Condo Special Assessments

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

I think you have issues and should avail yourself to your ability to quit.
Sounds good, would love to, but the reality is there's no one else. In my time we've improved attendance at the AGM's every single year, it's still a dismal turnout, but at least we have a quoram and can conduct business. One of our next goals is recruiting members and inviting them to meetings so they see what actually gets done (that is when we're not sitting at home with nothing better to do) so they can understand the process and sign up.

I think your post and it's hateful nature express some of the points that I am trying to make about people in your position. The peanut gallery versus the almighty, yet at the condo there they are all equal owners not a peanut gallery. And by your own admission it was your choice to be involved but by the tone of your post you hate it.
I don't hate it, I hate the opinion that most owners don't have the time or can't participate because of their busy schedules. It's a choice, you prioritize how you spend your time and everyone is free to make that choice without judgement. I won't judge you if you don't come to AGM's or participate in the going ons of your investment of at least few hundred thousand dollars. But the second you accuse me or anyone I work with of having a schedule that's less than the average owner, or having a competence level beneath the work we're doing then you've just provided solid evidence of what is the issue between condo owners and the board. It's hilarious, we issue requests for maintenance items twice a year. But every time a unit goes for sale we end up with a list 10 items long that the owner demands must be fixed immediately because it's time sensitive for their sale. These are annoyances that we actually deal with and ensure get fixed to help an owner out, even considering that the quicker we respond reflects better on the sellers unit and sales value (as a reflection of the board). I'm pretty confident we'd be well within our rights to put it off until our next meeting. Sure, we'll discuss your request for repairs and vote on how quickly we can do them. We meet every month. Nope, we'll get to it ASAP and still get bitched at for how long it takes (sometimes, not all the time).

I am comparing the condo board to general government. That a common group of people tend to run and get elected, that regardless of platform they become the government and govern according to their own special interest. Incumbent politicians and their 'tudes are evident and abound and on display. They seem to linger and take on a holier than though attitude and forget the position is to serve.
And I'm suggesting if you don't participate in democracy, vote, educate yourself, know the candidates, understand what their jobs are - then you shouldn't get to bitch and moan when things don't go your way. That said, you do have the right to do just that, but I'm going to remember how you carried yourself and that will change my opinion of you. And when it comes time to fix your unit, you'll still get treated just like everyone else and it'll be done, but I'm not stopping what I'm doing on a Friday or Saturday night to take the time to write a letter explaining the ins and outs of what's going on with the problem and why we're moving ahead a certain way. That gets done for the other people.

I then go on to say that participation is a major factor for a good outcome but not everybody can be involved because of their schedule. You and a couple others argue that's bullcrap.. I disagree, I think most people sign up for condo life because they think everything will be managed but soon realized it is strata/board reliant and are disappointed because they were looking to minimize their household living management. So if your argument is you deserve to make these decisions because of the election at the AGM you are right by law. However, I would argue that the distress of a special assessment without consulting the people you are to serve is wrong.
Read your reserve fund study, get your monthly minutes. It's all in there. It's not like these decisions are completed in a day over a 2-3 hour meeting at the whims of the board. I'd love to consult the people every time we have a major decision. But the reality is the majority (of complainers) would rather not show up at the special meeting but still complain. The only time a special assessment should happen without it being in the reserve fund study is in the case of an unexpected emergency repair. At which point planning a special meeting, finding a venue, getting good attendance (quorum) isn't possible. In the case of the subject, it would be nice to have an information session, I find it hard to believe there wasn't, but it could have happened. Hopefully the information session will come as often the management company wants the assessment (notice of assessment) issued as soon as it's discussed because potential buyers have a right to know. If you wait until a special meeting is called you could be looking at 3-6 weeks at which point a property sale can happen and then the board is on the hook for a whole lot of problems and potentially a lawsuit. These are things that people don't seem to realize and all to quickly jump to "judge judge judge" and that's what becomes tiresome.


I then go on to offer my advise and consolation to the person who is faced with a 60,000 special assessment due in 30 days, may need to be dealt with as such to retain his investment value.

Your assumptive nature doesn't even assume that I have not served on a condo board.

Bold.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Drummer

Slightly off topic but still condo related... Has anyone ever dealt with Condominium First (before they changed their name)? I've heard from some friends that their property managers were horrible at returning emails and phone calls.

Condominium First (now called First Service) is a big company, so the quality of service really depends on who you get there. I've had both very good and quite poor experiences with them. Because they're a big company though, you have less risk of a total service melt down, imo.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Drummer

Slightly off topic but still condo related... Has anyone ever dealt with Condominium First (before they changed their name)? I've heard from some friends that their property managers were horrible at returning emails and phone calls.

They are terrible for getting back to you, and their fees for documentation is crazy high but alot of the documents for the condos are online to purchase so you rarely have to contact them.

From someone who went to board meetings - even though they were held at 4pm so it was rare that anyone who actually worked for a living could attend. For the condo I was in an assessment like that would have required 6 month notice.

For anyone interested in purchasing condos alot has been said about doing a document inspection. Personally the only thing of value from those are the documents themselves. From the 2 I have used in the past they are worthless in pointing anything out. You are far better off to simply go through the documents yourselves and get any questions you have (no matter how dumb you think they are) and go to the first board meeting and ask them there. If they are anything like my board they will be very pissed to answer your questions but they do have to answer your questions.

The biggest reason to go is to combat the "Nanny-gang" element that alot of condo boards face or are corrupted by. Example - they want to burn incense in the lobby so it smells nice, or they want to plant flowers in the front because they look nice. All of this stuff can be done by the board if you aren there to fight it. All of this stuff and more stuff that is just to assinine to mention here costs money which the condo board (at least the condo board who ran my building) seemed to think there was an unlimited amount of.

Oh and a note - dont dare suggest of even garner the votes to pass a motion to remove the gym from the building because repairs have amounted to over 30K in 5 years. The whale on the board who uses and breaks the treadmill will become your enemy for life.

[CaramonLS]

I got hit last year with a 26k special assessment. I had enough assets that I was able just to dump it into a Heloc and pay it off that way. It was over the Kitec Plumbing issue (I'm sure KC knows about this one) and there really wasn't much that could be done.

Our Condo corp was able to structure payments over a 1 year period in quarterly installments.

There are a lot of owners that whine about condo boards - if you don't have a good one that is dedicated to the long term health of your property, I would highly recommend getting on there yourself. People own condos for all sorts of reasons and the ones you want to avoid are the ones that think only about keeping condo fees low for the purpose of flipping the property - if there are people like this on your board, you need to be involved so you can stop this from happening.

[surferguy]

I deal with Condo First (First Service) and can attest that it is hit and miss. I have had the worst and the best.

Not to defend these people but they have tough jobs and I know of the hate that is spewed their direction on a daily basis.

Randlands view point of the board vs. owners is spot on. I served as president for 8 years on my board and it was a different building but exactly the same. I moved in March of last year and I still get personal phone calls from residents at the building calling me to deal with their problems for them. I haven't lived there in 10 months!!

It is a thankless job that nobody cares about until they need something done, then the wind pipes open and don't close.

In my personal case anytime we had to raise fees or assess it would cost me double what everybody else would pay based on my unit factor. It was a tough job that I am glad that I no longer have to do.

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

From someone who went to board meetings - even though they were held at 4pm so it was rare that anyone who actually worked for a living could attend. For the condo I was in an assessment like that would have required 6 month notice.

The biggest reason to go is to combat the "Nanny-gang" element that alot of condo boards face or are corrupted by. Example - they want to burn incense in the lobby so it smells nice, or they want to plant flowers in the front because they look nice. All of this stuff can be done by the board if you aren there to fight it. All of this stuff and more stuff that is just to assinine to mention here costs money which the condo board (at least the condo board who ran my building) seemed to think there was an unlimited amount of.

Oh and a note - dont dare suggest of even garner the votes to pass a motion to remove the gym from the building because repairs have amounted to over 30K in 5 years. The whale on the board who uses and breaks the treadmill will become your enemy for life.

Enough with blanket statements that "a lot of boards are like this".

Sadly some things have to look nice. Just like in your house you spruce things up, make decisions to pretty things up that average people might not like, how much can incense or flowers in the front (really, you don't want flowers in front of your building?). Yeah, incense might be a bit lame/much, but it's not going to break the bank, but you want to fight it? Just like the board picking what they spend their time on owners need to pick their battles. Forget the flowers and keep on the gym item. It's a valid one. Also remember that the board splits duties. Someone who takes minutes and can't do much else might be on the "pretty committee" and their job is to do little things with a small $250 annual budget to make thinks look nice. At least someone care's enough to think of making entering the building a nice experience.

As for the gym, valid concern and one that actually involves real money. And some people have just as much right to keep it as those who want it gone. But, good luck as I'd probably be against the space needing constant money dumped into it vs. more time spent on preventative maintenance. That said, I'd probably have bought thinking "great a gym" and it helped sell the place, but then never used it and kept my gym pass

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

I am comparing the condo board to general government. That a common group of people tend to run and get elected, that regardless of platform they become the government and govern according to their own special interest. Incumbent politicians and their 'tudes are evident and abound and on display. They seem to linger and take on a holier than though attitude and forget the position is to serve.

Serve? Wrongo - politicians get paid to deal with your crap. This is a volunteer position - you're not owed anything other than to have your bylaws managed and building managed per the requirments of your bylaws. As Ranchlands selling says - no one else even remotely steps up and the place turns into a slum. You can idly sit back and watch it slide into squalor or do something to stop it. You've chosen to do nothing. Board members are trying to protect an investment that you will also benefit from.

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

I then go on to say that participation is a major factor for a good outcome but not everybody can be involved because of their schedule. You and a couple others argue that's bullcrap.. I disagree, I think most people sign up for condo life because they think everything will be managed but soon realized it is strata/board reliant and are disappointed because they were looking to minimize their household living management. So if your argument is you deserve to make these decisions because of the election at the AGM you are right by law.

Sounds like that's what happened to you. You bought a condo thinking you can do what you please and clearly don't like the fact that you have Board that's enforcing the bylaws that you knew governed the place. You also are too busy to join said Board.

I don't think condo life (and being part of a community) is for you.

Lets flip this around. Pretend you're on the Board. The walls are leaking, mold is growing worse by the day. Hold a vote as to whether to do these vital repairs? What does voting no accomplish? What would you do?

[GGG]

Being on the board is the best thing you can do. Try to avoid being the treassurer or the president and the you can get away with not doing too much work but still getting a say. I think some of the gross generalizations about condo boards are partially true. There is always one or two crazy ladies who want to rule an empire but the majority of people are the ones that are posting here. People who donate their time to protect their asset. And they take a lot of crap to do it. I put in 2 years as president of my borad and 1 more as a member and it was definately worth it.

I would argue that everyone has time to be a board member. A basic position only takes 3 hrs per month. And if you really dont have 3hrs per month to put in at least go to the AGM. As I always put in every letter I wrote to a whiney owner that if hey want to see change in the way the condo is being run to come to the agm because not attending the agm is an endorsement of the current governance.

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by GGG

Being on the board is the best thing you can do. Try to avoid being the treassurer or the president and the you can get away with not doing too much work but still getting a say. I think some of the gross generalizations about condo boards are partially true. There is always one or two crazy ladies who want to rule an empire but the majority of people are the ones that are posting here. People who donate their time to protect their asset. And they take a lot of crap to do it. I put in 2 years as president of my borad and 1 more as a member and it was definately worth it.

I would argue that everyone has time to be a board member. A basic position only takes 3 hrs per month. And if you really dont have 3hrs per month to put in at least go to the AGM. As I always put in every letter I wrote to a whiney owner that if hey want to see change in the way the condo is being run to come to the agm because not attending the agm is an endorsement of the current governance.

Re bolded part. please don't do that. If you join participate and try to take some of the workload of those you're there to help. Lame duck board members create more problems because it just increases the workload for the few that are doing something. I understand where you're coming from and to be honest I'm sure there was a bit of that in my head when I signed up. But in reality it's not helpful. Join AND participate. Put in 2-4 years and walk away.

The rest is all fair though.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

Enough with blanket statements that "a lot of boards are like this". ..)

Its true I havent owned a unit in all the buildings in all of Alberta but having ownership stake in 1, partial in another 1, and helped get things changed in a 3rd I can say all 3/3 I have seen were like that. So not all are bad, but not all are good - is that sufficient

Cleaning the floor etc is one thing, but when someone who is a plant nazzi wants all these things and is only able to accomplish this because of the timings of the meetings, the general apathy of the ownership, and the difficulty in getting things voted down then thats another thing entirely. If I lose fair and square so be it, plant a jungle in the common areas. But losing because the game is rigged, well then I start to try to re-rig the game in my favour.

For the first 2 years I wasnt able to get anything done. Living in a 60% asian building and being 0% asian didnt help. But then some idiot decided to turn their BBQ into a fireball at 2am and little old granny who never once said hi when I would needed help down the stairs so I carried her and everything since then changed. Its amazing what you can do when you have 50% support no questions asked (for the most part - other than showing up at New Years celebrations). Had I lived there longer I would have tried for more changes but I figured the 6 below were good enough for my 8.5 years there.

1 - Block the motion to fire our retired asian mtce guy (foolish I know but I didnt think think paying him $350 a month for 4 hours of on call service every day was unreasonable compared to what we were going to pay a 3rd party service for 2 days a week for 4 hours a day).
2 - get all meetings where budget changes are required to start no earlier than 530pm and only between Monday and Thursday.
3 - get the gym closed down and converted into a single use rental facility for parties etc who knew the condo could be making money from this space instead of spending money.
4 - remove 4 of 5 common use BBQs - sadly I wasnt able to get the 5th removed (5 years of fires because of the BBQs wernt enough to convince people who thought 1 day they could possibly might maybe use it).
5 - get all documentation emailed to owners instead of paper copies (paper copies still available for pickup at meetings)
6 - get the condo fees increased by 25$/month to prop up the reserve fund (its funny how this was easier to do than getting the gym shut down) Sorry guy who owns 5 units as rentals

[GGG]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

Re bolded part. please don't do that. If you join participate and try to take some of the workload of those you're there to help. Lame duck board members create more problems because it just increases the workload for the few that are doing something. I understand where you're coming from and to be honest I'm sure there was a bit of that in my head when I signed up. But in reality it's not helpful. Join AND participate. Put in 2-4 years and walk away.

The rest is all fair though.

I disagree with you here, I started in year one to be a lame duck board member to stop stupidity. I ended up being president. We had trouble filling board spots so it was either an empty chair or a lame duck. I preferred the lame duck. Mostly because they would vote against the activist board members. And eventually a lame duck board member becomes experienced and starts to do more.

For me involvement of any kind is better than apathy.

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by GGG

I disagree with you here, I started in year one to be a lame duck board member to stop stupidity. I ended up being president. We had trouble filling board spots so it was either an empty chair or a lame duck. I preferred the lame duck. Mostly because they would vote against the activist board members. And eventually a lame duck board member becomes experienced and starts to do more.

For me involvement of any kind is better than apathy.

We're debating semantics. You say join and be a lame duck, I say join and participate, you say you joined as lame duck and ended up participating, I'd say join and participate. We both basically saying the same thing, but just differently. Participation is the important thing to take out of it. I've seen lame ducks that remain lame ducks. I'd prefer an empty seat as I don't have people saying they'll do work and then not and me chasing them. Or waiting for someone to vote and having to harass them to get a vote so we can move on with decisions. In the case of an empty seat I'll just do it from the get go.

[Calgary14]

How easy is it to get on a condo board? Do you need to be voted in?

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

How easy is it to get on a condo board? Do you need to be voted in?

The board gets voted for during the AGM. How easy it is to get voted in depends on the building. Some are desperate for people to serve, and some get plenty of candidates. Our building usually gets 8 or 9 people vying for the 7 spots on the board.

[Calgary14]

Sounds like a good idea to get on a board if you want a say in how the money gets allocated. We will definitely need to look into this. Thanks

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

Sounds like a good idea to get on a board if you want a say in how the money gets allocated. We will definitely need to look into this. Thanks

I don't really think you can have that much of a say, maintenance is maintenance and needs to be done. That said, you get good warning and lead time for what is in the pipeline. Too often people think boards special assess because they want to spend money. They forget that the board is special assessing themselves too. No one likes to pay $10,000 for repairs. So remember that when your board special assess you.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

I don't really think you can have that much of a say, maintenance is maintenance and needs to be done. That said, you get good warning and lead time for what is in the pipeline. Too often people think boards special assess because they want to spend money. They forget that the board is special assessing themselves too. No one likes to pay $10,000 for repairs. So remember that when your board special assess you.

While that is true, I know that when I had a condo years ago I was on the board because I did want a say in the building of the reserve fund. Its a situation where you obviously want to be prudent and have a solid reserve, but not 'too prudent' because that money comes out of your pocket and if you know you're not keeping the place forever you're funding the reserve for someone else. I wanted to be there and have a say on that topic, but most of the board time was spent discussing garbage IMO, as in gossip and spiteful people who were battling with other spiteful people. Now you also know why I got off the board!

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Slava

I wanted to be there and have a say on that topic, but most of the board time was spent discussing garbage IMO, as in gossip and spiteful people who were battling with other spiteful people.

Aren't you in politics?

[Drummer]

Bump. One of my wife's co-workers has a condo in one of the old brick "loft" buildings around 12 Ave in the beltline. No special assessment but his condo fees just jumped to around $750/month for a 1 bedroom loft.. A pretty large increase.

[photon]

I'm scared to know what mine will do, they're finally in the home stretch for flood repairs (elevators are STILL not fixed, but finally they are working rather than the elevator company and insurance company arguing).

Millions in repairs, covered by insurance, but sounds like the insurance company opted not to renew flood coverage (surprise!), and getting coverage has almost doubled insurance costs. I could go look at the budgets from the last GM to figure out what portion of my condo fee is insurance, but I don't WANT to know.