Erin Berney

Erin Berney has extensive experience in all manner of residential and commercial condominiums, from traditional, bare land and phased-style development, to “barely blended”, duplex, mixed use, and rural developments, including foreign ownership issues. She has successfully litigated various matters on behalf of condominium corporations, unit owners and property management companies alike, including a precedent setting decision on short-term rentals in Alberta.

She has owned a condominium in the Oliver neighbourhood of Edmonton since 2005, and has served on her Board of Directors as Treasurer, Secretary and Chair of the Bylaw Review Committee. She is currently on the Board and serves as the Privacy Officer. This experience gives her unique insight and invaluable knowledge and experience that she can bring to her clients. She enjoys advising and assisting condominium corporations, developers, managers, boards, owners and tenants and helping them learn more about their rights and duties. Her focus is on education and trying to solve problems outside of court first and foremost, and she believes that this helps contribute to the overall goal of condominiums which is achieving fairness among all the owners.

Erin maintains a broad legal practice that includes general civil litigation but focuses on condominium law in Alberta, and in particular she has experience with the following:

• Bylaw reviews, drafting, interpretation, amendments, and enforcement
• Borrowing/loans and security
• Property management, contract drafting and agreement reviews
• Collection of condominium fees, charge-backs and fines
• Foreclosures, liens, caveats, and priority disputes
• Builder/developer/construction deficiencies
• Tenancy-related issues and evictions
• Leases, licenses and transfers of units/common property/common property units
• Insurance claims
• Privacy, video surveillance and security policies
• Procedural issues and corporate governance
• Planning, development and Land Titles Office registrations
• Short-term accommodations and other uses

Before venturing into the field of law, Erin was a graphic designer at the Edmonton Journal newsroom for 10 years, and she managed the Canadian Literature Centre at the University of Alberta for four years, both of which she continued doing full-time through her three years of law school. She was also a student editor for the Alberta Law Review and was responsible for maintaining and updating its website.