There isn’t a day that goes by where elevators don’t come up in a conversation in our office.  Elevator problems seem to be the focus of many owner complaints. Management and boards are finding this challenging since the condominium corporation is reliant on the elevator technicians, who have been reported to be in short supply and don’t often provide immediate service. The government is addressing some of these issues with the introduction of Bill 109,…

Condominiums projects are becoming more complex and multi-faceted. It is not uncommon to have several large condominium buildings developed in close proximity that share amenity areas, parking garages, roadways and security gate houses.  In these instances, there are many new and challenging legal issues that may arise. In litigation generally, and personal injury litigation (slip and falls, motor vehicle accidents etc.) in particular, some lawyers take the approach of naming as defendants “anyone and everyone” who…

In a previous blog post we wrote about the requirements for shared facility managers to be licenced where one or more of the parties to the shared facility agreement is a condominium corporation.  This is a new requirement recently introduced when the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015 (“CMSA”) came into effect. This is just one issue that has come up recently concerning shared facilities however, condominium corporations continue to face challenges working with other parties,…

As we have reported in previous blog posts, there have been a number of pre-construction condominium developments in the Greater Toronto Area that have been canceled by the developers. The developers relied on early termination rights set out in the purchase agreements. While the purchasers were refunded the deposits that had been paid, many were not happy with what had transpired. Because the selling price of condo units in the Greater Toronto Area has…

Electronic Voting has been adopted by many condominium corporations, so it is time to dispel some myths about what Electronic Voting is and what it is not. Myth No. 1 – Electronic proxies are “online voting” or electronic voting. Wrong. Electronic proxies involves completing a proxy through an online form, appointing another person to be their proxy. A paper copy of the proxy is then created and provided to the condo corporation. Electronic voting is…

As utility costs represent approximately 35 to 50% of the budget for high-rise condominiums, reducing these costs can significantly impact a corporation’s budget and the common expense fees paid by unit owners. Smart Energy Recovery (“SER”) is a new eco-friendly company that can assist condominium corporations in making energy-saving retrofits to building equipment and systems at no cost to the corporations. Here’s how it works. SER conducts an inspection of the building’s systems and equipment,…

A recent case decision (Polito v. Briarlane Property Management Inc., 2019 HRTO 708) from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (the “Tribunal”) focused on the obligation to accommodate disabled residents. In October of 2016 a disabled resident requested that automatic door openers be installed at the building front entrance to allow him to easily enter the building while using his scooter, walker or cane. The resident’s initial request and a subsequent request by the resident’s…