After reading the posts on this thread i would like to state my two cents.
As a 4 year former board member, first time condo owner, backround in accounting and my own research has led me to believe that special assesments are reasonable if proven, but 60% of time time is undetectable fraud. "the board" is like a NoLimit poker table. i.e. there is 5 (board members) people who come in with even buy-ins. But what happens when 1 of the board comes in with stacks? Essentially is bullying the board. and then you add in the dealer (prop manager) is in on it. now the votes are coming in at 4 board members vs 2 $$( greedy people) (yes i understand the property management cannot vote- but that doesnt prevent them from prograngda -spewing hot air to gain votes thru fear and not numbers). Now say the dealer brings in a friend (their own engineer for the reserve fund study (conflict of of interest)) its now turned in to 4 board vs 3 $$$ greedy. How much proganda do you think the 3 of them need to spew out before you need two votes to switch your vote in favor of billing yourself $5K?
As i was noticing this i started to say things during the meetings such as "You are not an engineer so i want to get an engineer report" "Youre not a plumber so everything youre saying is an opinion and not a fact - facts are numbers and when are you guys going to get me numbers to validate these votes""I would like to see the utility data and not what you think the gas is compared to your other rental units"
There are certain "shenangians" that they play to prey on board members/homeowners alike at the AGM.
example they bring in an uninvited guest not in the agenda. The first opening lines he has to say is "you folks are lucky - the last condo i had was a $40K special assesment, but dont worry you guys are just at $5K". JUST AT $5K...any salesperson knows that trick to make it sound immaterial.
Learning they types of laws it goes Condo Bylaws, Alberta Condo Act, and the Another legislation. The laws are too loose which then make the rich richer by stating balconies need to be repaired.Its going to cost $15K, assess everyone, balcony does NOT get done, rekey the locks and charge an invoice of $8K, (cost of rekey is $300) and voila you now have $7,700 split between the bully, prop management, locksmith, engineering faculty, and any other board members that were invited to the dark side. and rinse and repeat for next year to milk more. and if no one complained about $5K its time to up it by another $3K and blame it on cost of materials, inflation and business.
By the end i was quoting the alberta condo act and quoting certain references as a board member and a homeowner that i need basic information such as invoices, financials, analysis of one time costs etc., They pretty much gave me the middle finger.
On my resignation letter to the board and prop managemnet i stated to the board "i cant protect you anymore, once i resign, they will assess you all $5-10K and no work will be done" a week after i resigned - $6,600 special assessment to be paid within 10 months.
I resigned as they wanted me to sign finacnials, and when i asked basic questions from the people who did the "financial review" and the board (backup, invoices, gas usage) they instead pointed the finger at me 2 months later stating the treasurer is not doing his job and needs to blindly sign or our values in our homes drop. I resigned as they charge a bunch of one time items, and build it in the budget stating that its inflation. My condo fees jumped from $298 to $535 - 180% in 5 years + about $11K in special assesments.
Until the laws change i would recommend never getting a condo. I wish i had taken that advice when it was given to me numerous amount of times before purchasing. but the location..
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