Condo life: the rules of discord

In 2021, Yuani Fragata becomes the proud owner of a condominium apartment in a large building in Montreal, a stone’s throw from Parc Lafontaine, which has more than 400 housing units. “I loved the idea of ​​coming into a community where almost 1,000 people live,” he says.

Everything goes well until 2023. This is when, with several other co-owners, he begins to ask questions about governance and the validity of the rules.

We spoke with around thirty co-owners, former or current, of this building. The majority believe that their board of directors goes too far.

We are less and less free to do what we want at home says Sophie Maheu. There are a lot of people who are struggling with the administration who can’t take it anymorefor his part supports André Surprenant.

Regulations with tariffs and penalties made the atmosphere a little stressfuladds Jacques Tremblay, who also owns an apartment.

Elevator fees that go wrong

According to several co-owners, it is in 2023 that tensions will rise a notch with the imposition of fees of $25 to $100 for the delivery of large items by elevators. Several residents consider the measure unreasonable.

If we’re not blocking an elevator for 3 hours, what business does that have to do with the administration?asks Yuani Fragata.

The board of directors declined our interview request and questions the relevance of the topic. By email, he tells us that he has implemented a user-pays principle due to the marked increase in moving and parcel deliveries, which are taking up more and more of his staff.

The founder of the Quebec Association of Co-ownership Managers, Élise Beauchesne, is surprised by the imposition of rates for deliveries.

Someone who is going to have a wine cellar delivered to their apartment, that does not require an elevator for a long period of time. So, normally, there will be this distinction between delivery and moving. And the fee will only apply in the case of movesexplains the one who is also at the head of Solution condo, a co-ownership management company.

Fees adopted only by the board of directors

What also bothers several co-owners is that the elevator fees were adopted by the building’s board of directors without being submitted to the vote of the co-owners at the general meeting.

The C. A. maintains that it has obtained legal opinions saying that it has the right to act in this way, but this is not the opinion of the expert co-ownership lawyers that we consulted.

Generally speaking, it is the co-owners who decide on the adoption of charges, feesexplains lawyer Yves Papineau. Her colleague, Marie-Cécile Bodéüs, goes in the same direction. So, these costs, the board of directors does not have the power to establish them itself without it having gone through the meeting of co-ownersspecifies the lawyer.

According to her, these fees are therefore not enforceable if they have only been adopted by the board of directors.

The Board of Directors affirms that its members act in good faith and were elected by a majority. He adds that the criticism of him comes from a petit group of co-owners.

The use of cameras in co-ownership: what does the law say?

Co-owners tell us they feel spied on because of the use of surveillance cameras to enforce regulations, but also rules including those concerning elevators.

For its part, the board of directors says it respects the law and argues that the cameras are useful in the event of damage, vandalism, but also violation of building regulations. On this specific point, is the board of directors exaggerating?

The opinions of our experts diverge. The use of cameras in co-ownership, it is there to observe misdeeds, to note damage, but it is not there to be viewed continuously in search of faults which could have been committedunderlines Me Marie-Cécile Bodéüs.

Me Yves Papineau, on the other hand, believes that cameras can be used more widely to enforce co-ownership regulations.

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Long-term rental ban

It’s not just certain decisions of the Board of Directors that are disturbing. Certain decisions taken at the general assembly also provoke an outcry.

For Kim Zakaïb, the straw that broke the camel’s back was a new regulation which prohibits any new long-term condo rental, for a year or more. This is truly an unacceptable situation for me.explains the owner-occupier who hoped to eventually rent her accommodation.

Élodie Martel, a long-time resident, is also shocked by the regulation. Our condo is supposed to be ours. So I consider it interferenceshe argues.

For our experts, the ban on all new long-term rentals is downright illegal. The power to rent your private unit belongs to any co-owneraccording to lawyer Marie-Cécile Bodéüs. Furthermore, the regulation creates two categories: it allows those who already rent to continue to do so, but prohibits the practice for others.

However, the law does not allow him to act in this way, according to our two experts. Discriminating between co-owners is strictly prohibitedspecifies Me Bodéüs. Acquired rights exist in municipal matters, but they do not exist in co-ownership mattersunderlines Me Yves Papineau.

He adds that we can prohibit short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, but that it is not possible to limit the number of apartments rented in a building. Please note: this type of rental was already prohibited in the building, completely legally.

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For its part, the board of directors explains that nearly half of the condos are rented and that action must be taken to preserve theinsurability of the building. For lawyer Yves Papineau, it is true that such a rental rate, which is not unique to this building, is not an ideal situation.

52% or 53% of condominium housing in Montreal and the surrounding area is rented. That wasn’t really the idea at the start. The initial idea was to have owner-occupiers. Insurers like it less because we change the category of building.

Despite the criticism, the rental regulations were adopted at the general assembly last summer.

Access to an important contract

Co-owners also deplore that the Board of Directors was slow to give them access to a contract worth more than $1.3 million awarded to a company for the installation of a protection system against water damage. However, on this subject the law is clear, according to our experts: a co-owner must be able to consult the contracts of his co-ownership association.

The union must provide access to the building register. So, it can be virtual access to contracts, it can be paper access by appointment at the management office, but the contracts are part of the register itselfsays Élise Beauchesne, founder of the Quebec Association of Co-ownership Managers.

According to the board of directors, this request for a document is unusual since since its founding in 1990, no signed contract has been requested by a co-owner or transmitted to a co-owner.

That said, the council writes to us that it has finally given access to the contract as requested by the co-owners. in order to avoid further fueling any disinformation campaign that has been circulating for months in the building.

Chicanes in co-ownership: not a unique case

The example of this building is not unique. More and more people are living in condos, a type of housing that presents challenges.

A co-ownership is like a big village, so it is subject to conflicts because it is several ways of seeing life that we must bring together under the same roofunderlines the founder of the Quebec Association of Co-ownership Managers, Élise Beauchesne.

Me Bodéüs goes in the same direction. Added to this is the fact, according to her, that co-owners and administrators often do not have a good understanding of the law.

However, according to Me Papineau, the extent of co-ownership disputes should not be exaggerated either.

I live in a condominium and I am very happy to live there, but you have to choose your building. We must understand that we are not going to do what we want, when we want, how we want. So, you know, co-ownership can be a nightmare, but it can also be extraordinaryhe says.

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Possible solutions

Co-owners are now contesting, in court, the legality of the rental regulations defended by the building’s board of directors.

To resolve this type of dispute at low cost, Yves Papineau has been advocating for years for the equivalent of the housing court, but for co-ownership, as already exists in Ontario. There is no reason why we should not have a specialized court for this. Tenants and landlords have more rights and information than a co-ownerargues the lawyer.

Changes

Let’s return to the condominium building discussed in this report.

Recently, its board of directors has made several changes. Among other things, elevator fees for deliveries have been abolished and those for removals have been reduced.

Yuani Fragata is delighted: We have just started to shake the tree, there are already lots of apples falling. It is still the fun. So, if there are other co-ownerships in Quebec wondering, listen, just start organizing and putting measures in place.

The co-owners we met offered some advice to their peers: get involved, go to meetings and read the documents.

Be careful because things can go wrong on a 10 centaccording to co-owner Sophie Maheu.