to whoever owns the unit when the refund is made, and that this can be negotiated, so a seller who paid into a project still under way may want the contract to cover it.

Buyers should read the Form B and two years of minutes before removing subjects; sellers should gather them early and decide how far they will go. Either way, put the agreement in the contract and have your lawyer or notary check the wording.

Questions buyers and sellers often ask me

Who pays a special levy when a strata home sells in BC?

By default, the seller owes any part of an approved levy that is payable before the unit is conveyed to the buyer, and the buyer owes any part payable on or after that date. Buyer and seller can agree to share it differently in the contract.

If a levy is approved after I accept an offer, do I pay it as the seller?

Only the instalments due before completion, unless your contract says otherwise. Instalments due on or after the completion date belong to the buyer, which is why buyers often ask for a credit or a holdback.

Can a strata pass a special levy without a 3/4 vote?

Sometimes. A levy to pay an insurance deductible for repairs needs no vote, and a levy for urgent repairs that gets more than half but less than 3/4 of the votes can be approved by the BC Supreme Court. Dividing the cost in a different way needs a unanimous vote.

How can I tell if a special levy is coming?

Check the Form B for approved levies and for 3/4 votes that have been called, read at least two years of minutes for projects and quotes, and compare the depreciation report's upcoming costs with the contingency reserve fund balance.

What happens to money left over from a special levy?

The strata must refund it to owners in proportion to what was paid for each unit, unless no owner would get more than $100, in which case it can go into the contingency reserve fund.

Buying or selling in a strata? Read the strata documents to read first, how strata insurance deductibles work, and what it costs to sell a home in BC.

This article is general information, not legal advice. The rules come from BC's Strata Property Act and Regulation and the Province's strata guidance, and were current at the time of writing; ask a lawyer or notary about the levy terms in your own contract. For the Province's guide, see special levies in stratas.