Board not obligated to fill vacancy with a runner-up
Our board collects sufficient proxies to re-elect directors whose terms expire. I and another candidate were defeated in a recent annual general meeting election by such re-elected directors. Then a board member resigned and the board appointed someone to replace him until the next AGM. Wasn’t the board obligated to appoint one of the two directors defeated in the last election?
The Condominium Act permits a quorum of the board to appoint any qualified person to fill a board vacancy until the next AGM. The board was not obligated to appoint a candidate defeated in the last election. If a rule banning pets can’t be enforced because it has been held to be unreasonable, why is such a ban acceptable if it is in the declaration instead?
The answer is simply because the Condominium Act requires rules to be reasonable. But there is no such requirement in regard to declaration provisions.
The courts have held that a rule limiting the number of dogs in a unit or limiting pets to a certain weight is reasonable but an absolute ban on dogs is not and must, therefore, be in the declaration. Is the condominium corporation responsible for repairing flood damage cause by a dishwasher leak in an owners’ unit?
The cost of flood repairs to the owner’s unit, to other units, or to the common elements in excess of the insurance deductible will be covered by the corporation’s insurance.
The cost of damage repairs up to the amount of the insurance deductible will be the responsibility of the corporation — unless the damage resulted from the act or omission of the unit owner, or someone residing in the owners’ unit, in which event, the cost of repairs up to the amount of the deductible will be added to the owner’s common-expense contributions. All owners of our 40-unit condo pay the same percentage of the corporation’s common expenses. Shouldn’t their participation be based on the comparative size of the units?
There is no requirement that the percentage of each unit owner’s contribution to the corporation’s common expenses, set out in a schedule to the declaration, be based on the size of the unit. If the corporation wishes to change the percentages, it must amend the declaration schedule and that will require the written consent of owners of 90 per cent of the units. What is the length of time for a notice to be sent for an increase in the owners’ contributions to the common expenses?
The owners are obligated to contribute to common expenses in accordance with the unit percentages set out in the schedule to the declaration. The dollar amount of those contributions will increase if the corporation’s common expenses increase. The Condominium Act does not specify the length of a notice required from the corporation to the owners specifying that the previously calculated amounts are increased due to an increase in the corporation’s common expenses. Lawyer Gerry Hyman is a former president of the Canadian Condominium Institute and author of Condominium Handbook. Send questions to gerry@gerryhyman.com or fax to his attention at 416-925-8492.