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Owner expectations from the Condo Corporation

  • wecare994
  • Jun 12, 2024
  • 3 min read

When you purchased your condo what are your expectations versus what you received? Difficult boards of directors, terrible management companies, uninformed owners, little to no information and no way to navigate the building.


You found your dream condo and you've moved in......


You hoped for a community and an understanding that we are all in this together. What was your first sign that you just purchased your unit in a good building or a poorly managed building?


It takes a while to get oriented when you move into a condo unit, there are so many areas to discover and so many challenges. By the day I had moved into the building I was already fed up with the management company and had honestly never met a more uninviting hostile group of people who I now realized worked for me as an owner of the corporation and was clearly lacking in service. Yes, the management company works for every owner in this building, not the board but every single owner and is responsible to every single owner. I tried to complain to the board and that fell on deaf ears. I tried to complain to the owners of the management company and those complaints were ignored. It was clear that I was in a situation where no one cared about the lack of service from the management company and it seemed like the board didn't care very much. Every owner I ran into complained about the management company but not one owner had any solutions and was sitting waiting for the board. The board didn't want to hear and when you tried to message them or email them they didn't bother to return emails and clearly didn't care about the owner's concerns. The property management company was bad and the board was bad.


Most owners of condos forget or don't really take the time to understand that they don't just own their unit they are shareholders in the corporation and the building. Every owner is responsible for every inch of the building and every inch of that building is taken into consideration when they are selling their unit. Except for a small number of issues, private issues of owners every situation or event in that building should be communicated to the owners and every situation or event the board is the responsibility of the board to resolve. The board manages the building with the assistance and expertise of the management company. It is the board that manages the building and they need to make sure that the management company is helping, fixing and resolving ALL owner issues. The board and the management company are accountable to the owners of the building.


A really poor management company is one indicator that the board of directors is flawed, lazy or isn't actually governing and managing the building. If the management company doesn't care how they treat the owners then clearly the board is lacking. They are lacking an understanding of their roles and responsibility. When your management company treats the owners poorly then don't count on the board being a reasonable entity that will be able to manage not only the building day to day but in a crisis.


I added this picture of the boxes because it took me months to find the garbage room where I needed to put mine. I stacked my boxes in my locker for months until I finally found someone to ask where the garbage room was. There was no map, no welcome package and no way to navigate the building and not a single owner or board member gave a damn about my experience. After I moved in I discovered the condo board had really been lacking for many years but there was no way to determine how bad they were. There was no one who could have saved me from this building and honestly I loved my unit, its beautiful so I might have bought it anyway but had I known I would have known what to expect and it would have been my choice. My lawyer checked his boxes, the reserve study, etc. but that wasn't enough. Its not enough, you need to know there is a fully functioning operational entity called the board of directors who is actively managing the building. I wish I had someone review the competency of the board or how well they were managing or if they were managing. The building was dated but that was easy to fix thought. There really was no way to know how bad things were in this building that I chose to invest in.

We created a solution so you don't have to go through this...

If you are a new buyer contact us today so we can evaluate your condo corporation BEFORE you buy so you can feel confident you are receiving the best information and make the right choice for you.

 
 
 

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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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​​Saturday: 8am - 1pm

​Sunday: Closed

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