October 2023 update
This posting is a very long one. Lots of wild and crazy things going on in the condo world. I saved the very best for the last. We’ll start with unethical behaviour.
Azza Nefzaoui and Manifold PRO Management guilty of 8 charges
On May 30, 2023, the Condominium Management Regulatory Authority of Ontario’s (CMRAO) first prosecution concluded with the two defendants, Azza Nefzaoui and Manifold PRO Management and Consulting Services Inc. (“Manifold”), being found guilty of all eight charges for acting as a condominium manager/management provider, respectively, without a licence.
You can read the decision here.
The charges stemmed from a number of complaints from residents of Enfield Place at 265 and 285 Enfield condominium located in Mississauga. The residents alleged that Ms. Nefzaoui was acting as the condominium manager without a licence. According to the residents, Ms. Nefzaoui was also the President of the Board of Directors for the condominium corporation, and under her leadership the board appointed Ms. Nefzaoui and her company, Manifold, as the condominium manager.
In total, Ms. Nefzaoui and Manifold received payments in excess of $400,000.
On June 23, 2023, the court issued the sentencing decision in Mississauga Provincial Offences Court:
Manifold PRO Management and Consulting Services
• fines totalling $25,000 for all counts.
Azza Nefzaoui
• fines totalling $25,000 for all counts.
• one year probation.
• cannot be employed in condominium management services for a period of one year.
Ms. Nefzaoui took in $400,000 and was fined a total of $50,000. She came out ahead.
I doubt that there will be much change at Enfield Court.
Downing Street Property Management Inc fined $4,500
In April 2022, the CMRAO’s Discipline Committee issued a decision against Downing Street Property Management Inc. The management company successfully applied for an energy rebate on behalf of its clients. When the company received the rebate, it failed to properly remit the funds.
$30K fine for B.C. real estate agent who failed to warn clients about special levy before condo purchase
CTV News Vancouver
Ian Holliday
09 September 2023
A second B.C. real estate agent has been ordered to pay more than $30,000 for failing to notify his clients about an impending special levy before they purchased a condo in White Rock.
Jitendra Angelo Dehideniya has six months to pay the $30,000 discipline penalty plus $1,500 in enforcement expenses under a consent order he agreed to with the B.C. Financial Services Authority.
He must also complete the Real Estate Trading Services Remedial Education Course at UBC's Sauder School of Business within three months, according to the order.
A retired couple from Langley approached the team's lead – identified in the order only as SY – looking to move to White Rock. Dehideniya and SY conducted a property search, and the buyers eventually entered into an agreement to purchase a condo in a four-storey, 39-unit strata building that was built in 1986.
The agreement was subject to the review of strata documents – including meeting minutes, bylaws, financial statements and more – by the buyers.
According to the consent order, those documents were provided to Dehideniya the day before subject conditions were due to be removed and a deposit paid.
The order indicates Dehideniya didn't share the documents with the buyers until June 8, 2018, well after they had completed their purchase and moved into the condo.
Residents of Edmonton condo building ordered out over concerns of collapse
CBC News
Wallis Snowdon, Madeleine Cummings
06 September 2023
Residents of a northwest Edmonton condo building have been ordered to immediately vacate their homes due to concerns the building could collapse.
An official notice to vacate will be posted at Castledowns Pointe on Tuesday evening, a City of Edmonton spokesperson told CBC News.
Residents of the building at 12618 152nd Ave. received a notice Friday from property manager Simco Management detailing a series of structural concerns with the four-storey, 83-unit building, which was constructed in 1999.
According to that notice, engineers investigating the damage caused by a March 12 fire discovered the building was not structurally sound.
"In summary, the report of the structural engineers advises that under certain conditions, all or a portion of the building could fail structurally, (i.e. collapse)," the notice from Simco said.
"Please note that it is the recommendation of RJC that due to the potential life safety issue, that the remaining residents vacate the building as soon as possible,"
A notice from the company posted on the building's front doors instructed residents to leave their units "without delay."
Structural engineering firm Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. (RJC) made the findings and recommended that residents leave.
Inspection reports obtained by CBC show that parts of the structure were already showing signs of failure, that improperly constructed trusses inside the walls were beginning to buckle, and that some exterior walls were beginning to bow.
Comments from Edmonton Reddit
No the real question is, who built that building. What else did they build and did they also under build those buildings. This is a catastrophe.
There was another condo in Fort Saskatchewan that was evacuated due to concerns of structural failure a few years ago. Seems like it was built around the same era. The Fort Saskatchewan condo was poorly engineered though while Castledowns Pointe was poorly built. Still, engineers are supposed to be on site at a set interval to review construction.
My first seven years into carpentry was doing extensive rot repair and building envelope. We were following the same builder over and over because they cut so many corners. Whoever their stucco person sucked ass and a 5-6 year old 3 story condo building was rotted right out.. Owners were getting smoked with special assessments. Or waiting for some crazy insurance/lawsuit to settle so they wouldn't get crushed by these assessments.
The hugest issue was the general contractor would build a building under ABC construction. Fold, then start up under ABCD Construction and so forth.
Update: A Toronto condo & its financial difficulties
The condo corporation that I wrote about in my last posting held an owner’s meeting where the entire three-person board was replaced with a new board.
The owners were wise enough to hire a lawyer that was experienced in condominium law to assist them with this endeavour.
Lawyer says Etobicoke condo board invested $500,000 in crypto exchange
Globe and Mail
Shane Dingman
20 September 2023
An allegation that a Toronto townhouse complex violated Ontario’s Condominium Act by investing at least $500,000 in a cryptocurrency exchange called Pink Piggy Investment Group is highlighting gaps in provincial protections for condo owners.
An example of the weaknesses in the system can be seen in the case of York Condominium Corp. No. 25, which governs a townhouse complex in Ontario Premier’s own riding of Etobicoke North. On Sept. 5, condominium lawyer Evan Holt sent a letter to residents of the complex alleging the condominium corporation had invested $500,000 in a cryptocurrency exchange called “Pink Piggy Investment Group Inc.
“Reserve funds are not to be invested in the stock market, and certainly not in cryptocurrency or other similarly risky assets,” said Mr. Chaplick. According to him anyone – directors, management, legal advisers – at a condo corporation that knowingly contravened the act could face sanctions, but only if other owners complain. But exactly who to complain to in this situation isn’t clear.
The CAO registers and trains board directors but limits its regulations mainly to interpersonal disputes, providing a tribunal to keep so-called, “pets, parking and noise” cases out of the civil courts. headtopics.com
The Ministry of Consumer and Business Services Act does allow for the appointment of a special “director” to prosecute violations of the Condo Act, punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 for an individual and $100,000 for a corporation convicted. But this section of the law has never been used.
The situation at YCC No. 25 is complicated because the board has been riven by disputes for years, with court records of civil litigation going back more than a decade. One current case brought in 2021 alleges election malfeasance, but its next court date isn’t scheduled until 2024.
Registry details
https://bit.ly/3PWrTrJ
I had to laugh when I heard this..
Investing at least $500,000 in a cryptocurrency exchange called Pink Piggy Investment Group? That sounds like a name that W.C. Fields or the Marx brothers would use in one of their films.
YCC #25 was robbed by its president decades ago. He skipped out with about $3 million. He got away with it.
Then they got a court-appointed administrator. He squeezed as much as he could out of that condo. The special assessments made the Virgin Mary cry.
When I was involved with condos, an ex-cop working for an audit accounting company visited me to find out if I knew anything about that condo. The new board was trying to get the money back that they claimed was stolen from an earlier board.
The next I heard was that the management company charged something like $100 or more an hour when an owner asked to view the condo records.
There was the time YCC #25 took an owner to court over bedbugs and a bad odours complaint. The owner lost that one.
Nine years ago, a few owners tried to start a Facebook page called:
Help Our YCC25 Community. However that project didn’t get anywhere.
Now this.
I don't feel too sorry for the owners. The corporation always had problems. The townhouses are near a community college and many of the units have been turned into overcrowded flophouses that milk the students.
Regina condo corporation invests in bitcoin; experts warn of risks, but lawyer says strategy is sound
CBC News
Laura Sciarpelletti
17 March 2021
A Saskatchewan condo corporation has purchased thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin in hopes of eventually eliminating fees for residents.
Some experts say such cryptocurrency investments come with risks. But the lawyer who represented the condo corporation in the bitcoin sale says its board of directors' investment strategy is primed to deal with any volatility bitcoin might experience.
Regina-based Thornton Place Condominium Corporation says it recently bought 0.4 bitcoin for $25,000 through cryptocurrency platform Kraken and has allocated $700 per month for future purchases of the cryptocurrency.
Condo board treasurer Howard Ulmer says the bitcoin investment idea came from former board member and attorney partner at Clarke Johnston Estabrooks and Miller Law Office in Regina, Eric Miller.
Ulmer says the investment was designed to be conservative in order to mitigate risks.
"It appears that this may be a more stable time for investment in bitcoin currency. And the last number of years have been a considerable amount of fluctuation, and that doesn't mean it can't happen some more. But at least it appears to be a bit more stable," Ulmer said.
He says the investment amounts to about five per cent of the corporation's reserves and six per cent of its monthly operating fund.
The low fees mindset
If you are in a condo where a large majority of owners are determined to freeze the condo fees, or will tolerate only minimal increases, then eventual financial doom will be that condo's fate. There is no getting around it.
Do these condos exist? Sure they do and in far larger numbers than you would think possible.
Read the full article from CondoMadness here.
Inflatable hot tub can stay on Vancouver condo balcony, judge rules
CTV News Vancouver
Lisa Steacy
07 September 2023
Two Vancouver condo owners will be able to keep an inflatable hot tub on their balcony after a judge found that the item constituted patio furniture and was allowed under the strata's bylaws.
Justice Michael Tammen ruled on the case in B.C. Supreme Court last month after the strata filed for a review of an earlier decision by the province's Civil Resolution Tribunal.
According to the decision (opens in a new tab), the owners live on the 26th floor of a tower in downtown Vancouver and set up the inflatable hot tub in September of 2021 after the strata rejected their request to do so.
"After the strata council learned of the placement of the hot tub on the patio, it initiated bylaw enforcement processes pursuant to its bylaws and the Strata Property Act," Tammen wrote in his ruling.
John Emmerton and Van Ortega took the dispute to the tribunal in December of that year and a decision was handed down in August of 2022.
I see a few potential problems with this. The weight of the water may become an issue in the future. If, or when, the hot tub leaks, the residents below will be affected.
Then there are items that will be falling down from the units above such as cigarette butts, dog urine and poop, potting soil, and empty beer bottles.
Hot tubs can mean partying. I hope that no drunk or someone high falls off the 26th floor balcony.
Brief notes
Ontario house fire most likely caused by replacement vacuum battery
First it was ebike batteries and now a fire was caused by a vacuum cleaner battery. So don’t buy cheap replacements & don’t overcharge them.
Residents displaced after fire at Nanaimo condo building
There are two news reports on this condo fire. It is likely that the homeless that camp nearby accidently set this fire by the building’s dumpster.
Kingston residents asked to stop dumping grease down the drain
Condo boards/managers should remind residents of what foods and other items that should never be flushed down sinks and toilets. If the source of a plugged drain cannot be determined, the corporation pays the plumbing and cleanup bills. If the source was one unit, the owner pays the bills.
Directors must pay court costs
This article is from the Toronto Star and was emailed to me as a pdf file.