Forec

Strata corporation cannot force owner to provide key

25/07/2023

Standard bylaws of Strata Property Act make provision both for emergency access and routine access with notice for the purpose of inspections and servicing

Dear Tony: Owners in our Coquitlam building received notice that we are being forced to provide a key to access our strata lots.

A bylaw is being proposed at our upcoming annual general meeting that will require every owner/landlord to provide a key to the resident manager for the purpose of emergencies, routine inspections, and service requirements.

The only service requirement we have is the routine testing of the smoke and heat detectors. This is always scheduled for the second week of September and owners and tenants are always provided with at least seven days notice for access.

The notice package has indicated that if we do not provide a key, and there is an emergency access, we will be responsible for any related damages to

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BC Hydro heat pump rebate not eligible for condos, frustrated owner finds

16/04/2023

Kathleen Harold lives in a condo and says the summers in B.C. can be unbearable. “I face east, south, and west and the heat can get just dreadful here, absolutely dreadful,” said Harold.

Harold says it’s one of the main reasons she invested in a heat pump which can also be used to cool a home.

The Mission resident says after seeing and hearing countless BC Hydro ads promoting rebates around the purchase of a heat pump, she decided to buy one assuming she would get some money back.

“I presumed I would get a few thousand dollars back. I really did,” Harold told Consumer Matters.

However, when it comes to heat pumps and rebates, condos along with high-rises and apartment buildings are ineligible for rebates.

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“It shocked me when I saw that condos don’t get a rebate,” Harold said.

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B.C. homeowners say they’ve

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Forec

Stratas shifting to 55+ presents 'massive loophole' in Property Act, Duncan condo owner says

25/03/2023

A condo owner in Duncan says her strata opting to go 55+ will significantly impact not only her finances, but her personal life — prompting her to ask British Columbia’s premier to fix a “massive loophole” in recent changes to housing legislation.

Brianne Pascoe, 30, purchased her unit last June. When she moved into the building it was 19+, but since then the government has made significant changes to the Strata Property Act with Bill 44 — including what some are calling a loophole upending the lives of buyers and renters.

That’s because Pascoe’s strata voted to restrict anyone under 55 from moving into the building, something other strata councils around the province have been doing ever since the changes came into effect last November.

The new laws aim to increase B.C.’s housing stock to help solve the province’s rental shortage, with changes to the Act scrapping rental restrictions, including

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B.C. condo owner concerned after strata council implements new age restriction

19/03/2023


Brianna Pascoe has penned a letter to B.C. Premier David Eby after the strata in her Duncan condo building voted to enact a 55-plus age restriction bylaw.


“I am now a 30-year-old stuck in a retirement building,” Pascoe said, reading from her letter. “I no longer have a nice little stepping stone for my future.”


The vote was 19 to four in favour of the bylaw change.


The letter is asking Eby to close what she calls a loophole created by recent changes made to the Strata Property Act.


“Condo buildings that weren’t previously 55-plus, they have been allowed to change to a 55-plus building to avoid having to enact the changes he’s put in place,” said Pascoe.


Tony Gioventu, executive director of the Condominium Homeowners Association of BC, says there’s a reason why some stratas may be making a similar move.


“Strata

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Condo owner must also pay up for tenant's disruptive behaviour, tribunal says

04/03/2023

A recent ruling by an Ontario tribunal should serve as a warning to condo owners who rent out their units that they could be left with a big bill if they don’t take action against problem tenants. 

In a Feb. 10 decision, the Condominium Authority Tribunal (CAT) found both a tenant and condo owner jointly responsible for what the adjudicator called the tenant’s “pattern of annoying and disruptive conduct.”

Tribunal vice-chair Michael Clifton awarded the corporation that manages the condo building near Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue more than $26,000 in damages, with $8,551.50 to be paid by the condo owner and $18,239.60 to be paid jointly by the condo owner and tenant.

“I find that the respondents … have created or permitted the creation of noise and other nuisances that disturb the comfort and quiet enjoyment of the units or common elements by other owners and residents of

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