| 1. |
No fee increases "maintenance fee" maintenance fee $519/monthly, included everything, even tv cable. from 2005 to 2014, last 10 years, maintenance fee only increased $30. —posting on Condo Advisory 15 Nov 2014 |
| The above was posted on Condo Advisory, a condo rating site. It refers to a condo high-rise in Mississauga. Note: "from 2005 to 2014, last ten years, maintenance fee only increased $30." | |
| How do they get away with this? It's simple. They do the minimum of maintenance, starve the reserve funds and ignore water leaks in the underground parking garage, a serious cockroach infestation and the crumbling bricks on the exterior walls. | |
| A real estate agent told me that he took a client to look at this building and it looked so rough that he lost the client. | |
| Here is an example from another condo, this one situated in the west-end of Toronto. | |
| "Bank Statements: As reported both at the Annual General Meeting and a subsequent owners’ information meeting, the amount of monthly common expenses has not been increased in over seven years. As a result, given increases in utilities costs in recent years, it was necessary to use reserve fund money on an emergency basis to pay utility bills." |
|
| The above statement was written in a letter by the condo corporation's lawyer to a tiny group of disgruntled owners. | |
| 2. |
Owners can't see the
corporation's records As much as possible, everything is kept a secret from the owners so they will not know how bad things are. Requests to see the financial records are ignored. |
| 3. |
No
AGMs This is far more common than you would expect. One west-end condo, after the "reformers" gained control in 2007, had AGMs in the following years. 2008 Elected a new board. 2012 The result of a requisition meeting started by disgruntled owners. 2014 The disgruntled owners were agitating for another AGM. In seven years, this condo had three AGMs and in each case, the financial statements for the previous year were not presented. |
| 4. |
Cutting back on
services The board cuts costs by closing amenities, eliminating security, cutting the cleaning hours and skipping regularly scheduled maintenance. |
| 5. |
Windows
aren't washed It is hard to think that clean windows is important when the condo is not paying the water or electrical bills but unwashed windows is also a sign that the roof anchors have not passed inspection by a qualified engineer. |
| 6. |
Major
water leaks The leaking roof and hot water risers get patched, not replaced and the leaking building envelope and underground parking garage leaks are ignored. |
| 7. |
Cockroach infestations It is surprising how many condos ignore large-scale roach infestations. |
| 8. |
Unqualified
contractors When the fees are too low, it is obvious that the board will hire the cheapest contractors that they can find. Cheap does not mean good or even adequate; just cheap. |
| 9. |
Reserve Fund Studies Instead of having an updated Reserve Fund Study every three years, one west-end condo had one done at eight years and then refused approve the study or show the engineers' report to the owners. |
| 10. |
Starting to look ratty Many low-fee condos focus on "curb appeal" by keeping the front entrance, the lobby and the hallways looking good but they give the game away if a potential buyer takes a look at the staircases or if they take a walk through the underground parking garage. |
| 11. |
Bills
aren't paid in
full The monthly bills get paid in rotation with the corporation racking up tens of thousands in penalties. Much of this is hidden from the owners. |
| 12. |
Opponents
are harassed Owners who challenge the board by asking to see the records or run against the incumbents are harassed and they receive expensive legal letters that they must pay or get a lien on their unit. |