Charging their car should be allowed if owner pays the cost
Can a condo board prevent an owner from using an electrical outlet in a parking unit that is the property of the owner, to charge an electric vehicle?
The Condominium Act provides that a board may make rules respecting the use of common elements and units. This indicates that a rule could be passed providing that the outlets in parking units will not be used to charge vehicles.
Rules, however, must be reasonable. Is it reasonable to pass such a rule because the cost of the large amounts of electricity used will be a common expense shared by all of the unit owners? Or would the rule be considered unreasonable because the owner will be unable to use a car that he cannot fuel while parked in his parking unit?
In order to avoid having those questions answered by an arbitrator, it would be advisable for the rule to permit use of the outlet for that purpose provided that the unit owner agrees in writing with the corporation to pay to the corporation the cost of the corporation installing a meter to measure electrical output at the outlet and the cost of the recorded hydro.
My mother nicked the garage door when driving out of the parking garage. There was no damage to the door but my mother advised management of the incident. A few days later she received an invoice for four hours’ repair work. My mother, my wife and I had been in and out of the garage several times on the day the invoice stated the repair work was done and did not observe any work being performed. There is a video camera aimed at the garage door but management refused my written request to see the video of the repair. Am I not entitled to see the video?
The video constitutes a record of the condominium corporation. You are entitled to examine it, in accordance with Section 55 of the Condominium Act, after providing the board of directors with reasonable written notice of your request.
If the corporation — without reasonable excuse — does not permit you to see it, it must pay you $500 upon receiving a written request for payment. This can be enforced by an action in Small Claims Court. The court may also order the corporation to produce the video for your examination.
I am 83 years old and I sometimes use the craft room in our complex several times a day. This requires me to go to the security office, which is two buildings away, to get the room’s key and then retrace my steps later to return the key. Only three other people use the room and each has been given a key. I have been refused a key for security reasons. What are your thoughts?
I assume that the room is part of the common elements. The Condominium Act provides that owners have the right to make reasonable use of the common elements.
It also provides that directors must act honestly and in good faith. The board would not appear to be acting in good faith in refusing to provide an 83-year-old owner with a key to a common element craft room while providing a key to others.
It also seems the board is contravening the act by refusing to provide you with reasonable access to the craft room. 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.