My time on
several Condo Boards has lead me to a sad truth: If you ever want to lose faith
in humanity, go join a Condo Board for year.I think I used to have this naive belief that on the whole, 90% of
people in our society would do “the right things” in a communal setting.
The sad
reality is that that percentage I just listed is probably right.What I never quite expected was just how
wrong and incredibly inept the last 10% could be, and the jarring impact that
they have on the remaining 90%.
The One and Only Stick
You’ve Got
To a Condo
Board, bylaws are the single most important factor in enabling a Board to
ensure the building is run in an orderly, secure, fair, and financially sound
fashion.Typically, the “rules” of a
condo themselves are set within the bylaws, and standards are also set for
things like pets, or hours of noise, or saving for future repairs.Strong bylaws will try and anticipate the
major risks of the day.Weak ones will
be silent on the issues that have a significant negative impact.
Without a
strong set of bylaws, a Board is legally powerless to enforce these rules, as
bylaws typically clearly state and grant the Board the ability to punish those
that break the rules, typically through fines and other financial
penalties.Imagine the police trying to
keep order without a set of laws to define what’s wrong or right…or refs at an
NHL game without a rule book to define what constitutes a penalty and thus
making up their own rules (ok bad example… they seem to do that anyways…)
When
enforcing the bylaws, Boards must be consistent in doing this across all
owners, not just certain individuals.If
not, legal challenges may be successful in overturning the validity of these
fines. Update Your Bylaws
Periodically
Bylaws must
be kept up to date and address evolving threats and changes to legislation.For example, ExpressVu mini satellite dishes
were a big issue in the early 2000’s .Buildings without specific bylaws against them found these dishes
popping up all over the exterior like dandelions.Owners tried clever ways to skirt bylaws
against “fixed” dishes by using tripods and other MacGyver-esque non permanent
techniques.
Legislation
changes over time, mandating that Condo Corporations address certain issues –
issues that should be added to the existing bylaws.For example - in recent times, Condominium
Acts in various Provinces have made reserve fund studies mandatory– what you would want to see is that the
“Duties and Obligations” section of the bylawsare modified so thatthe Board is
required to establish and maintain a Reserve Fund.
Updating Bylaws – One
Little Hitch
Now that
I’ve convinced you that updating your bylaws is a great idea, there exists a
mechanism in most bylaws that will make this a feat slightly harder to do than achieving
World Peace.Most bylaws will state that
a certain percentage of unit factors must “vote” yes to change the bylaws.Just like real world politics, in theory this
protects against an overzealous Board from making changes that don’t reflect
the will of the owners.Just like in
real life politics, it also means that changing the status quo will be
difficult!
My
recommendation to Boards – don’t let the controversial issues derail progress
on other important issues.While it may
be tempting to update all your bylaws at once – primarily due to legal costs in
drafting changes – you’ll make better progress if you deal with the less
controversial elements first, and then deal with the “hot button” issues
separately and individually.For
example, pet bylaws are usually guaranteed to be a bitterly contested and close
vote, while you may it easier to get changes passed to your “Duties and
Obligations” of the Corporation.
Alternatively,
you may want to propose changes to your bylaws as separate and independent
amendments, and have owners vote separately on each issue (at the same vote) vs
lumping it into a single document which is subject to a single vote.Consult with your legal counsel as to what’s
possible.