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Condo Document Request - Section 44 of CPA

  • wecare994
  • Oct 24, 2024
  • 4 min read

The Alberta government has made changes to the law, I believe it was the NDP who worked to implement a lot of the useful changes to the Condominium Property Act ("CPA") effective January 1, 2020, with the intention of assisting owners navigate Condo life. In the last couple of weeks I have heard of many more owners trying to contact their Property Managers ("PM") and boards to receive copies of their documents and failed. They have been ignored, told the board has to approve the request, which is one of my favorite excuses, one owner received parts of the agreement a couple pages of the agreement and was told only the board is privy to the entire agreement. That one makes me laugh out loud and scream at the top of my lungs all at the same time, how ridiculous it is...owners are not allowed to know what services the PM is supposed to provide to them when they are paying their salary?! I mean, come on..... When the law changes people and corporations have to change with it. Every owner has a right to receive almost all documents of the corporation they have their name on them and the government told us the board is required to provide those documents within 10 days. That's it that's all there is folks so why are we still fighting the same fight?


At the COF meeting last night this same subject came up, not the first time but darn it, it needs to be the last! Over and over again every person in attendance said the same thing... the documents belong to you, the government told owners they can have the documents but the boards and PMs are not providing and not following the law. There was a great suggestion from a long time member of COF who said I would send a statement along with my email request after they deny it stating, "you are legally required to provide me with these documents within 10 days. I do not want to have to file a claim and sue you but I will and not only will I sue the corporation, I will sue you all personally as you are violating the act". I doubt there is a court anywhere that would not reward the owner judgment and costs because the PM and board should be penalized for wasting the courts time with such frivolous nonsense by refusing to provide owners documents in accordance with the law. It seems harsh but it is effective and clearly warranted in this industry where a small group of people can commandeer a board of directors and control every aspect of it.


I don't want to start lecturing about autocratic and dictatorial boards but this is a great test for all owners if they aren't sure what is happening with their board. Send a request to review the property management agreement and wait for the response. Want to determine or define your board in 3 easy steps just send a document request, you will find out really quickly how your board and PM operates and if they believe in the rule of law or if they make their own rules. At this point I've heard that RECA is so backed up with this type of request they can't possibly assist all owner so we have to fight for ourselves and when enough people fight back they will be forced to adapt to democracy and respect for other owners in the building.


It's pretty simple really, when the law changes corporations are required to adopt the changes. It doesn't happen very often but it does happen and it seems shocking that so few understand the concept. Have these people never worked anywhere where they had human resources, safety plans, OSFI change policy? When the government makes changes to employment standards human resources departments everywhere have to review the changes and update their policies to reflect the law. When governments changed the statutory holidays to include Family Day or the Truth and Reconciliation day for example, they set the minimum requirements and corporations are legally required to pay employees for nine stat holidays a year, which is the minimum. They couldn't ignore Family day and pretend it didn't change or make up excuses as to why people can't take the day off and get paid. They can't not pay you if you take the day off. All Alberta corporations were required to update their policies and start paying Albertans for Family day because its the law. This is the same thing that has occurred with the CPA. The government has enacted changes, the bare minimum requirements for condo building with the new bylaws and every condo corporation must update their bylaws in accordance with the CPA and regulations and start following them.


Send an email and ask for the property management agreement and let us know how it goes! Good Luck to all condo owners and talk to at least one neighbor in your elevator today, say something positive and enjoy a laugh together



and remember you are a community!

 
 
 

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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

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​Sunday: Closed

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