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Condo Documents - did the implementation of section 44 of the AB Condo Act change how condo owners obtain documents?

  • wecare994
  • Oct 9, 2024
  • 2 min read




As of January 1, 2020, the Alberta government made some pretty interesting improvements to the Condominium Property Act in order to assist owners with some of the more troublesome issues. It's been four years since the changes were introduced and I wanted to test the system to see if boards and property managers were following the law and providing documents as requested to owners in accordance with the Act. This is our second blog about this issues because I haven't received the documents yet.


Lets include the Act so it's clear for anyone reading:


Information and documents on request:


44(1) On the written request of an owner, purchaser or mortgagee or the solicitor of an owner, purchaser or mortgagee, or a person authorized in writing by any of those persons, the corporation shall, within 10 days after receiving the request, provide to the person making the request any prescribed information or documents as requested by that person.


(2) The corporation may provide any prescribed information or documents requested under subsection;

(1) in electronic form unless the person requesting the information or documents specifically requests that they be provided in paper form.


The Act is really very simple and should not be a source of contention for an owner or board member to understand. An owner makes a request to the board to review documents that have their name on them regarding issues in a building they are an owner in and they should receive the documents within 10 days. It's really a cut and paste job for most property management companies. They have agreements or receive reports, and all they have to do is attach them to an email so why don't they? Why do they fight so hard to keep documents from owners? Why do boards and property managers keep information and hide information from their owners?


It's actually disturbing when you think about an owner wanting to maintain their investment and are blocked at every turn a bad board of directors that completely misunderstands their role and obligations as a board member lock owners out of their own corporation and refuse to provide information about a building you own. Seven people who are often not even legitimate control a building so it's owners can't learn why they were required to pay a special assessment or pay for an engineer's report that they won't let you read yourself. Grown adults who can figure out how to buy the condo and move in....and pay monthly condo fees can figure out how to manage all of those tasks but yet the board thinks they have a right to "allow" owner to read an engineer's report about their own building that they paid for. How can this be happening in this Canadian city.


Yesterday, I went back and provided my list to the property manager with the 12 documents that belong to me as an owner that I have every legal right to review and we will update this blog next week as to if I receive the required documents.



 
 
 

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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
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Email: wecare@momentumcondo.com
Phone: 403.651.7403
 

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