B.C. woman sought $5K from noisy neighbour, ordered to pay $50 for nuisance

A British Columbia woman who unsuccessfully sued her downstairs neighbour last fall for making too much noise has now failed in a bid to sue her upstairs neighbour for being too loud.

B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal rejected Linda Woo’s claim seeking $5,000 in damages for lost productivity and medical expenses from upstairs neighbour Lorenzo Bruno. The tribunal instead ordered Woo to pay Bruno $50 in nuisance damages for her “unreasonable ceiling-tapping and cupboard-slamming” in response to the noises.

The dispute began shortly after Bruno moved into the strata building in July 2022. Since that time, Woo lodged more than 300 noise complaints with the building’s strata council and police, who twice described the noises as her neighbour “just going about his life,” according to the tribunal’s decision last week.

Woo proceeded with a lawsuit claiming “near-daily unreasonable noise” from her upstairs neighbour, including stomping, dragging furniture, loud guests and running appliances during quiet hours. 

Bruno filed a counterclaim, arguing Woo’s constant complaints to the strata and police amounted to harassment for which he was entitled to compensation.

The tribunal had dismissed a similar $5,000 claim from Woo last October, when she alleged noise from her downstairs neighbour caused injury to her dignity, loss of enjoyment of her home, and mental and physical suffering.

‘Simply no noise’

To support her claim against Bruno, Woo submitted audio and video recordings of the alleged noise from Bruno’s condo, instructing the tribunal to listen to the recordings “with earbuds and with the volume at maximum,” according to tribunal member Megan Stewart.

“Some of the recordings are completely silent, which suggests the files may have been corrupted, or there was simply no noise,” Stewart wrote.

“I find that of those recordings where noise can be heard, the majority reflect only very faint or muffled single-impact noises that appear to reflect everyday living, or soft background humming.”

Woo also submitted recordings of phone calls with police and officer attendance reports, however “none of the reports say there was unreasonable noise,” according to the tribunal.

In one recorded call with police, Woo admitted she “poked” her ceiling and slammed her cupboard in response to alleged noise from Bruno’s suite, “so that he would understand” the annoyance.

“I find this deliberate noise was likely loud enough to cause a disturbance,” Stewart wrote, ordering Woo to pay Bruno $50 for the disruption.

The tribunal could not similarly corroborate Woo’s claims that noises from Bruno’s condo constituted a nuisance.

“Though I accept the noises Ms. Woo hears bother her, I do not agree that on an objective basis she has shown they rise to the level of negligence or nuisance,” Stewart wrote.

“Living in a strata building involves some degree of give and take among neighbours when it comes to noise and other potential nuisances,” she concluded, dismissing the claim.