The Supreme Court’s decision in the Ledcor case (which held that “resultant damage” arising from faulty workmanship is not excluded by the faulty workmanship exclusion in a builders’ risk policy) was held not to allow for coverage for “resultant damage” arising from faulty workmanship under an allrisks property policy.     Read the article…………………

A Chilliwack, B.C., strata that hired its own security company to try to catch a tenant breaking the law has lost its battle to have that extra security paid for.  One of the main reasons it lost? The cameras didn’t catch the tenant doing anything illegal.  The Windsor Pines complex strata went to the Civil […]

When a strata faces a big repair levy, some owners some owners may find themselves unable to pay that levy. As a result, many strata’s explore third-party financing as a way to help those owners pay their share of a large special levy.    Read the article……………..

Proposed regulations on deductibles for condominium insurance in Quebec need to be clear, affordable and consider the number of units in the building, the province’s self-regulatory body for brokers, agents and claims adjusters said Monday.  “The government is saying, ‘Well, you shouldn’t be able to increase the deductible too much because otherwise if you do […]

Since our last blog post on electronic voting, we have attended a few turnover meetings and owners meetings that have adopted electronic voting. Condominium developers are now starting to use electronic voting for turnover meetings simply by adding the authority to vote electronically in the General Operating By-law that is registered prior to the turnover […]

While there had been a bit of a lull in the implementation of the amendments to the Condo Act since the change of the guard at Queens park, things have not come to a screeching halt. The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services has released new continuing education requirement for some condo managers. These changes […]

Summary of cases Read the article……………

One of the CRT’s goals is to simplify strata dispute resolution. What are the CRT’s limits in providing stratas with solutions moving forward to prevent repeated conflict?  Stratas with ongoing and long-term disputes would like these matters dealt with finality so that further hearings can be avoided.     Read the article…………..

Most buyers of pre-construction condominiums understand that there are a number of uncertainties that go with these purchases. The unit may not be as visualized by the purchaser, as the purchase transaction is based on floor plans, specification sheets and artist renderings, rather than an in-unit inspection, as is the case with re-sale units. The […]

We hear complaints about the new record request process regularly from our clients and owners. The process is cumbersome with the new prescribed forms and timelines. The process takes longer than it did before in many cases (in part because it takes time for people to fill out the forms correctly). Many clients are confused […]

Strata corporations, take note. If your building is suffering from leaky condo issues, you may be confronted with a human rights complaint, among other court battles.    Read the article………………

A dispute between a condominium corporation and a unit owner – ultimately arising from frozen water pipes – has landed at the Supreme Court of Canada.  In 2015, the condominium board of the Erindale Village complex passed a resolution requiring each unit owner to pay a deposit of one months’ rent. In the past, the […]

At most condo meetings voting for procedural matters, such as to approve the minutes or adjourn the meeting, is typically done by show of hands. Other matters, such as voting on by-laws or rule changes, substantial changes to the common elements, or the election or removal of directors, are done by ballot and proxy. Does […]

We were hoping you would not be asking that question. Who is opposed to apple pie? Ontario’s Condo Director Training is not only mandatory, its extremely useful, easy and free. But here it is, our post on what happens if a condo director fails to complete the required training within the set time.    Read the […]

Summary of certain cases:   Read the article………………

We were surprised by the response to our post on whether condo owners should be entitled to get the owners’ list and our post on whether owners should be able to inspect proxies. There were definitely strongly held views. It makes for interesting conversation!    Read the article………………

Last week the Supreme Court of B.C. released its decision in 625536 B.C. Ltd. v. The Owners, Strata Plan LMS4385, 2018 BCSC 1637, providing some much-needed clarity on the question of whether a strata corporation is entitled to invoice strata fee increases retroactively in the form of “adjustments”.     Read the article………………

A Vancouver condo owner with mould in her unit filed a complaint with the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) claiming that the strata corporation discriminated against her on the basis of a physical disability. The owner alleged that the strata corporation failed to adequately remediate mould in her unit, which was caused by […]

In a recent case, Patterson v. YCC No. 70, a condominium unit owner sued the condominium corporation and one member of the board of directors alleging that the corporation and the board had failed to perform their obligations under the Condominium Act, 1998 to manage the corporation’s affairs and assets. The owner asked the court […]

Many condominium corporations have started to pass Electronic Voting by-laws to allow owners to vote on-line rather than having owners’ complete proxy forms if owners are unable to attend a meeting. By implementing Electronic Voting, boards and managers are finding much greater participation from owners and solicitation and proxy manipulation are gone.     Read the […]

A question we often get from our readers is whether a particular condo rule is valid. Naturally, we can’t answer specific questions without a thorough review of the rule in question but this post may help demystify what condo rules are about and how they are adopted. This post will also address two very common […]

Many good managers and directors have been pulled into the black hole that is record requests under the amendments to the Act. Since November 1, 2017 there is a new process for requesting records and providing copies or access to them. Unfortunately, the new process is complicated and time-intensive, which will likely to lead to […]

In a recent case in Hawaii, a jury awarded a condo unit owner $1.7 million dollars in damages after finding that the condominium association discriminated against the visually impaired owner.    Read the article………………

With October coming up, we can all probably expect to see pumpkin patches, coloured leaves, chai lattes and…. electoral signs! Indeed, Ontario municipal elections will take place this October 22, 2018. This will bring the usual uncertainty as to what candidates and their supporting owners can do when it comes to canvassing and posting electoral […]

Summary of select cases:  Read the article………………

Lately our firm has been working on a lot of revisions to condominium documents: the declaration, description, by-laws and rules. Cannabis has been a very popular topic these past few months. Some condominiums are updating their condominium documents to reflect changes to the Condominium Act, 1998. Others are making changes to the number of directors […]

The Condominium Authority Tribunal was recently asked to rule on whether condo owners should be allowed to inspect unredacted copies of the proxy form used at an AGM. This was yet another case where the Tribunal attempted to balance privacy and transparency.    Read the article………………

Responsible boards of condominium corporations should encourage unit owners to vote for themselves, rather than allowing proxies to consolidate power in the hands of a few.  For condo managers, the number one frustration is the proxy form and the process for collecting, explaining and reviewing those forms. So why bother sending proxies or instructing owners […]

As of November 2017, with the establishment of the Condominium Management Regulatory Authority of Ontario (CMRAO) and the introduction of the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015 (CMSA), all condominium managers and condo management companies must now be licensed to carry out condominium management services.     Read the article………………

Most unit owners would be upset to receive notice that their monthly condo fees were increasing by almost 15% the following year. Recently an owner was surprised when she received notice from her condominium of a 0% change in her monthly fees. She was expecting an increase close to 15%. Was she pleasantly surprised? Apparently […]

With the warm summer we are experiencing, a pool is certainly a hot amenity to have in a condominium building. New regulations governing the operation and maintenance of pools (including pools in condos) came into effect on July 1st, 2018. Indeed, condo pools in Ontario are considered public pools and are regulated under the Health […]

Effective April 30, 2018, landlords of private residential rental units, including condominium units, are required to use a new mandatory form of residential tenancy agreement for all new tenancies (the “Form”). You can download a copy of the Form on the government’s website: http://www.forms.ssb.gov.on.ca    Read the article………………

Confused about how to handle short term rentals in your corporation? Danielle and I did a summary of what condominium corporations need to know. Click here to read about short term rentals in the recent issue of CondoVoice.   Read the article………………

There is presently a fair bit of confusion with respect to how a special meeting of owners is requisitioned and called. This is due, at least in part, to the fact that we are still in a transition period between the “old” and the “new” Condo Act. In this post we explore the steps required […]

The CAT (Condominium Authority Tribunal) has released another important decision on the right of owners to access records. Cangiano v. Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation No. 962 is a dispute over the owner’s right to receive “legible and unaltered” copies of the proxies used at the AGM. The condominium refused to provide unaltered copies because the […]

In a recent case, PSCC No. 984 v. 8465361 Canada Limited, an abusive owner of a commercial condominium unit was ordered by the Superior Court of Justice to vacate and sell his unit.      Read the article………………

When you think of an election what comes to mind? In my experience, an upcoming election means preparing for the barrage of campaign advertising, door-to-door canvassers, and social media posts from your relatives and friends that have questionable fact checking. A significant contributor to the visuals of an election are the seemingly inescapable candidate signs […]