Property manager out of line
Role is to advise board, not to run meetings and control the minutes
Q: Our onsite property manager dominates and controls our board meetings. He cuts off discussion and directs the minute taker as to what she should record. Does he have the power to interfere in this way? What can we do? A: Almost all property managers understand the relationship between the manager and the board. The term manager is misleading. It is the board and not the manager that has a statutory obligation to manage the property.
The property manager’s roles are to provide advice to the board when requested, to carry out the day-to-day administrative functions specified in the management agreement and to carry out the board’s instructions.
Corporation bylaws invariably provide that directors’ meetings are to be chaired by the condominium president. The property manager is a guest at board meetings and has no authority to take part except as permitted by the chair.
The board might bring the problem to the attention of the management company and request that a new property manager be appointed if the situation is not corrected.
NO APPROVAL REQUIRED
Q: Our corporation has a set of common elements improvements standards for owners that are a schedule to our rules. The standards are changed from time to time without the notification to the owners required for the amendment of a rule, i.e., a notice permitting owners of 15 per cent of the units to requisition a meeting to vote on the standards. Isn’t that notice required? A: An owner’s right to alter the common elements is dealt with in Section 98 of the Condominium Act. The board must approve the alteration by resolution. The ap- proval is entirely at the board’s discretion and can be upon whatever terms or standards the board determines. The board may develop a list of general requirements for its approval and may amend those requirements from time to time. Owners have no right to vote on the board’s requirements or amendments. The board, in order to prevent confusion, should eliminate the reference to the requirements being a schedule to the corporation’s rules.
DELEGATING OWNERSHIP
Q: I engaged a management company to look after my investments, including the condo unit I own, which is rented. Despite my written instructions, the condominium board of directors refuses to send notices to that company, maintaining that the corporation must deal with the registered unit owner. Is that correct? A: No. The Condominium Act provides that a corporation must send required notices to each owner who has notified the corpora- tion in writing of the owner’s name and address. You are entitled to advise the corporation that your address for service is the address of your management company.
BALCONY LAUNDRY LINE
Q: I noticed one of the directors taking pictures of my balcony. The board then advised that I must stop drying laundry on my balcony. The corporation’s rules specify: “No hanging or drying of clothes is allowed on any part of the common elements.” A separate section of the rules, however, deals with “exclusive use areas,” which includes balconies but makes no mention of drying laundry. Is the board’s position correct? A: The prohibition clearly applies to balconies, which are common elements. The prohibition is valid and it was not necessary that it be repeated in the rules relating to balconies.