If you have done all I have suggested, aside
from the directors, you probably
know as much about the condo corporation as anyone living in your
condominium.
You may have learnt that the condo is being poorly
managed and the majority of the board members are entrenched and intend
to remain in power.
The reserve fund may be empty, there's annual
operating deficits, the building is
visually starting to deteriorate and the the cockroaches and the mould
have taken over.
Yet the majority of owners are determined to keep the fees low.
Therefore
there is little hope that the corporation can be turned around.
Maybe the condo is in good shape and the finances are in good order.
The problem is a noisy neighbour, water leaks in your unit, cigarette
smoke entering your unit, dogs barking or other issues that effect
mainly just you.
It is time for you to make a decision:
a)
cut your loses and sell.
b)
ignore
what you have learnt and put up with it all.
c)
challenge the board.
Sell
My best advice is for you to sell your unit and get out while your home
still maintains its value. If this board remains in place, you will never be happy.
If you fight the board you will have to put in a tremendous amount of
time, energy, stress, lost sleep and money into a battle you may not
win.
Suffer in silence
A second option is for you to ignore the problem. Let someone else
figure out what is going on and fight the board. There are a lot of
silent and isolated owners who are afraid to challenge their board.
I
know one ex-board member who plans his annual vacation so he will be
out of town when his condo's Annual General Meetings are held. It gives
him an excuse not to attend.
However,
this is a poor long-term choice as the corporation will find itself in
serious financial difficulties at some point down the road and your
financial well-being will be at serious risk.
Wait for
government intervention
There are some owners who know their board is either incompetent or are
deliberately fleecing them. They grumble and complain to no end yet
they do nothing to oppose the board. They will not actively
help an owner who wants to try to kick the rascals out of office.
Instead they whine that all resistance is hopeless and that we have to
wait for the government to recognize our plight and change the
Condominium Act so owners will have a tribunal, a cheap and informal
way to seek redress from an unjust board.
They will get their tribunal but I think these people will end up
deeply disappointed as the tribunal will not solve many of these
disputes.
Prepare for
Doomsday “The
famine shall consume the land.” —Genesis
41:30
If you are going to stay in a doomed condo, and you are on a fixed
income, start putting a $200 or more away each month in a separate
savings account. Don’t touch that Doomsday Fund because you will need
it when the higher condo fees and special assessments appear. Appear
they will.