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Condo News
29 November 2016

Burlington ex-alderman rants about parking at new condos
Council is becoming anti-driver. Burlington residents, with the highest car ownership per capita in the GTA (. 07), aren't abandoning cars to take our substandard transit. When transit is efficient, fine, but our winding road system is not designed for efficient transit, with its lack of a grid system, and highways criss-crossing the city. With escalating home costs, often both spouses work. Two cars become necessities, not luxuries. And too often council is reducing the on-site parking requirements for new, tall condos.

Council seems infatuated with planning guru Brent Toderian, whose mantra is pedestrians and cyclists first, drivers last. Great in a new city, working from a blank slate. Impractical for a fully developed city where everything requires costly retrofitting.
http://bit.ly/2gVNdj6

BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decisions
Disputes between strata boards and owners can now go to a tribunal. The first decision has been posted.
https://www.civilresolutionbc.ca/crt-decisions/

Article from USA
Dog Pee
This woman constantly allows her bull dog to urinate on the bushes we paid for with our own money. This dog has killed two of the plants and a third is dying. We will now turn this over to Prince William County Police.
https://youtu.be/fetzKOlLD1Y

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Condo News
29 November 2016
John Tory set to back tax on hotels, short-term rentals
Tax would be applied to all hotels and accommodations, including short-term rentals such as Airbnb. I suspect that his will have limited impact on condo short-term rentals as there are dozens of companies and hundreds of individuals renting short-term unitsand the city will not be able to track them down.

Tory will also support a move to kill a program that offers rebates to owners of vacant commercial and industrial buildings. This may be more serious for condo developers as there are hundreds (thousands?) of empty retail units sitting under condo towers through out the city that are presently not taxed.
http://on.thestar.com/2gkrHjK

Van theft was doggone scary for pooch owners
It's been towed. That’s what first went through the mind of professional dog-sitter Alison Fodero when a staff member informed her a van containing 16 pet dogs vanished during a routine pickup at a downtown Toronto condo.
http://bit.ly/2fUrh3B


Landlords facing 'grim' times as Calgary vacancy rate rises
Close to 40% of Calgary’s available rental listings are currently unoccupied, according to a local property management company which says the weak market has become a major source of financial stress for small, private landlords.
http://bit.ly/2ffNIEc

Many Canadians could not pay bills if mortgage rates increase: Manulife survey
Nationwide survey by bank also finds that nearly half of homeowners do not have an adequate emergency fund – and that more than a third of Millennials think interest rates are too high.

If this report is accurate, and there is no reason to think otherwise, then many condo owners are in big trouble. What happens if there is a Special Assessment? Monthly expenses go up? There is a massive flood, or a fire, and they have to move out for a few months?

If enough owners are broke, then it would be impossible to govern a condo in a financial prudent manner. That makes the condo corporation broke with the Reserves being the first thing to get cut.
http://bit.ly/2ftU7vE

On Twitter
• Controlling condensation during winter.
• Toronto police arrest Russian daredevil spotted at a condo by alert security.
• BC strata’s (condo's) smoking bylaw; not discrimination under HRC.
• Rosedale residents upset about a proposed 4-story condo. NIMBY.
• Virginia pool management company hit with child labor violations.
• Rivertowne man gunned down in condo townhouse.
• 96 year-old Australian activist takes on strata aged-care industry.
• Toronto's Honeydale, a dead mall is in limbo.

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Condo News
24 November 2016

Today's issue is all about law & order!


Hamilton residents stop suspected robbers in their condo building
Residents at the Chateau Royale building held the suspects until police arrived.

Residents confronted the pair in the building, and there was a struggle. One suspect had a firearm, police say. The other had an "edged weapon believed to be a knife."
http://bit.ly/2fO90aU

'Professional tenant' James Regan finally forced from Toronto apartment
On the day he was charged with assaulting his former landlord, James Regan, 62, was finally forced out of the Avenue Road apartment he's occupied since July without paying any rent.  (See his photo below.)

Under the court-ordered supervision of two sheriffs, landlord Robin Ennis changed the locks on the apartment Tuesday morning.
https://yhoo.it/2geKQHt

Ex-mayor Michael Applebaum's lawyer questions naiveté of Crown witness in corruption trial
Stein told the court that to pass his project through various stages of approval at the borough, he was asked to pay tens of thousands of dollars.

"A kickback, I guess, would be the definition. I would call it extortion, some would call it a bribe," he testified.
http://bit.ly/2fCPviY

Owner of a Toronto property company arrested for fraud
A couple of weeks ago, the owner of a very small property management company was arrested on six charges of fraud related offences. The alleged victim was a mid-size condo corporation in the east-end.

There are few details available at this time but I will update this report when more details are announced.

Article from USA
Who had the most police calls?
North Las Vegas police responded to the Walmart on Lake Mead 441 times in 2015. That's a first place tie with Cheyenne Condo Apartments. (An older two-story condo.)

Here's a report on that condo from an Internet blog:
DO NOT move into the condo complex at that intersection. Nearly every other day we see cops going into the complex, or police helicopters circling overheard. Lots of petty crime and robberies. There's quite a bad vibe emanating from there.
http://bit.ly/2gkBHuO

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Condo News
21 November 2016

Black Cat Friday
This week, the City of Toronto has black cats—and black & white ones—for adoption at the city annimal shelters at a very special price. The $75.00 fee is wavered. For more information:
http://bit.ly/1ClE3RB

From dream home to unholy mess
Buyers of pre-construction condos at a Toronto church conversion have had their deposits returned. They can buy their units at new increased prices.
http://on.thestar.com/2gDwemi

An immigrant security guard's triumphant homecoming
Mayank Bhatt returned to the warm embrace of residents of a Forest Hill condo where he once worked as a security guard. But this time he was there to do a reading from his newly published novel.
http://on.thestar.com/2gexcSt

On Twitter
• St. Pete Florida police: Man did $80K in damage to cars in condo parking lot.
• Florida condo rip-off: Tenant sues condo association over high fees.
• Ohio condo owners dealing with costly construction mistakes.
https://twitter.com/condo_madness

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Condo News
20 November 2016

Renting a condo?

James Regan
Do Not rent your condo unit to this man. Never give him a key for any reason.
He has stiffed his last two or three landlords.

He has been recently evicted and may be looking for new digs. Last seen in the Bloor-Yorkville area.

If you work at a car dealership, don't let him take a car out for a test drive and all retailers; don't sell him anything unless he pays in-full, up-front.

Look him up on a search engine.
http://bit.ly/2fdjm06

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Condo News
17 November 2016

Condo management program at George Brown
The program, which will be a part-time, evenings and weekends offering when it launches in January at George Brown’s St. James campus, is being facilitated in partnership with the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario.
http://on.thestar.com/2eZC9fe

Former Ontario government employee sought by OPP in fraud investigation
A former director with the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services and his wife are being sought in a fraud investigation.

Provincial police say the allegations were brought forward in January of last year and warrants have now been issued for the couple’s arrest.

Police say Shabbir Evershine, 37, is charged with breach of trust, fraud over $5,000 and conspiracy.

His wife Rashida Evershine, 36, director of B52 Global Inc., is charged with fraud over $5,000 and conspiracy. Police are asking for information on their whereabouts.
http://bit.ly/2fUeKwX

Articles from USA
Disney's troubled community
“We bought cabins on the Titanic,” said Cookie Kelly, 73 years old, who has lived in Celebration since 1998. Now the leaking and mouldy condos and homes are hard to sell.
http://bit.ly/2fVwsB3

Homeowners left hanging after $276,000 stolen from condo association
What is new here is that the money was removed from the condo corporation's bank account electronically.
http://bit.ly/2gi7Rtx


CondoMadness on Twitter
I put a lot of links on my Twitter account. I suggest that you visit it to get the latest interesting condo news. The latest Tweets are:
• Installing a hot tub on your condo balcony.
• $250k is stolen and the condo board takes 6 months to tell the owners.
• Residents along Bloor-Bathurst fret about new residental towers.
• American management company owners arrested/sentenced for corruption.
• Mississauga & St. Catharines denied condo conversions.
• Ex-mayor of Montreal's trial for fraud.
• Crime in condos.
• Ottawa condo giving owners fines.
• Disney magic is wearing off. Condos with mould & leaks that owners can't sell.
• "we are not smart enough to figure out how he did it." condo management thief tells court-appointed reciever. The crook was wrong.
https://twitter.com/condo_madness

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Condo News
13 November 2016

Toronto water rates
Toronto is working on its 2017 budget and this will effect the condo operating expenses. The 2017 water rate will be increased by 5% compared to the usual 8-9% increase. The money is being used to repair old water and sewage lines.

The bigger budget items will be voted on over the next few months.

$7.5 million missing from Richmond lawyer's trust account disrupts
real estate transactions

A BC lawyer claims that her former bookkeeper and legal assistant developed a relationship beyond their office work and conspired with accomplices to unlawfully remove the money from her trust account.

Some of the millions missing from Guo’s account were converted to cash in a B.C. casino before the bookkeeper and legal assistant fled to China
http://bit.ly/2f3mxIH

It’s time to think about living in parking garages
There are proposals to build above-ground parking levels that can later be converted to residential units if car ownership becomes less desirable.

None built yet but there are a few proposals on the drawing boards.
http://bit.ly/2ezl2S4

Condo Law Digest
Jeanette Bicknell, Chartered Mediator, writes a very good blog on condo disputes. Makes very good reading for condo directors and owners.
http://www.pdrc.ca/blog/

Articles from USA
San Francisco homeowners on the hook for thousands in city fines
If you rent your home to a tenant and she rents the unit as short-term rentals, the owner can face thousands in fines. What's worse, the tenant can be very difficult to evict.
http://bit.ly/2fHtArv

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Condo News
09 November 2016

Condo fraudster faces four-year prison sentence
A 47-year-old con artist who stole $3 million from 13 area condo corporations while posing as a trustworthy property manager faces four years in prison.

Brett MacKenzie Leahey will also have to pay back the funds he swiped from condo owners in Hamilton and Burlington, court heard Tuesday.

"It was sophisticated. It was 'large-scale fraud.' A breach of trust," Crown prosecutor Harutyun Apel said in a courtroom packed with Leahey's fraud victims.

Leahey, who pleaded guilty Oct. 13, carried out the scam between 2009 and 2014 before Halton police arrested him last year.

The St. Catharines resident used his position as property manager to siphon $3 million from the 13 condo corporations and a business partner.
http://bit.ly/2eTlhru
http://bit.ly/2fCOGWJ

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Condo News
07 November 2016

Condos are the glass menageries of Toronto: Mallick
We didn’t give explicit permission to have our personal lives exposed. It just sort of happened. Glass walls enable surveillance by weird neighbours, which is something women should consider.
http://on.thestar.com/2fuGo8q

The case of the missing LRT poles

Artistic renderings of an LRT train driving through the International Village on King Street East. (City of Hamilton) Where are the ugly electrical poles?
http://bit.ly/2fu1fFx

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Condo News
04 November 2016

How a family of 4 stays sane in a 1-bedroom condo in Toronto
Goodtimes family use creativity and organization to make their small space work.
http://bit.ly/2eul5i4

What is Toronto’s condominium vacancy rate ?
Basically the vacancy numbers include all the condos ever built instead of just the ones that are for rent or in the rental pool. This means that our vacancy rate number essentially means nothing and even tiny fluctuations represent thousands of units on the market.
http://bit.ly/2ePEmgP
http://bit.ly/2euMG2P

Toronto renters blast remote security system after homeless men found asleep in shared spaces

A homeless person sleeps in an apartment tower's basement bathroom in a picture provided by a building resident frustrated with management's decision to get rid of human security guards.
http://bit.ly/2f7QZWA

New water, garbage rate hikes to be revealed Friday
Expect a minimum 10% increase in 2017, Toronto councillor warns.
http://bit.ly/2eSkcmq

Elderly couple arrested by RCMP at strata (condo) meeting speak out
An elderly couple at the centre of a shocking incident involving RCMP in Coquitlam last week, is talking to Global News.
http://bit.ly/2ftAZ16

Another report on this incident from the Daily Hive Vancouver
According to Victor Kim, who filmed the altercation, the RCMP were called to keep the peace after insults were thrown and residents came close to violence.

“The vote was rigged, that’s why everything happened,” Kim tells Daily Hive.

Kim alleges the elderly lady in the video approached the ballot box to sign the tape used to seal it and prevent tampering. One of the officers allegedly pushed her away from the box and the dispute escalated.

Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week, November 1 to 7
If you live in a condo or apartment building with a service room, CO alarms must be installed in the service room and adjacent to each sleeping area of all homes above, below and beside the service room. In condo or apartment buildings that have a garage, CO alarms must be installed adjacent to each sleeping area of all homes above, below and beside the garage.
http://bit.ly/2f8zBj6

Articles from USA
Woman arrested for stealing from unlocked Chicago condo units
Do you keep your condo unit unlocked? If so why?
http://bit.ly/2ehu5cU

Rancho Palos Verdes seniors stranded in condos as elevator
repairs drag

Half of the condo's residents are over 80. The one elevator should have been repaired long ago. The lesson here: Hire reputable contractors.
http://bit.ly/2fcmhZ0

Old feud fueled shotgun-toting woman, says lawyer whom she threatened
Couture said Monday he believes Currie, age 75, was driven to threaten him due to her long-standing legal feud with the homeowners association in her Mandeville neighborhood.

Currie and the homeowners association have feuded since at least 1992, when Fairway Villas filed suit against Currie for not paying her monthly dues. Currie —who purchased her condominium in the neighborhood in 1978, a year after Fairway Villas was formed—then filed an unsuccessful appeal, leading to a string of court cases fighting over the dues.

In all, court records show nearly 20 suits and appeals have been filed between Currie and the homeowners association since 1998.
http://bit.ly/2f5XHLC


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