The basics
The first commitment you must make is in time. You will need to spend countless hours learning all you can about the condo corporation, the board members, the property management company, the Condominium Act, all your corporation documents and financial records.

You will need to search the Internet for helpful sites and articles that can give you advice and ideas on how to gain control of your board. There are books you should read.

Then you will have to spend a lot more time organizing, supporting and encouraging other owners to join the cause.
 
You need to know that this fight may be costly. You will need to spend time and money on leaflets, mailings, title searches, taking the board to small claims court, publishing notices and setting up a website.

At some point, you will need to retain a competent lawyer who specializes in condo law and who does his or her own litigation to take the corporation to superior court.

In this type of fight, if the board is nasty, a store-front generalist may be worse than no lawyer at all. An initial retainer of $5,000 to an experienced condo lawyer sounds about right. By the time this is all over, you may run up to $20,000 in legal bills that will need to be paid as your court case proceeds through the different steps.

You will need to be mentally tough. These types of fights will drain you. Fighting with your neighbours is emotionally exhausting. There will be many a time when you will wish you never started this fight.

It is crucial that you have the active support of some of your fellow owners; people who will also put in time, work and money to be part of this struggle.

Finally, your family needs to understand how hard this fight will be and they must be fully supportive before you even think of starting.

Skills
In a battle like this you, or your fellow owners, will need certain skills. They include:

1.	Gathering and properly filing written records.
2.	The ability to read and comprehend the corporation’s declaration, by-laws, policies and rules and the Condominium Act.
3.	The ability to read the auditor’s report and the financial statements.
4.	Research items on the Internet.
5.	Typing letters, leaflets and affidavits.
6.	The ability to record detailed notes after any important incident.
7.	Organizing skills to build support among the owners.
8.	Anger management so you do not get into verbal arguments or be abusive with the directors, the manager or their supporters.
9.	Hosting an Internet site.

Grit “They tell me you are a man with true grit.” —True Grit 2010 Grit is the courage and resolve to stick with it until it is over. The board and their supporters will try to wear you down. You are going to lose sleep and you are going to be verbally abused, snubbed & may possibly receive threats. Vandalism is possible; your car may be keyed, sugar put in the gas tank, your tires slashed or your front door marked. Some of your supporters will give up and sell their units. That is heartbreaking but expected.

The board too will lose supporters when they sell so it should balance itself out.

Set your goals early on and track your progress. That will give you comfort and confidence.

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