• |
Water leaking from a unit above. The owner had to pay for plumbing repairs that were later found to have originated in a different unit. The board is refusing to reimburse him his costs and it is possible they have fabricated their plumber's report. |
• |
An owner, who rents out her unit is not getting the utility records from the condo in time to file her income tax form. |
• |
For three years an owner had insufficient current feeding his stove. The board said that it was problem within his unit. The owner hired an electrician who found that the breaker in the hallway closet was defective. He had to pay to have the breaker repaired. |
• |
Two elevators have been
out of service for some time. When the owners
complain, they are told that the condo doesn't have the money to fix
then but the owner who has the complaint can pay to have them repaired. owners are threatened with being charged with trespass if they go into the management office to report problems. |
• |
They also receive threatening letters from the condo's lawyer if they ask individual board members questions in the elevators or hallways. |
• |
A superintendent does not do his work duties but is protected by the board. |
• |
Three members of the board meet privately, agree on what their position is and then pass their motions at the board meetings without allowing the two other directors from having their say. |
• |
The thirty-year old windows in one condo are leaking but the board spends money on a new games room and builds a gym that few use rather than replace the windows. |
• |
There were a lot of complaints about proxies. One condo lawyer told an owner that it was illegal for him to collect proxies and hold them until the registration desk opens at the AGM. The proxies must be submitted to the management office prior to the meeting so the management can do a quality check to insure there are no spoiled ballots. |
• |
In reality, the manager tells owners, one-on-one, to change their proxy and select a "better" qualified candidate. |
• |
The meeting ended with a discussion on the owner's rights to talk to their neighbours and solicit proxies. |
The tall glass wall condos that are being built in the
GTA took a
beating from critics in this Toronto Star article. Here are
some excerpts.
Ted Kesik, a professor of building science at the University of Toronto
and an outspoken critic of the condo development industry, says he,
too, worries that condo developers care more about profits than
ensuring their buildings last.
“I feel sorry for people in buildings like that, because those windows are going to fall out in an extreme weather event. There will be water damage. It’s just going to be a mess.”
And “window walls,” the system most developers are using, are not as pricey, durable or difficult to put up as “curtain walls,” which is how Toronto’s commercial towers were built.
For Kesik, it’s also an insurance issue. “Premiums are already rising because of climate change,” says Kesik, who predicts that condo owners will see increases of 500 per cent over the years.
“I have always maintained that, when you’re looking at those glass towers there, you’re basically looking at the slums of the future,” insists Kesik.
“No one will want to buy them because people will look at them and say, ‘Are you crazy? I don’t want to buy something that leaks, that will cost a fortune to retrofit.’ So when they can’t get sold, they’ll get rented. And they’re not of a high quality, so they can’t get rented for a lot of money. So who do you think is going to live there? I tell people, this is where your grandchildren are going to come to buy crack.
“No one wants to talk about these things because it gets people scared,” he warns. “The guys in the condos don’t want to talk about it because they’re sitting there saying, ‘You can’t talk like that, you’re going to devalue my condo and, if you devalue my condo, I am going to sue you for having devalued my real estate investment.’
“This
is how bad it has gotten. It’s that cruel a joke.”
1. |
Directors not trained to carry out their duties. The CCI training courses are expensive and many directors are not willing to give up their weekends to take them. |
2. |
Two directors at one condo are refusing to allow the owners to have a copy of the owner's list. |
3. |
Aside from going to court, there is no enforcement of the Condominium Act. |
4. |
A manager is demanding $800 before he will show an owner the requested corporation documents. |
5. |
When owners bring their proxies down to the management office, the manager tells them to change their proxy and vote for the incumbents. |
6. |
One manager openly bragged that "this contract will pay for my family's trip to Florida." |
7. |
A superintendent who is extremely verbally abusive towards female owners and the cleaners is protected by the manager and the board. |
8. |
Contractors at a condo are performing poor quality work and are inflating their hours. The manager and board don't care. |
9. |
A president screams at some of the owners during their AGMs. |
10. |
One owner has cigarette smoke entering her unit. The manager and board are ignoring her complaints. |