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Condo Ownership & Management Forum

CBBarnett

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Hi All, I was wondering if anyone knows of a reasonably active and useful site on trading condo ownership and condo management advice etc. I have a few issues with my current building but the condo world seems so fragmented and situation-specific I don't know exactly where to turn. I figured you Skyscraper friends might know a thing or two :)

My problem comes as I have joined the condo Board of my small building (~12 units) that's been around for many, many years (well past 1 lifecycle of core building components). It's all reasonably in good shape, has regular maintenance and the occasional issue that have been resolved, and maintains a reasonably funded reserve (~80% funded). As I start to see what choices and setup the previous board members have made, it's very difficult to get a sense of if these choices are good ones, and if a few of our current problems are actual problems or just how it is for small buildings. It's also difficult to know what to do about them because the information is lacking, inconsistent or not relatable (e.g. owner focused, rather than condo board focused; stories from large towers that have way more overhead and organization than would be sustainable for a small building etc.)

Ultimately, it comes down to the components that need to be understood to answer the popular question "what should our fees be?". To answer that we need to figure out some tricky stuff:
  1. We don't have a good sense on if we are paying for things that other boards do / don't pay for for a building of our size (e.g. snow clearing etc.)
  2. Of the things we should be paying for, we don't have a good sense on if we are getting a good deal or not
  3. We don't always have a good sense where roles and responsibilities lie between the board, condo management company and non-board owners on a range of issues (insurance, leaks, quotes etc.)
This condo has all the regular documentation and has been reasonably updated (bylaws etc.) but upon closer review, it's a bit of a boilerplate one - it doesn't speak to many of the issues we have and there's plenty of debate over the interpretation of the grey areas. Complicating it is a mix of old and new owners and not a lot of critical experience in how these things are supposed to run. Also a problem is it's small - the bench is a bit thin for talent.

To give a concrete example, this year we had a leak from a broken pipe under a sink that flooded the unit's kitchen below. Huge pain, because the water hit a ton of the cabinets and floors in both units causing a small physical amount of damage but huge costs because it hit all the expensive stuff. The condo manager and their technicians determined the leak was an owner's responsibility because it fell on the owner's side of the property line, but it was recommended that the condo also had to submit an insurance claim to coordinate the cleanup and fix the damage to the common area / in between floors.

The result is a big jump in premiums for the board (simply by filing a claim) and a seemingly unwillingness to collect from the owner the deductible at least and pay for the repairs. All this is very not transparent and seemingly poorly organized as no one can seems to be able to tell the Board who is paying for what (1), benefits or costs of filling a insurance claim (2), who is doing what between two insurance companies, the Board, the owner and the management company (3). This is the most tangible example, however other smaller less expensive issues have similar traits.

Any advice or recommendations on a good website source of comparisons and advice on what we should be doing as a board?
 
I don't know of any site but you can always consult a lawyer that specializes in condominium law. They would have answers for most of your questions rather than second hand advice/hearsay
 
I agree with the above. Legal questions should be referred to a lawyer. As for ongoing management of the building try this site which has a forum


As I am a condo owner and have served on a board in the past, it is important that the condo corporation have
1. A clearly worded policy and guideline manual for owners
2. An annual audit of finances and periodic study of the reserve fund
3. An annual general meeting between the board, building management and owners
 
seemingly unwillingness to collect from the owner the deductible at least
Yeah, they should collect the deductible. We paid (or rather our unit insurance paid on our behalf) a $25,000 deductible for our building’s policy.

Every unit owner should know the deductible level and be required to hold unit insurance to cover it. We have coverage for up to a $50,000 deductible and that level of deductible on the collective insurance helps keep the fees lower. Not low - our building had two multi unit floods this year. But lower.
 

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