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Blog #1 – Momentum joins with EliReports!

  • wecare994
  • Jan 23
  • 5 min read


Momentum Condo Consulting is pleased to join EliReport with the addition of a NEW Governance Review and Rating report– we have developed what we think is the best condo document review available to new condo buyers and owners and realtors. Buying a condo is a difficult process for all parties because purchasing into a condo corporation is a complex process. Momentum wanted to develop a way to provide useful in-depth reports and information that condo owners hasn’t available in the past but is desperately needed. Everyone should know the performance and effectiveness of their own condo boards of directors and just as importantly before they buy a unit in that corporation. The world in general is more complicated and the legal requirements, regulations, insurance requirements and the complexities of managing a property manager makes the role of a board of directors more difficult than ever before. The success of a corporation is completely dependent on the strength or weakness of its board of directors and owners need to know how well the board is governing and managing their obligations. Momentum evaluates and assesses the performance of the board of directors to help condo owners make better investment decisions.


Recently, EliReports partnered with Condo Assist to add another new service to its products which allows EliReport users to speak to a qualified document reviewer, adding additional nuance and context to the review process. You can now order this service and speak to a qualified reviewer  to ask any questions or provide further clarification about the corporation.  Not only does EliReports provide the fastest original document review reports but now offers a live review process and a Governance report. These new features helped to create the most complete and comprehensive condo document review process in Alberta.  

Using a document review service is essential for everyone living in or purchasing a condo because condominium corporations are complicated. Corporations must comply with numerous legal requirements, including the Condo Act, Insurance requirements, Privacy Act and other corporate responsibilities making the process overwhelming for many. With the additions of the governance report a performance evaluation provides owners a rating on the strength and weaknesses of your board of directors and property management company. The analysis is based on the democratic principals and provides a good overview of how well your board is following the Condo Act, creating community, using best practices and governing to name a few of the criteria. Of course, we provide recommendations and analysis, so the reports are easy to understand and review.


EliReports plugs in the data with the documents provided by owners and the property manager and within hours creates several reports clients can review on their own or with a qualified agent. These reports pull out and report on the bylaws of the corporation such as does the corporation allow pets or plants on the balcony as well information regarding the financials, reserve fund, insurance and the budget of the condominium corporation. One step further and a day later or as fast as we can provide it, you can also receive the Governance review and rating report. We will give you a detailed report of how well the board is functioning that you can take to your board after you buy your condo to help them improve the corporation!


Does the board govern lawfully and is it accountable to its owners

Our report assesses how well the board is following the Condo Act and its bylaws - There are major consequences when boards don’t follow their respective Condo Acts and their bylaws. When a board doesn’t enforce their bylaws when there are infractions, they may become unenforceable. That means when there are serious issues arise within the corporation that require board involvement, they may have no authority to enforce the bylaws if they have interpreted them incorrectly or did not use them correctly to sanction owners in the past. The “use or lose” analogy is relevant in the situation. When boards fail to enforce their bylaws, they could lose them which affects their ability to govern. If your bylaws don’t hold up in court, corporations are exposed and vulnerable to lawsuits and exorbitant legal costs.


When boards aren’t following legislative requirements, they may not be using the Reserve Fund correctly or fail to fund it in accordance with the Reserve Fund Study. A depleted Reserve Fund guarantees special assessments or levies down the road. There are too many factors for one buyer or owner to consider.  New Condo owners can’t begin to start reviewing unfamiliar documents. It doesn’t stop there they shouldn’t just review but they need to analyse them and evaluate them. Most people have never read financial statements in their life and now if they want to buy a condo they are expected to very quickly learn to read financial statements, then the Condominium Property Act and then analyse that information. Then try and determine if there are legal requirements the board is missing to understand the corporation and figure out if this unit is a good investment. It doesn’t make a lot of sense for most people to try and learn these skills because you decided to buy a condo. The expectation that owners need to become condo experts in the month or so since they started shopping for condos isn’t reasonable. I’ve seen comments on courses for condo owners to learn how to assess the condo documents, this may be something owners can attempt after they’ve moved in but not before? I Owners should be focusing on learning their rights and obligations as condo owners once they’ve moved into the building and not worry about learning to read and interpret legislation during this already stressful time. 

 

Is the Condo Board and Property Manager serving it’s Owners

We want all Condo owners to participate as much or as little as they can in their corporation. Many buyers purchase condos to experience communal living. Owners should know if the board works to develop a sense of community. Momentum provides a rating to determine if the corporation focuses on developing community, communication and level of transparency. While community may be important to some owner’s other owners aren’t concerned about it. Momentum is the only report that can provide a rating on how well the board is invested in their community.


Governance

Momentum’s report also provides a rating of how well the board is governing. Is it following best practices, have they created rules and policies and do they deal with owners issues effectively are some of the factors that are reviewed. It is important for boards to understand their fiduciary duty and govern and manage corporations effectively to protect and keep owners safe.

Momentum is excited to join EliReports to provide fast and efficient crucial information to new buyers and condo owners to help them navigate one of the most difficult but exciting times in their life. Buying a home and joining a community and should be a great experience. Owners should feel confident that they have the best available information they can gather so they can be assured they are buying the best property for them!


The governance report can be purchased when ordering an Eli Report through www.elireport.com

 
 
 

Comments

Meetings and Events

Condo Buildings have many different types of meetings -AGMs, Special Meetings and  Extraordinary Meetings, Owners Meetings -    See below on tips for making your meeting inclusive and productive 

​Annual General Meetings are crucial to democracy, a condominium corporation in Alberta is required to have annual general meetings every year and at the latest 15 months from the last AGM. These are formal meetings where owners vote on all types of business such as new bylaws, bylaw changes, financial considerations, improvements, upgrades and elect a new board of directors. There are certain procedural rules boards must follow when organizing an AGM; notice must be provided 60 days prior to the AGM, this gives owners the ability to submit agenda items to the board. After the 60 days, formal notice with the agenda items must be sent to owners within 30-14 days prior to the meeting date. Make sure you are voting at your AGMs, you need to make sure the votes are counted - make sure your board is either holding elections through ballots or a counted hand vote. 

There are several types of other meetings a condo corporation holds - Special Meetings, Owners Meetings or Town Halls. It all depends on who is doing the organizing and the topics being put forward. Condo Owners should ensure that their meetings have at least the basic requirements for example: With the exception of Owners Meetings which are called by the owners and not formal, all meetings should include, if possible: scrutineers, agenda- ability of owners to add to agenda, accurate and properly recorded minutes, elections, voting - owners should be voting on issues at AGMs to name a few. There are many requirements to hold a duly organized meeting. For example, public companies and other corporations hire several entities when they hold AGMs. Most corporations start by hiring a law firm. a company to scrutineer and often depending on the type of meeting a solicitation agent. Unfortunately, and of course because it's impractical for the majority of Condo Corporations to assume the expense of all or even a few of those entities most Condo Corporations rely on the knowledge of the property manager and an inexperienced board to deal with meetings which affects the quality of the meetings.

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​The quality of condo meetings depend on the quality of the property manager and the knowledge of your board of directors. Most condo meetings are pretty poor which leads to very little advancement and improvements in the corporation. If your condo corporation holds proper meetings then thank goodness and let us know! We want to hear about condos that are working well together creating successful condo communities. If not then well we all know when buildings incur this type of combination of a poor manager and a poor board for too long the building starts to deteriorate very quickly. Most building come equipped with basic bylaws created by the developer included in the owners manual, some specs and basic information and little else so if you were unlucky to buy into a property with owners who knew very little about condo boards you are probably facing some difficulties after a number of years.  Call us anytime and we will audit your meetings, elections or if you assist in coordinating any type of meeting. See our simple suggestions for make your meetings even more successful. 

condo meeting

Everyone is happier with a cookie in their hand

condo meeting - AGM

                                 Make people feel welcome!         

                           

Meetings are stressful even if there are no hot topics so anything you can do to lighten the mood is helpful. You could also have a giveaway or a play a little game before you get started. Don't forget name tags for large gatherings, bring a card or provide contact information and don't forget a pen, notepad or your phone to take notes and exchange information.  

If you organized the meeting: don't forget to shake as many peoples hands and introduce yourself to as many people as you can!

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Hint: If you are organizing the meeting you should be the last to leave! This helps make sure you talk to everyone who came to talk to you!

                                             Its ALL in the Details

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We believe details are important! Set up a station with coffee, juice or water to keep people hydrated and bring along some home baked or store bought treats. Owners will feel welcome and it helps to set the tone of a meeting. Who can argue with a piece of cake in their hand or mouth! Meetings should be informative and engaging and setting the tone will make your meetings more successful.

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Hint: You'll often be able to tell the people who support you or at least like you if they take a cookie or drink some coffee. More combative individuals won't take the cookie because they feel like they would owe you something back and sometimes that's just being nice and respectful.

CONTACT US Before you buy a condo 

Working as a Trustee in the corporate debt space for over a decade has helped me build a foundation in Corporate and Securities Law. As a a Manager of Corporate Trust acting as debt Trustee, collateral agent or escrow agent, I was involved in many types of large international transaction and the biggest bought deal in Canadian history. As a trustee we were involved in, attended and scrutineered all types of meetings, extraordinary resolutions and consent solicitations. As Corporate Secretary for a large public company, I have over a decade of experience in many aspects of Corporate Law.  I worked for  several years in compliance for a capital raising investment company and worked in the prosecution department at IIROC. My degree in political science gives me a heightened sense of justice and expertise in all levels of government, democratic institutions and democratic practices.  I started this company to help other condo owners who were having similar experiences with condo boards. My corporate law and securities experience provides a great backdrop to be able to help create inclusive communities one building at a time, fighting one board at a time to bring back democracy and inclusion to Condo boards. People don't need to be fighting boards -it ruins their piece of mind and stunts community growth. Boards of Directors need to be held accountable for bad decisions and bad operating procedures and educated in best practices. 

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CONTACT
LOCATION

Email: wecare@momentumcondo.com
Phone: 403.651.7403
 

881 -15 Avenue SW

Calgary, Alberta T2R 1R8

Mon - Fri: 8am - 6pm

​​Saturday: 8am - 1pm

​Sunday: Closed

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