Courses among tweaks coming to Condo Act
I understand that amendments to the Condominium Act will require directors to attend courses about condo management. But that change has not yet become law. However, can we now demand that our directors attend these classes, which ours have refused to do?
Until Bill 106 — which contains amendments to the Condominium Act — becomes law, there is no legal requirement for members of your building’s board to take educational programs.
The board could pass a bylaw making such programs a qualification of becoming or remaining a director. But, from your question, it appears that your directors will refuse to pass such a bylaw.
Is it my responsibility, or that of the condominium corporation, to pay the cost of repairs for the front door lock for my suite? Is the lock not considered part of the common elements?
The entry doors to units in a highrise condominium are invariably common elements. Repair of the door and the lock within the door is the obligation of the condominium corporation.
The corporation could hold you responsible for the cost if it alleges that the lock was damaged by your negligence. If you arranged for the lock repair, the corporation could also maintain that the repair was the corporation’s responsibility and not yours and might deny that it was necessary.
Our board states that the cost of allowing the automatic renewal of the corporation’s contract with Rogers TV does not make financial sense.
The board also says the corporation will use its right to cancel the contract and that each owner should contract with Rogers for individual service. It appears that the cost to each owner will be greater than under the present arrangement. Can the board refuse to renew the contract?
The Condominium Act requires the corporation to take certain steps before changing a service provided to the owners by the corporation, unless the cost of the change is less than the greater of $1,000 and 1 per cent of the corporation’s budget for the current fiscal year.
The corporation might argue that the cost to the corporation will disappear entirely because each owner will incur the owner’s own cost. I am of the opinion that if the total cost to the owners is greater than the present cost to the corporation by more than 1 per cent of the budget, the corporation cannot cancel the contract without notifying the owners in accordance with Section 97 of the act of the estimated cost of the cancellation and giving owners of at least 15 per cent of the units the right to requisition a meeting to vote on the termination.
If the meeting is requisitioned, the board could proceed only if the owners do not vote against the cancellation. 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.