Legal advice on Resident Association Fees

[Cecil Terwilliger]

CP braintrust, especially lawyers, I need some advice.

First, let me make this very clear that this advice is not for me specifically, so please don't tell me not to discuss it on a public forum. I am at zero risk of what we talk about having any ramifications at all.


I'll spell out pretty much all I think I can tell you.

I live in a community in Calgary that, as part of my residence in this community, there is an encumbrance on the land title for every house in the community.

The fees are upwards of $200/year and renew every year on April 1st but residents are given from April 1st to July 31st to pay. Interest charges of a couple bucks occur on June 1st and July 1st. The fees are mandatory because it is an encumbrance on the land title.

On Aug 1st all remaining unpaid fees are referred from the Res. Assoc. to collections. This raises the cost of the bill by approx $150. After this date all payments must be made to the lawyers office who handles the several hundred houses who are in arrears.

Here is where my questions come in. The RA requires each houseowner to bring in their land title if they want a card so they can access the RA facility. Even if they don't bring in their land title the fees are still due. However, hundreds of houses in the community have either the wrong name or just have "Current Owner" on the account listing.

Major problems occur each year because residents will get referred to the lawyers, only to come back to the RA and scream bloody murder because the mail they got was either in the wrong name or just said current owner.

What is the RA legally obligated to do to inform residents that they have to pay fees? I've heard they have to mail a notice and that's it. In a perfect world when someone bought the house the lawyers would inform them fully on how the RA works and the lawyers would get in touch with the RA to make sure that the RA knows a person is moving and change their account to Current Owner, instead of the old owners name. Sometimes the lawyers even send over a copy of the land title so that the person's name can be updated and the mail will come in their name.

Two scenarios. One in which a resident gets a letter with the wrong name and two where they get a letter that says Current Owner. Are they off the hook if the RA sends it with the wrong name? Is a letter with Current Owner sufficient notice?

The whole process involves numerous phone calls to the residents, which doesn't do any good if the RA has incorrect contact info, and there are 3 notices sent out by mail, again some would have the wrong name or Current Owner instead of the person's actual name. Finally there was a final notice letter that was physically brought to the resident's front door. Not given to them, just taped to the door. There are also signs at each and every entrance into the community for months at a time notifying residents to pay their fees.

Legally what is the RA required to do to notify the resident? Does the resident have any legal recourse? Could the resident go after their lawyer who handled their home purchase because the lawyer failed to notify the RA that someone new was moving in?

Any questions just ask, I might not be clear enough. Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated. PM me if you don't wanna post it publicly.

[Titan]

It seems to me that the RA is bending over backwards to inform the owners they need to pay the fee. Also, it is the purchaser's responsibility to be aware of any encumbrances and the details behind them. You own it, you owe it.

Without seeing the actual bylaws of the RA it is not possible to determine what they are actually required to do. You can look up the condo act, if that is what it is still called, to determine the bare requirement but if the RA has different procedures in their bylaw, that exceed the minimums, then those are binding, assuming the bylaw was properly passed, which it likely was.

[Boblobla]

Our RA sends out letter to 'current owner' I believe.

[firebug]

I am the VP of the RA in my community, and to be frank I couldn't tell you what name is on our request for fees.

This is always a fun time of year!

Fortunately we have good legal counsel and a fantastic general manager so our problems are fairly limited.

FWIW, we now move to foreclose on a home if fees are unpaid on Jan. 2nd (due on June 1st).

If you like I can provide the name of the firm we have retained.

~bug

[DOK]

Ah, this is my speciality! I dealt with exactly this last year, I was on the resident side. I just moved in to my community and had not gotten notices. I figured that it was paid by my legal fees on the house move, so didn't think much of it. Months pass and I get a bill to "current resident" with a charge of $150 because of late payment on top of what I owed. I stirred up some serious crap trying to figure out what was what. I wasn't against paying, I just didn't know why I didn't get any notices at all, until the last one to, "current resident".

Long story short, clear and concise. The answer is this: The dues are explained in the legal documents of the house sale. No one needs to send or be given notice because of this.

I talked to my lawyer and to the RA and they both agreed that the other was at fault, but the fact that it was written into the house deal (which it legally must be and always is) puts both of them off the hook. It's essentially the same as property tax, the government doesn't care if you don't pay, but you'll still owe.

[DOK]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Could the resident go after their lawyer who handled their home purchase because the lawyer failed to notify the RA that someone new was moving in?
.

I asked my lawyer exactly this and she stated that it is not her duty to send the title to the RA ever, if lawyers ever do that, it is on a volunteer basis only and never to be assumed or expected.