Learn to
terminate condo corporations like a pro
By Chris Jaglowitz on September 3, 2014
It is estimated that almost 10,000 condo corporations have been created
in Ontario since 1967, but no more than a half dozen have ever been
terminated.
To explore a relatively obscure but increasingly important area of our
condo law, the Real Property and Civil Litigation sections of the
Ontario Bar Association have teamed up to present an educational
session on court-ordered termination of condo corporations on 22
September 2014.
Here’s the blurb:
The recent termination of Simcoe Condominium Corporation No. 32 is
believed to be the first termination of an Ontario condominium
corporation under court supervision and one of only a small handful of
condo terminations in Ontario’s legal history. Attend this program to
hear directly from the lawyers who handled the termination of SCC #32
about the steps and procedures undertaken to terminate a condominium
corporation. Through this, you will gain practical insight into a novel
area of condominium law – one that may become increasingly pertinent to
both real property and litigation lawyers as older condominium
corporations begin to reach structural life expectancy.
The program is open to members and non-members (including non-lawyers),
either by attending in person at the OBA in downtown Toronto or by live
webcast at a computer near you.
If you’re downtown, consider attending in person. The hospitality is
warm and the food is good.
Those outside Toronto (or too shy to dine amongst a room full of
lawyers!) or people pressed for time can opt for the live webcast
option at a reduced price ($40 for members and $60 for non-members).
Here are registration links for attending in person, and for live
webcast. Please be careful to choose your desired option (in-person vs.
live webcast) accurately.
The evening includes Q&A with the speakers. As program
co-chair, I would be glad to ask the speakers your questions if you
send them to me in advance. Alternatively, ask them yourself at the
in-person session or submit them electronically during the webcast.
SCC #32 was unique
Simcoe Condominium Corporation No. 32, established in 1998, was not a
normal condominium corporation. It was a time-share. It was not even a
normal time-share, one that has a 40 year leasehold arrangement, but
was one of the very few time-share condo corporations in Canada.
It was more of a vacation destination than a primary residence.
The timeshare condo corporation was slowly going broke. The vast
majority of owners who voted (by a mailed ballot) wanted to terminate
the corporation and sell the assets.
The corporation was not in a financial crisis but if they did not
terminate the corporation, that is the direction they were going.
They had a few other things that helped. There were very few, if any,
mortgagees that had to agree to the termination and be paid off from
the selling price and the corporation was not yet in heavy debt.
Ballots
Total # of possible votes
2,193
Yes votes
1,255
Yes votes from SCC #32
369
No votes
60
Voters who abstained
509
The affidavit of Mina Lawrence, the president of the time-share corporation can be found here.
Lessons here?
Mina Lawrence's affidavit is a good source of information for the
boards of any distressed condo corporations that are thinking of
terminating their corporations. (I know of a couple that have
considered it.)
Termination will not be easy. Low income residents will not easily find
alternative housing, most of these condos are deeply in debt and many
owners have mortgages that need to be paid off so termination will not
be easy.