and along came the province
Just when already confused condo owners and councils thought they had a grasp on strata governance, along comes the province with a wholesale overhaul of the Strata Property Act. Welcome to 2010 and Bill 8, a new year and new legislation that will certainly have widespread impact on the approximately 600,000 condominium owners in B.C.
While the provincial government is still tweaking a few sections, the bulk of the new Strata Property Amendment Act is now in force. As with the launch of any new legislation, it will take time and a few court decisions to differentiate the dander from the dust.
It is not possible to detail all of the changes here, however, I will touch on a few of the highlights. For more in depth analysis and interpretation owners may contact the Condominium Home Owners Association, or seek legal advice.
Although more practical than profound, one change is the acceptance of e-mail as a legitimate form of communication between strata managers, councils and owners. In addition to the convenience, e-mail will save costs for stratas on office expenses. In the case of larger corporations the savings could amount to thousands of dollars (and trees) annually.
The changes include an attempt to clarify the often contentious issues concerning the allocation of parking stalls and storage lockers. When adopted, the information certificate provided to buyers purchasing a condo will have to identify which stall or locker, if any, has been allocated to the unit.
Refunds for unused Special Levies, a bookkeeping nightmare, have been simplified. In the past refunds were paid to owners based on their contributions. However, in many cases units had changed ownership and determining proportional amounts between current and past owners was onerous. The amendment simply states that any refund will be returned to the owner at the time the refund is made.
Rental restrictions, another hot button issue, have also come under the scrutiny of the legislators. Bill 8 states that when a strata has a rental restriction by-law, the calculation of lots rented does not include those units rented to exempted family members and those exempted on the basis of hardship.
The most profound and potentially most expensive changes – audits and depreciation reports - have yet to be passed. A strata will be required to obtain from a ‘qualified’ person a depreciation report, estimating the repair and replacement cost for major items in the corporation and the expected life of those items. It is not clear at this time how often these reports will need to be undertaken. The corporation’s annual financial statement will now have to be audited, also by a qualified person. However, there is a provision that stratas can opt out of these requirements by passing a ¾ vote resolution.
StrataSphere is intended for general information purposes only.
Gunnar Forsstrom is a licensed strata manager with Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty.
Send your questions to: gforsstrom@coldwellbanker.ca or call: 250-860-1411