This month’s news featured a horrifying story of a serious fire at the Millrise, a 159-unit condominium building in Calgary. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt, but 300 people are homeless and the 3-story wooden building was subsequently condemned by the city as uninhabitable.
We carried the following related news articles on our microblog, some of which feature video footage of the fire and resulting damage:
With spring nearly upon us, it’s high time to unleash the winter edition of GMA’s quarterly newsletter. Enjoy it while sitting in the sunshine this week.
Major topics featured in this issue include:
Download a pdf copy here.
For your March break reading pleasure, here’s a big bunch of tweets from our microblog:
Condo corp operating Pacific Mall in Markham announces ambitious plan to double its size and add a hotel operation – http://bit.ly/b5wmS6
Condo dustup over girl’s chalk pictures draws ire – Resident told to erase sidewalk art (via @OttawaCitizen) – http://bit.ly/cEipU5
CAI: "Overwhelming majority" of Americans are satisfied with the governance, management of their community ass’ns – http://bit.ly/ccS0cG
Condo board sues after sex toy salesman turns swank Tribeca condo unit into raucous nightclub (via NY Daily News) – http://bit.ly/djhDB6
Condo Living: Some people aren’t meant to share common walls, ceilings, floors with strangers – (via @chicagotribune) http://bit.ly/91bmv9
For a short month filled with Olympic excitement (Yay Canada!), there was still plenty of great condo-related stuff in the blogosphere in February.
Businesses should learn from 2010 Olympics surveillance camera debate — Winnipeg privacy lawyer Brian Bowman emphasises the importance of having appropriate policies in place to manage the data recorded by surveillance cameras. If your condo has surveillance cameras, you need to implement proper written policies.
Association Driving You Nuts? – Take Out a Creepy Newspaper Advertisement — Roger Wood of Arizona law firm Carpenter Hazlewood blogs about the slings and arrows hurled at HOA/condo boards and their professionals and offers some constructive suggestions to the malcontents who give “barbarians at the gate” a bad name.
Would a Condo and HOA Board Member Draft Solve Our Problems? — Donna Berger debates condo conscription. She also offers some important negotiation tips for community association members in Association Negotiations 101!
The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has become an increasingly popular venue for frustrated condo unit owners to bring their grievances against condo boards and property managers. This is thanks to the low cost to file a case, simple procedure, ability to self-represent and obtain free legal advice and help. Most such cases, however, are not made in response to discrimination where a unit owner’s human rights are violated. Instead, most cases brought by unit owners are complaints relating to bad service, poor treatment, insults or rudeness by the board or manager.
While rudeness and insults to unit owners are never be acceptable, the Human Rights Tribunal is quite properly throwing out cases where the bad behaviour does not amount to legal discrimination or actual violation of human rights. The February 2010 decision of the Human Rights Tribunal in the case of Iourtchak v. York Condominium Corporation No. 201 serves as a good example.
At long last, the official electronic version of the Condominium Act, 1998 has been updated to show the latest amendments made in December 2009. Most of those amendments were made by the Good Government Act, 2009, which amended over 300 Ontario statutes, and hence the long delay in updating the official electronic version of most statutes.
Condominium owners, directors and their professionals should always check to be sure they’re consulting the latest version of legislation and regulations before making decisions. The best way to do this is consult the Ontario Government’s e-Laws website at www.e-laws.gov.on.ca.
At the top of every statute and regulation on e-Laws is a currency date, as well as a reference to the latest amendment. See below picture.
There were lots of newsy condo-related stories in the past month that we tweeted on our microblog. Here are some of them:
ONCA: City was grossly negligent to wait 34 hrs before salting icy sidewalks; ordered to pay $280K in slip and fall – http://url4.eu/1FAAq
BC Strata Property Act amendments now in force – http://bit.ly/aKYYyy
Way to go, #Toronto! City goes to bat for neighbours of cement plant (via Saxe Envirolaw blog) – http://bit.ly/aBEE48
OEB: Toronto Hydro breached Electricity Act by refusing to connect service to the bulk meters at new condos – http://bit.ly/akzGYV
OEB issues compliance order against Toronto Hydro to ensure new condos have choice of smart meter suppliers – http://bit.ly/b145eU
Daily Commercial News: CCDC 2-1994 contract seals being recalled, will be replaced free of charge – http://bit.ly/btTnIP
In a special update released this week, CCI-Toronto and ACMO announced that they have successfully lobbied the provincial government to amend the regulations under the Condo Act so that corporations registered before May 5, 2001 will have 15 years (not 10 years) from the date of their first reserve fund study to top-up their reserve funds.
[Update (March 7, 2010): The regulation making this amendment is now published here.]
Condominium corporations existing as of May 1, 2001 were required to have their first official reserve fund study under the New Act within three years after that date. Generally speaking, that means that they must top up their reserve funds by the year 2016 or 2019.
CCI-Toronto and ACMO deserve kudos for securing this concession to help condo corporations offset the deleterious effects of the ever-looming HST. We wish them well in their continued negotiations with government.
Continue Reading CCI-T and ACMO secure concession to offset impact of HST
The Toronto Chapter of the Canadian Condominium Institute has posted a special info bulletin on how condominium unit owners can claim the Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC).
From the bulletin:
On behalf of CCI Toronto & Area Members, and in conjunction with ACMO, a lawyer specializing in tax law was retained to coordinate a meeting with CRA representatives in order to address many questions submitted by our members regarding the legal interpretation of the HRTC rules and how they affect the practical management of Condominium Corporations. This meeting with CRA representatives was also attended by an Auditor specializing in condominium accounting and taxation.
16 questions and answers are then provided.
See the bulletin (in pdf) here.
Kudos to CCI-T and ACMO for gathering and presenting this useful information.
Pass it on!
In case you spent January at the gym or fulfilling other resolutions for the new decade, here is our mini-digest of noteworthy condo-related posts from the blogosphere last month.
Enjoy the Family Day long weekend!
Records Retention: Going Paperless through E-Archives — Paper is so passé! Marilyn Perez-Martinez of the Florida Condo & HOA Legal Blog describes some of the critical considerations in devising an electronic archive process for storing a condo’s records. The key is in preparing a sound plan.
A Building Component does not become Common Area just because it was placed or built on the Common Area — California HOA attorney David Swedelson blogs on a recent appellate case that sounds strikingly similar to our Court of Appeal’s ruling in Wentworth Condo Corp. 198 v. McMahon.