1.
|
“The corporation has to make the
requested records available within a
reasonable time.” How long is reasonable? Five days, seven days, ten
days? The Act doesn’t say. However, if the corporation does not reply
to any of your written requests within ten days I am sure a judge will
realize that they had no intention of responding. |
2.
|
The owner does not always have
to give a reason for asking to examine
the records but it is a good idea to do so. That will prevent the
corporation’s lawyer from using a lack of a reason as an excuse to deny
your request. |
3.
|
Do not bombard the corporation
with numerous requests to examine
documents and do not make multiple requests to examine the same
documents. The lawyer will use the number of requests to argue that
your requests are a form of harassment or oppression, you have become a
nuisance and you are hindering the corporation from running its affairs. |
4.
|
Remember that the manager or
board members do not have to answer any of
your questions. All they have to do is give you access to examine
documents. They do not have to explain what the documents mean. |
5.
|
Owners are not automatically
entitled to receive a list of owners. The
reason for requesting a list of owners must be clear. Otherwise the
provision of the owner’s list may infringe on the privacy of the other
owners. |
6.
|
If the board made a decision,
they do not have to explain why they made
that decision and not a different one or what criterion they used when
making their decisions. |
7.
|
It is important that you have
not given the board any tangible reasons
to claim that your requests to examine the records is a fishing
expedition for a lawsuit, to help you conduct an investigation or to
further your personal political aspirations. |
8.
|
An appeal court has ruled that
availability of minutes of the board
meetings is fundamental to the rights of the individual unit owners and
the court found there was no basis for requiring that the owner provide
a reason to examine them. The court also stated that the Condominium
Act does not specifically require a reason for every request, nor a
reason for every refusal of a record.
(I suggest that you add the minutes of the board meetings to your
request to see the records. If the board ignores your requests, then
you may have an automatic win.) |
9.
|
The lawyer may argue that you
have a personal vendetta against the
board and that all the other owners are innocent victims of your
political games so the judge should dismiss your claim and award the
corporation punitive costs to discourage other owners from similar
behaviour. |
10.
|
In one recent Superior Court
case (February 2012), a group of owners
used this argument against the board members by arguing that the
innocent owners should not have to pay the court costs due to the
board’s bad faith. The judge partially agreed and made the individual
board members shoulder some of the costs. |
11.
|
Once you commence a small
claims action, you cannot drop the case without the other party’s
consent. |
12.
|
Most likely the manager and the
directors will treat you differently
after you request to examine records. |
13.
|
I urge you to ask to examine the
utility bills as the utility bills
make up a very large percentage of the operating costs. You want to see
if the bills have been paid in full every month or if the condo is
skipping months or just paying a portion of the monthly utility bills.
At one large condo, the administrator and property manager were not
paying the monthly water bills so the owners were being charged $2,000
a month in late penalties. |
