reaction-retaliation

Retaliation
“As we Canadians like to lecture banana republics, democracy isn't just about voting day. It's also about nominations and due process in between elections.”
—Martin Regg Cohn

Well, it won't get this bad.

When you start a political campaign against the board, they will fight back.

They will tell the owners—your neighbours—that you lack sincerity and judgment. Going further, they may engage in character assassination and may accuse you of everything from being everything from a drunkard and a wife beater to a grave robber.

If you are in any way breaking a by-law or a rule, no matter how petty, the board may send you an expensive cease and desist letter from the corporate lawyer. That will hit you in the pocket book.

If you canvas the building looking for support from the other owners, or if you enter the manager’s office, the manager may phone the police and attempt to lay a charge of trespassing. This is a very common tactic.

You will raise their fees
The most effective accusation they can make to the other owners is that you want to raise everybody’s fees. It is so very effective mainly because most owners want low fees and also because it may be true. You may see the need for fee increases. That accusation will cause your support to drop like a rock.

Perhaps they will send you a letter from the lawyer saying that you have been interfering with the management of the corporation and demand that you pay the legal fees occurred in sending you that letter.

Things can get ugly when you get threatening letters from the corporation lawyer. Here is an info-advertisement one Toronto-area condominium law firm put on their website:

Difficult owners
Many condominium corporations have experienced “the unit owner from hell”, sometimes called a “condo commando”, who is either a person with mental health issues, or simply someone with too much time on his or her hands. These people are “difficult” people who make life miserable for those who become the targets of their attention.

The question is: What can you do to either bring these people into line, or force them to move?

The issue is not just one of unnecessary aggravation. There is also a concern over liability because as the “occupier” of the common elements, a condominium corporation has the legal obligation to ensure that the common elements are reasonably safe. This is a real concern if your resident condo commando exhibits any signs of violence or instability.

We have had great success in dealing with these problem owners, ranging from restraining orders to court orders requiring them to sell their units. In most cases, there are effective steps that we can recommend to assist your condominium corporation.

If the law firm is hired to help a besieged board deal with someone who is mentally ill, has been violent, has dementia or Alzheimer's disease, then they are doing the unit owners and all the other condo owners a service.

However, when they are used to gag legitimate dissent and democracy within the corporation, then they are being misused and they are acting, whether knowingly or unknowing, unethically.

Intimidating minority directors
Here is a posting from an Internet blog:

05 September 2010
I was just elected to the Board of directors for my condominium.

The present board and the property manager have been withholding information from me as well as the owners. They are having board discussions without me.

Is there something that can be done legally to prevent this from occurring?

I also wanted to sign a petition that has been circulating requesting a meeting of the owners to discuss the current property manager and superintendent.

Can I do this, or can my wife sign this petition without going against the Condominium Act?

I have the support of a large portion of the owners but am unsure if we would be able to garner the 51% required to remove the superintendent as well as the current board members if required.

I know this can be done if the owners learn the truth of what has been occurring between the board and the property manager but I am unsure what can be disclosed legally? If I do provide this information can the remaining board members have me removed or start legal action?

An owner has handed me a tape recording of the property manager screaming at him as well as calling him slanderous. Can this tape be played for the rest of the owners to hear or is this against the law?

I realize I am asking a lot, but the owners who have voted me in are fearful of retaliation by the board and or property manager and I believe the only way to have the present board and property manager removed, or at least to change their present behaviour, is to have all the owners hear and see all the facts.

They have also tried to intimidate me by sending me a cease and desist letter from the board and property manager by saying that I have been attempting to do repairs to the common elements. This is untrue; I even have video to back me up.

I know of at least one other owner who has received a similar letter the day after he had gone to the property manager’s office to complain that there was mould in his unit that was being caused by cracked exterior caulking. (His wife is 8 months pregnant).

Can I take the board and property manager to court without have the owners paying for their legal fees?

Story to share: Sasha
10 March 2012
Your case sounds so familiar. We have almost identical situation at our condo corporation. The property management, superintendent and some board members consistently mismanaged corporation funds and all my attempts as a board member to replace the property management fell on deaf ears.

Similarly to your case, I was accused of everything and anything to the point that I had to hire a lawyer to defend myself.

All this changed when I decided to engage the owners using the Internet. To make a long story short, we fired the property management company, the superintendent and all "rotten" board members within a two-month period, spending almost no money to support my actions.

Here are two cases where the majority of the board and the property manager were harassing a minority director.

The big problem is that until they hire an experienced condominium lawyer, the minority directors will have a difficult time understanding what the laws are, how much trouble they are in and no clear idea on how to remove the poor-performing majority directors.

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