B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Nicole Garson said of Mrs. Bea: "contemptuous disregard":

Couple in strata scrap must sell condo: court

In her reasons for judgment, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Nicole Garson said Mrs. Bea, the registered owner of the suite, had shown a "contemptuous disregard" for court orders both by her own conduct and the conduct she authorized her husband to pursue.   Photograph By Nick Procaylo

PORT COQUITLAM — A Port Coquitlam couple will have to sell their condo after being found in contempt of court after a protracted legal battle with their strata council.

In a ruling released Tuesday, the B.C. Court of Appeal upheld a ruling that orders the drastic measure for Cheng-Fu Bea and Huei-Chi Yang Bea.

The dispute began in 2006, when the council passed a bylaw regulating the use of parking stalls, a move opposed by the Beas.

The couple went to court but lost their case. They then launched a fresh petition, using many of the same failed arguments. They lost again.

Over the next several years, they repeatedly returned to court, forcing the council to rack up more than $185,000 in legal fees to defend itself.

There were numerous judgments obtained against them as well as numerous orders of special costs. The two were eventually declared vexatious litigants and ordered to cease any further legal actions.

They ignored the court orders and a B.C. Supreme Court judge found that the only way they would take notice of their flouting of the law would be an order them to sell their premises.

The couple appealed the sale order, arguing the court had no jurisdiction and that it was not an appropriate decision.

But in her reasons for judgment, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Nicole Garson said Mrs. Bea, the registered owner of the suit, had shown a “contemptuous disregard” for court orders both by her own conduct and the conduct she authorized her husband to pursue.

Justice Anne MacKenzie agreed with Garson but a third judge, Justice Richard Goepel, dissented, finding the judge did not have the jurisdiction under the court’s civil rules.

Iuli Varva, a former president and longtime member of the strata council, said it was about time the court ruled against the Beas.