Condo Law and other Nonsense

[OMG!WTF!]

Sorry if this has been covered in some other thread. My search skills suck. I'd rather just add this to an existing thread than start a new one. However...

I understand a bit about condo law, enough to never want to own one. Once bylaws are registered and enforceable, if a fine is levied against someone, it is task of the board to collect the fine. So if they want to get paid they have to initiate the legal action.

The question I have is what does the condo board have to provide as evidence of an infraction? It seems like you can just call, complain, and the person gets a fine. Can a board win a case involving a bylaw infraction and consequently enforce a penalty or fine with absolutely no evidence other than people saying, for example, a certain dog is barking? There's no photos or videos or recordings or anything. Just one word against the other. Seems like a patently unwinable issue for the board yet they seem to go this route quite often.

Any other complaints about condo boards? Maybe this could be a mega thread some day.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

...
Any other complaints about condo boards? Maybe this could be a mega thread some day.

LOL
This WILL be a mega-thread. Nothing more satisfying than bitching in a forum off-topic thread about anything and everything... Three main issues in any condominium corporation are People, Parking and Pets, or so called PPP. There is always plenty of reasons to complain about each one of those.

Condominium Corporation has the power to collect through a normal legal action and, if successful, register a caveat against a unit in a CondoCorp to collect unpaid condominium fees. Court costs, collection costs and other damages are all collectable against the value of a unit. In other words, the owner may have issues with his/her lender, if there's a mortgage. Ultimately, the amount would be collected upon sale (or forced sale).

As for the reasons - the CondoCorp must have a valid reason in law to assess a charge against an owner. It can't just say this person is noisy/stinky/whatever and we want to charge him $1,000. It has to prove damages caused to the common property, for example, to prove the case etc. There are also various infractions noted in Condominium By-Laws, Resolutions and Special Resolutions, which specify fines. Those could be grey areas, as some of them could be found unlawful by courts, if challenged.

[OMG!WTF!]

Oh ok. So they can't really collect a punitive fine? Like your dog barked, pay $250? The fine has to be attached to actual costs?

If the damages are simply noise complaints, could the fine be enforced if there are recordings of the noise, police reports etc? I've got a buddy of course who has a $500 fine for unconfirmed and unrecorded dog barking reports.

[CaptainYooh]

Noise complaint is no different than any other nuisance complaint, really. Say, there is a Resolution approving a $1,000 fine for excessive noise after 10 pm. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to prove validity of this fine in court, because it goes against a municipal policy. At the same time, condo owners have right to quiet enjoyment of their property, so, if someone listens to death metal all day long at 60dB, they would have a case. The point is, it's all relative and dependent on the actual circumstances.

[calf]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Oh ok. So they can't really collect a punitive fine? Like your dog barked, pay $250? The fine has to be attached to actual costs?

If the damages are simply noise complaints, could the fine be enforced if there are recordings of the noise, police reports etc? I've got a buddy of course who has a $500 fine for unconfirmed and unrecorded dog barking reports.

Depends - if the condo bylaws say "noise complaints will be assessed a $250 fine", then it's enforceable. But there needs to be backup. At my condo, a fine is assessed if there are multiple reports from multiple people. A one-off, or if only one person complains, then it becomes a he-said/she-said situation, and nothing can really be proven or done.

[troutman]

https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/bu...obugu_007a.cfm

Can a condominium corporation place a lien on an individual unit?

In Alberta, a condominium corporation can file a “caveat” with the Land Titles Office against an owner's unit for unpaid contributions. A caveat is a warning that another party is claiming interest in the property. Once the corporation receives payment from an owner for the outstanding contribution, it must withdraw the caveat.

A corporation may charge interest on any unpaid balance and has the right to recover from owners all reasonable costs, including interest and legal expenses incurred by the corporation in collecting the amount owing, as well as the cost of registering, enforcing and discharging a caveat.


https://www.condolawalberta.ca/finan...contributions/
If you have a mortgage, [condo board could] ask your mortgage company to pay the outstanding amount (note: many banks consider failure to pay condo contributions as an act of default that could result in foreclosure);

[dubc80]

Condo boards usually ask for proof (pictures, videos, statements) to accompany complaints.

They'll probably give a couple warnings before issuing a fine.

[Regular_John]

It varies by complex, but in reality the fine schedule should be the last resort for any board when it comes to infractions.

In the example of a dog barking and disturbing the peace, the board's goal isn't to levy a $250 fine to an owner, it's to get the dog to stop barking.

In a well run complex the board would have a documented history of complaints, warnings delivered to the owner and a history of attempts to resolve the issue before it got to the point of a fine. If the owner just straight up refuses to pay the board could put a levy on the unit which would need to be cleared as a condition of sale.

Should it ever reach the point of getting before a judge it's essentially the board VS the owner, and a good board has the documentation to back them, including a copy of the bylaws which the owner accepted by continuing to own/reside in their unit.

Tl;dr: There's many layers to condo by laws and fines that can be levied. There's much more to it than "dog barked, you owe $250"

[GordonBlue]

When I owned a condo, at one point I joined the board. People often refused to pay fines as we often couldn't prove anything. What we ended up doing to was to purchase cameras. Took less than two years for the cameras to pay for themselves, and the time saved was enormous.

made collecting fines so much easier, and way less fighting to collect.

us: "you dumped a couch outside the garbage bin."
them: "no I didn't"
us: "here's the time stamped picture and video."

[bomba]

The bylaws are set by individual Condo Corps and are different from property to property. These bylaws can be amended by the Condo Corp and are subject to change.

Generally speaking, most Condo Corps use a property manager who is responsible for the enforcement and collection of fees related to bylaw infractions.

Agree with the last comment about security cameras as a good way to document incidents.