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Archive for September, 2008
Strata Document Review Service
Sunday, September 21st, 2008Other
Council can’t impose fees without rule or bylaw
Sunday, September 21st, 2008Tony Gioventu
Province
Dear Condo Smarts: I own two rental units in Vancouver. A number of us owners have noticed that our strata fees are not being allocated the same way ,so I started asking questions.
Without my knowledge, one of my tenants had requested the additional use of a parking stall. The council granted the request but there was a charge of $125 per month. After three months the tenant stopped paying the rental, so the council decided to add it to my monthly strata fees.
Without advising me, the property manager adjusted my direct withdrawal amount to pay the parking-space rental. Several other owners have also noted similar problems. I have two questions: How do we stop the strata from charging for items we didn’t authorize? And how does the strata get to charge additional rental fees above strata fees?
— JW, Edmonton
Dear JW: Legislation permits the charge of user fees for common property and common assets if the fee is reasonable and it is set out in either a bylaw duly passed and registered by the corporation, or a rule created by council that has been ratified at the next general meeting.
Council itself does not have the ability to impose the fee. Council may create a rule that sets out the conditions of the user fees and the rates, and then the owners by majority vote have to ratify those user fees and rates at their next general meeting.
User fees are designed to permit additional benefits to owners, tenants and occupants on a user-pay basis. They include items such as additional parking, storage lockers, common grounds for uses like greenhouses and community gardens, moorage at marinas, health facilities and golf-course memberships.
Strata councils also need to understand that rules and bylaws are enforced against the individuals who enter into the agreements or violate bylaws. If the tenant stopped paying, the strata corporation has the right to remove the use of the space; it does not have the right to impose this against your strata fees and direct payments without your consent.
It is in the best interest of both the landlord and the tenant to identify such additional costs and bylaw fines and penalties in your tenancy agreement before you agree to the rental. Landlords who rent strata units in B.C. need to be aware that they ultimately are liable for their tenants’ actions if the tenant departs and they are left with fines and costs incurred by the tenant.
A common cost landlords do not anticipate is a large insurance deductible if, for example, the tenant floods the building. If the tenant has no insurance or is unwilling to pay the amount, the landlord may be faced with the cost.
Contact your council or manager and address the matter quickly. If there are additional costs or violations, the strata must — under section 135 of the Strata Property Act of British Columbia — provide you with notice of a violation of a bylaw or rule, and an opportunity of a hearing or written response before any fines or penalties may be imposed.
Tony Gioventu is executive director of the Condominium Home Owners’ Association (www.choa. bc.ca). E-mail him at tony@ choa.bc.ca.
© The Vancouver Province 2008
Condo buyers kept in dark
Sunday, September 21st, 2008Province
Each day that B.C.’s elected representatives fail to resume their seats in the Legislature serves as a reminder to the rest of us that our politicians have failed in their commitment to serve the people.
One example of their neglect is the failure of then-Liberal finance minister Gary Collins in 2003 to make good on a promise to revamp the inadequate and antiquated Strata Property Act.
It’s been five years and they’ve done diddly squat.
So much for the hundreds of thousands of condo owners and potential strata buyers in B.C. who aren’t getting the homeowners’ protection that is their right.
Indeed, the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association says many of the more than 460,000 residents in B.C. with condo-property investments are at risk because of strata provisions that haven’t been publicly scrutinized or updated since 1998.
In the meantime, strata home ownership has increased to represent one in four taxable properties in B.C. — generating a sizeable chunk of revenue for the surplus-bloated provincial government.
Victoria‘s insouciance means B.C. is lagging behind other provinces in failing to keep up with the massive changes that have occurred in the strata-ownership market, especially on the West Coast, over the years.
There are a host of key deficiencies in our legislation — according to the association whose extensive review is available at www.visoa.bc.ca — that create hassles and hurdles for condo owners seeking information from, or about, strata councils and developers.
These inadequacies are responsible for many dysfunctional strata communities. They cause stress on owners, particularly first-time buyers and retirees, and help erode the market value of condos. They include: n Lack of adequate requirements for disclosure of property condition and financial data.
n Lack of prosecution or penalties for developers who ignore or breach the law.
n Lack of an adequate dispute-resolution process; the current one does more to indulge irresponsible actions than address them.
n Lack of protection of the rights of strata homeowners due to inadequate standards for licensing strata managers.
One of the most important recommendations brought to the government’s attention by the island association is the need for a dispute-resolution process for strata condo owners similar to the one offered by B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Branch for landlords and tenants.
“Strata owners require simple, direct and affordable access to due process for enforcing the [act] and resolving issues,” the report states.
“The transparency and accountability needed in strata legislation should start with the process used to develop it.” Indeed, condo owners and prospective strata-property buyers have been waiting too long for government to clean up its Act, particularly considering the hefty Property Transfer Tax they’re required to pay the B.C. government on every purchase.
Government estimates of revenue from the PPT for fiscal 2008-09 run as high as $1 billion, a substantial chunk of that money will come from the sales of new and previously owned strata condos.
Their owners deserve better.
© The Vancouver Province 2008