Professional help
Fighting against a corporation is a complicated affair and it is
outside the most peoples' experience. So, at some point you are going
to need some professional advice and assistance.
A lawyer
When you have got a group together, you will need to see an experienced
condominium lawyer to get some legal advice. Later on, you may retain
this lawyer to represent you at the AGM, give advice on small claim
procedures and to take the corporation to court.
You may come to an agreement with the lawyer that if you win control of
the board, you wish to retain he or she as the corporate lawyer. In
return, the lawyer may give you a reduced hourly fees.
This can work out as the existing corporation lawyer has probably sided
with the board to such a degree that his neutrality is more than
suspect and your reform board would not want to work with him.
I must point out that in many cases the distrust and bad feelings
against the corporation's lawyer is not deserved. His job is to
represent the
corporation and the corporation is the majority on the board. So try
not to make it
personal.
A property
manager
An experienced property manager can give a group of owners a lot of
excellent ideas on how to win elections and toss out a bad board.
Of course, it is understood, either openly or otherwise, that the
property management company that is helping your group will be given
the management contract when you gain control of the board.
Just be very sure that this company would be a good fit for your condo
corporation.
Be careful
You may be approached by a property manager who has heard that you are
attempting to replace your board and is willing to help.
I would be cautious about accepting assistance from a property
management company that shows up unannounced. They too are interested
in securing a contract with
your corporation if you are successful.
However, it is possible that the manager works for a small company who
is trying to raid a competitor's building. Not all of these people are
especially scrupulous.
It seems that there are a handful of property management companies that
make it a standard business practice, when they get a new contract, to
drain the reserve funds by awarding a flurry of contracts to favoured
contractors. They drive the corporation into debt and then propose
loans to replenish the depleted reserves.
If you commit to giving someone, who is basically a stranger, the
management contract without carefully checking the reputation of
the company you might be making a very expensive mistake.
top contents
chapter previous
next