Condo Act Review 
Phase II  The Experts Report

The Expert Report was been released on 24 September 2013. The public is asked to read the reports on the OnCondo's website. The main reports are:
Executive summary
Full report

Here is the Executive Summary hat the "experts" are proposing.

Condo Office
A new umbrella organization, to be known as the Condo Office, should be set up with four main functions:
• education and awareness
• dispute settlement
• licensing condo managers
• maintaining a condo registry.

The Condo Office would operate at arm’s length from government, but with authority delegated by government. It would be funded by a combination of user fees and a modest levy (estimated at $1 to $3 a month) on each condo unit in the province.

Consumer Protection
Owner protection is to be enhanced by:
•  Ensure “smarter disclosure” (as opposed to just more disclosure). These include an easy-to-read Condominium Guide with essential facts about condo living, and measures that will cut through the complexity and make it easier to find important and relevant information.

• A prohibition on selling or leasing back assets that are normally regarded as part of the common elements, to the condo corporation, as this can inflate the cost of the units. An exception is made for specifically-disclosed, energy-efficient equipment intended to benefit residents.

• A prohibition on deferring (and thus excluding from the first-year budget) operating expenses -- such as elevator maintenance -- which can leave consumers with the mistaken impression that their monthly fees will remain at a certain level when they are actually scheduled to rise.

• Greater certainty over who is responsible for repairing and maintaining certain components of the condo property, such as a balcony that is used by only one condo owner but is part of the common elements.

• Boards should in future compile two budgets: an operating budget and a reserve fund budget. The reserve fund budget would be based on a more rigorously defined reserve fund study and would have to account for deviations from that study.

Boards would have to notify owners of significant off-budget spending from the operating fund or reserve fund.

• The trigger for notice to unit owners regarding changes a board intends to make to the common elements, etc. would be revised from 1% (or $1,000) of the annual budgeted common expenses in any given month, to 3% (or $30,000) of the annual budgeted common expenses in any given 12 month period.

• Improved communication and disclosure of condo corporations’ financial data. A new online course would give owners a better understanding of financial documents.

• Greater flexibility for boards to use the reserve fund for alterations or improvements required by law, such as accessibility requirements; and for green energy improvements.

Dispute Resolution
• The dispute-resolution arm of the Condo Office would help owners, directors and managers obtain quick, reliable, impartial, trusted and inexpensive (or free) information about the Condominium Act, the meanings of by-laws, and other important condo-related matters.

• The Condo Office would also house a Quick Decision Maker empowered to resolve disagreements by making quick, summary decisions on records, charge-backs, proxies, requisitions, and owners’ entitlement to vote.

• More complex disputes would be referred to a new Dispute Resolution Office, also under the Condo Office umbrella. The office would have the expertise and authority to provide a quick, neutral, inexpensive and informed assessment of each case.

Governance
• Minimum periods should be set for retention of condo corporation records.

• Clear requirements should be put in place to ensure that corporate records are easily accessible.

• The use of proxies should be clarified, and the rules for petitioning meetings should be reviewed.

• The threshold for quorums at condo meetings should be adjusted as follows: Up to two meetings could be called subject to a normal 25% threshold.

If the quorum is not met at those two meetings, the Act’s requirements would be deemed to be met and the third meeting would proceed with those present.

• Qualifications for condo board directors should be raised by:
- Mandatory training for first-time members;
- A requirement that no more than one person from a unit may be a director;
- Allowing for by-laws that require a criminal record check;
- Disclosure of legal proceedings between an individual and the corporation.

• A code of ethics should be drawn up for board members, and a charter of rights and responsibilities for both unit owners and directors.

Qualifications for condo board directors should be raised by:
- Mandatory training for first-time members;
- A requirement that no more than one person from a unit may be a director;
- Allowing for by-laws that require a criminal record check;
- Disclosure of legal proceedings between an individual and the corporation.

• A code of ethics should be drawn up for board members, and a charter of rights and responsibilities for both unit owners and directors.

Condo Management
• A two-stage licensing program should be put in place to ensure that condo managers across the province are properly trained and qualified. The first stage of this program would set basic criteria for entry into the profession.

The second stage would build on this foundation, advancing knowledge of the field and developing appropriate skills through course work and experience.

• A new Licensing Authority, with powers delegated by government, would oversee licensing of condo managers. The licensing authority would fall under the Condo Office.

Education
A central challenge of the Condominium Act review is to find ways of encouraging condo owners to look on their homes as part of self-governing communities or neighbourhoods and to understand and accept some responsibility to make those communities work.

Education is thus central to the reform process

Information
If owners and other participants are to make their communities work better, they need reliable, timely and relevant information.

This information falls into two categories: first, how key parts of the system work, such as the board of directors or the reserve fund; second, specific issues, such as the state of the reserve fund, the reasons why specific items are on the agenda for official meetings (such as board meetings), or up to-date information on a renovation project.

Condo board transparency and accountability
The review process has provided ample evidence that many condo owners feel detached from their boards and building managers. Owners have said that they know too little about how or why decisions are made and executed, and they have called for improved transparency and accountability.

The power imbalance between boards and owners
The basic tools for solving disputes under the existing Condominium Act are mediation, arbitration and the courts. These processes usually take a long time and legal costs mount quickly. This reality can be very frustrating for an owner

Method of implementing changes
This report proposes that a significant number of recommendations be implemented through changes to condo by-laws. Because it is often difficult to pass new by-laws or amend existing ones, the expert panel has agreed in principle that voting requirements for by-laws need to be relaxed.

Next Steps
We plan to launch the third and final stage of the review process in the fall of 2013:
• A residents’ panel will review the stage-two recommendations.
• Government officials will draft an action plan for implementing the recommendations.
• Condo residents and other stakeholders will have an opportunity to review the action plan.


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