Condos in the news
A Toronto condo & its financial difficulties
It seems that a stacked townhouse condo corporation in Toronto has been ignoring building maintenance for a number of years. The Board has also been “borrowing” funds from the Reserves to pay Operating Costs.
(Check your auditor’s financial statements for an Interfund balance. That means that the condo borrowed "Reserve" money to pay the Operating expenses. Not a good practice. The Reserves is not a bank that gives loans.)
Now a deteriorated underground parking garage needed repairs and the townhouses have exterior water leaks that can no longer be put off.
Paraphrasing a Toronto Superior Court judge: the chickens have come home to roost.
Auditor’s Report
Reading the independent auditor’s report for last year, I saw that there is a $50,000 deficit in the Operating account and there was an $80,000 Special Assessment (quite modest as there are over 200 units), but it should have set off alarm bells that the corporation was so strapped that it needed a Special Assessment to pay off such a small amount.
There appears to be two legal claims against the corporation:
1. $1,000,000
2. $3,000,000
Total $4,000,000.
Operating Fund expenses
There are a couple items of concern.
Administration costs
$301,906 seems very high. Almost as much as the utilities. I haven't seen this before.
Repairs & Maintenance
$252,418 sounds high for regular operating maintenance. Maybe some of that should have been Reserve spending.
New fiscal year
Last year the monthly maintenance fees increased by 3.5%. This year they went up by 18%. That was unexpected.
2nd Special Assessment
Recently, completely out of the blue, the owners were informed of a $20,000 Special Assessment that is to be paid off in quarterly amounts over two years.
If anyone wants to sell, their Status Certificate may create difficulties.
Dog rescued after Vancouver balcony fire
CTV News Vancouver
Aug. 13, 2023
Crews were called to 1680 Bayshore Drive around 3:30 p.m. for a fire that sent thick smoke billowing off of a fifth-floor patio, according to Vancouver Fire Rescue Service.
Acting Battalion Chief Ryan Cameron told CTV News that crews attacked the fire from the street below as well as from inside the unit. No one was home but the occupants' pup was there at the time.
Notes:
There were combustibles left on that balcony.
No cause for this fire was given but in my experience, balcony fires are often caused by discarded cigarettes dropped from units above, BBQ propane tanks and a new threat, E-bike batteries being overcharged.
Like hell': Over 350 condo units without AC for months as residents struggle with heat
CityNews 680
By Lucas Casaletto and Tina Yazdani
Posted July 27, 2023
The condominium is at 33 Shore Breeze Drive in the Lakeshore Boulevard West and Park Lawn Road area in Etobicoke. There are 381 units that have been without air conditioning since the end of June.
Residents have cracked open windows and allowed their balcony doors to stay open with hopes of generating as much airflow as possible, but it’s been an ineffective attempt at cooling down.
“It’s like hell; it’s so hot,” said condo resident Farhad. “We open up all of our windows, but it’s still hot because it’s so humid. I have a three-month-old, and we don’t know what to do.”
To make matters more challenging, the indoor pool at the condo has been closed for over a year. Hassan said that functioning hot water has also been an issue raised with the condo’s building manager to no avail.
“The management is not doing anything. They keep saying parts are coming from the U.S. We don’t see any action.”
Nicholas Chirametli, President of City Sites Property Management, tells CityNews that they understand the hardship residents are currently experiencing, noting the failure of the condo’s air conditioning system.
“The corporation has been making every effort to restore air conditioning services to the property as quickly as possible and continues to do so by working collectively with its engineering and mechanical service providers,” Chirametli said.
Amir said he’s been told it will take around a month to fix.
Notes:
No air conditioning for over two months doesn’t sound like much fun. What can the residents do? They can buy a portable air conditioner that sticks a flexible white plastic duct through an open window. A couple of dehumidifiers will also help.
No hot water? That sucks but a hot water kettle will be a big help.
Refusal to allow siblings to share one-bedroom apartment was discrimination, B.C. Human Rights Tribunal rules
CTVNewsVancouver.ca
Lisa Steacy
18 July 2023
A landlord's refusal to allow a brother and sister to share a one-bedroom apartment was found to be discriminatory by B.C.'s Human Rights Tribunal, and the siblings were awarded more than $30,000 in damages.
Tribunal member Devyn Cousineau found that the decision not to allow the siblings to live together while also allowing two adults in a marriage or common-law relationship to share a suite with a single bedroom constituted discrimination based on family status, a characteristic protected by the province's Human Rights Code.
Notes:
This dispute was between two tenants and a rental company but this ruling affects condos too. Human Rights rulings override the condo documents.
Woman shot at east-end apartment building was the property's manager: tenants
CP 24 News
Codi Wilson & Jordan Fleguel
31 July 2023
A woman who was seriously injured in a shooting at an apartment building on Monday morning near Danforth and Broadview avenues was the property’s manager, tenants told CTV News Toronto.
The shooting happened shortly before 8:30 a.m. in the Playter Estates area, near Eastmount and Cambridge avenues.
Toronto police say a suspect attended the area on a bicycle, drew a firearm, and shot the victim – a woman believed to be in her 50s – leaving her with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspect then fled the scene on the bicycle, according to police.
Notes:
This was a rental building not a condo but this incident should not be ignored. Our society is getting more violent so some precautions should be taken.
‘Morally bankrupt’: Australia urged to cut ties with Big Four firms amid PwC scandal
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong newspaper)
Su-Lin Tan in Singapore
07 July 2023
Some Australian public figures and lawmakers are calling for Canberra to cut ties with the Big Four consulting companies as more evidence of the “immense” PwC scandal surfaces amid revelations the firm tipped off tech giant Google on confidential national tax laws.
Former Australian senator Rex Patrick – who has called out tax dodgers as well as Australia’s Aukus nuclear submarine purchase – has asked the government to ban “morally bankrupt” consultancy firms from taking taxpayers’ money.
The big four are Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC.
Notes:
Condo owners should not have complete blind trust in the “independent” auditors who approve condo financial statements.
There are very good ones who will resign rather than deal with dishonest condo boards or property managers and do creditable work.
However, there are a few whose standards are not that high. Read through CondoMadness.info and you can read about some of the bad ones.
Just when you think you have heard it all
Raise cattle on a balcony: China flat (condo) owner who kept 7 cows ordered to remove animals after neighbours complain of smell and noise
South China Morning News
Fran Lu, in Beijing
Mainland social media has been shocked by the story of a fifth-floor household in China which keeps cattle on their balcony.
Video clips of seven calves enjoying meals on the balcony of a residential building in southwest China’s Sichuan province have been viewed 4 million times on Douyin, the mainland version of TikTok.
An occupant of the residential compound said the cattle were only on the premises for a day before neighbours annoyed by their mooing and foul smell alerted the authorities.
The animals were removed by urban management officials on July 14, Phoenix Weekly reported.
The community’s party secretary, Zhang Dayou, told Fengmian News that the calves weighed between 10 and 20kg each.
a battle of wills
According to the Fengmian News, since they were removed, property management staff and guards have been locked in a battle of wills with the owner of the cows who was trying to sneak them back into the flat.
people resettled from nearby villages
The residential compound houses people resettled from nearby villages, which might explain the situation.
chickens
In January, a resident complained that many households were raising noisy chickens in their flats, adding that chickens were one thing, but cattle were quite another.
Some social media observers showed understanding over the villagers losing their former way of life after being resettled.
“People there have spent their life living in the countryside, and were used to keeping poultry and planting vegetables in their yards,” said one person.
Notes:
Almost all apartment buildings in China are condominiums. They are managed just like ours are. The Chinese government is eliminating rural extreme poverty by moving villagers to nearby cities and giving them condo apartments.
Some of the newcomers may take a while to get use to condo living.