Even though strata management companies are now required to be licensed through the Real Estate Council of BC, property management companies write contracts in ways that allow them to escape liability and permit them to conduct their affairs in a manner that condo owners are still not protected.
As a group, a strata corporation and its owners lack the accountability of an individual and can very easily take on the characteristics of a mob. Contrary to legal fiction, a strata corporation does not have the capacity of a natural person. It is an artificial entity, just like any other corporation or government. It does not have the capacity to feel pain or guilt or go to jail. Medical authorities label a natural person acting against others without such capacity a psychopath.
According to an article by Charlie Smith headlined in the Georgia Straight as "Vancouver condo expert Gerry Fanaken calls for legislative change to rein in strata council bullies" on May 22, 2013, "Veteran property manager Gerry Fanaken likes to refer to strata councils as a “fourth order of government”... These politicians end up overseeing their neighbours’ strata fees. And like other elected officials, they sometimes act in a high-handed manner toward their constituents."
The seeds for bullying in strata corporations are planted by the courts' deferential bias in favour of "the powers that be". People from other countries are shocked that our governments and courts allow the building industry to profit from their own wrongs the way that they do. A history of bias against strata owners in court decisions adds to the difficulty in suing the government or strata with any reasonable degree of success.
Although no Al MacLeod, Joan MacDougall, or Adrienne Murray types are named personally in Charlie Smith's article, Mr. Fanaken confirms that "there are lots of bullies out there—lots of people that completely violate the law and run the buildings the way they want to and not the way the Strata Property Act says. And there’s no recourse against them, no recourse of any substance.”
http://www.straight.com/news/384881/vancouver-condo-expert-gerry-fanaken-calls-legislative-change-rein-strata-council-bullies
My review of CASE law confirms that, despite the Strata Property Act promises, there is in deed comparatively LITTE, if any, RECOURSE of any SUBSTANCE. The message to owners from the courts and the powers that be is alarmingly clear: you fight the government at your peril.
We can try http://www.marymacgregor.ca/article12.htm though, and try we must to have any reasonable expectation of systemic change. The fact that owners would rather cut their losses and move, says a lot about the administration of justice involving strata corporations everywhere.
The Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) for Sunridge Estates held on February 13, 2007 hosted a tag team that perpetuated ongoing strata bullying.
First there was the Chair, Tony Gioventu, Executive Director of the Condominium Homeowners’ Association (“CHOA”). Mr. Gioventu spurned my first attempt to enter the discussion, while allowing several others to take the floor and speak repeatedly, before and after. He responded to my objecting to this point of order by snapping, “And I’m the chair.” I felt vilified.
With over a third of the 68 owners selling in the year before the meeting, it is probable that this introduction gave the new owners a clear first impression of me as being someone to shun and disrespect. Mr. Gioventu allowed me to speak only after that particular impression had been established.
This was not the first time he identified me at a meeting with a negative insinuation. Mr. Gioventu made me feel maligned at the first Sunridge meeting he attended by announcing something like, “Oh, so this is Dianne Bond” followed by an unfairly disparaging comment, such as “I won’t allow you to disrupt this meeting” the exact words of which I can no longer remember.
Money talks, and power corrupts. The fact that Tony Gioventu is paid take these actions seems particularly ironic since I was the owner on council who first made the motion for the strata to join CHOA. I repeatedly worked to promote the association in the face of joint resistance from the strata manager and Peter Slack, another owner who was on council with me at the time.
Anyway, I digress. Back to the AGM; there was Joan MacDougall, of Bayside Property Management, playing her role. During a work order discussion on decks I tried to inform the meeting that section 98 of the Strata Property Act requires that unauthorized expenditures be restricted to the minimum amount required to remove the hazard - not to reconstruct it at 10 times the cost. Ms. MacDougall immediately veered into reading out a barrage of irrelevant gobblygook in a loud voice of authority that generated stress and confusion, wasting time and clouding the facts in an atmosphere of chaos.
This time pressure and doubletalk power tactic is typical of how strata agents obstructed my attempts to review strata records and prohibited my move to amend the special levy motion to confirm that the word "decks" referred to strata plan decks only, not illegally added extra decks.
Next, there was Al MacLeod. He is the guy who cut down our trees without authorization and the guy who has taken such a large portion of the common property rent-free for his own exclusive use that his patio stands out on photos taken from space satellites by GoogleEarth.
While Mr. MacLeod's patio remains the only one surrounded by trees the million dollar cost to reinstate preemptively destroyed trees everywhere else is an astronomical amount, far in excess of anything the owners could hope to come up with. From what I understand from being informed at the AGM, the owners would have to succeed in a law suit against those responsible for the loss, filed before the limitation date expires, in order to recover damages through the strata corporation’s two million dollar Officers and Directors liability insurance. What can be done as a group, however, cannot be done by myself as an individual. To suggest otherwise as was done at the meeting is a dangerous distraction and misrepresentation.
Mr. MacLeod told the meeting that 67 out of 68 owners want to go ahead on the decks without spending any more money on legal opinions, and money should not have to be spent just because of one person. He twice cited these 67 out of 68 owners. He did not inform the meeting of the legal opinion of Stephen Hamilton, which advises on removal of the extra decks, and he did not say whether the "one person" was himself, or another owner.
I tried to make a motion to direct council to impose user fees on owners to pay the expenses attributable to their own exclusive use of extra decks on common property, but Mr. Gioventu interfered with a lot of obstructive doubletalk. Nevertheless, despite all the confusion injected into the deliberations by a noisy minority, the owners made it clear that they were just as unwilling to pay for extra decks for others as when they approved the special levy. The owners carried my motion to direct council to have those with extra decks pay for their repairs and remove them from those unwilling to pay for their exclusive use.
When I saw the AGM minutes I was shocked. Ms. MacDougall tampered with them. The resolution published is not my motion. Ms. MacDougall changed the wording into bafflegab beyond recognition and told me some gobblygook about invalidity when I complained. I was so overwhelmed and demoralized that I gave up. So did others, including the owner who seconded my motion, who seemed just as stunned by the minutes and the magnitude of unscrupulous behaviour as me and the rest of the bullied owners, most of whom have since sold.
Ms. MacDougall's employment with Bayside ended after that and the strata kept changing management companies until the Al MacLeod era got her back, with Baywest, by June of 2008. Reviews of Baywest are posted online at http://www.stratawatch.ca/. Suffice it to say that the quality of strata management is a major problem.
The overwhelming nature of ongoing preemptive oppression breaks people down to the point of exhaustion and defeat. It is traumatic. It eventually does more than place your community and your investments at risk. It crystalizes those losses and wrecks havoc on lives. Like seeds of war and global suffering. It is my hope that it is not too late for change in generally accepted practices, for the good of all. Toothless legislation is the systemic foundation for strata strife.
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http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2013/02/27/how-to-fight-strata-bullying
To all owners of strata properties: Don’t let councils or managers get away with trivializing the legislation, your bylaws or prudent basic business principles.
It will eventually place your community and your investments at risk.
We see bullying in all forms in strata communities, often enabled by the strata councils and fuelled by the intent to control by the property manager. The grasp for power is matched by unscrupulous behavior.
Bullying also occurs from the owners. A single owner intent on harassing a volunteer council can do just as much damage to your community.
So what are the solutions? Compliance with all legislation and honest disclosure to the owners of the strata business is the first step. The Strata Property Act is not a guideline.
If a strata council or manager is abusing the legislation for their control, it’s time for replacements. Strata councils and managers who don’t tell the truth will eventually spend all of your strata funds and energy on defending lies. They will make every effort to demonize owners who are trying to “out” their behavior. Character assassinations, derogatory treatment, libelous council minutes all form part of the chain of abuse.
Bullying perpetuates when owners stand by. Breaking the hold certain groups of owners have on strata council, and all owners becoming involved in the strata business is the only solution. The seeds of apathy are sown every year at the AGM, when less than half of the owners ever attend to exercise their votes. As an owner, protect your community and your investment. Participate, encourage the constant renewal of council, encourage a transparent culture, attend meetings and take an interest in your properties.
Sincerely,
Tony Gioventu, Executive Director
Condominium Home Owners' Association (CHOA)
www.choa.bc.ca
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I realize that complaining about the established powers that be places me at enormous risk and that credibility is a major issue in breaking the hold that certain owners have on council. I have direct personal knowledge of many of the dangers.
The chain of reasons why owners allow strata agents, including members of council, to get away with unscrupulous behaviour, including trivializing legislation and bylaws and basic fairness include the demonization by character assassinations, derogatory treatment, and libelous council minutes I've experienced.
A transparent culture and compliance with all legislation and honest disclosure to the owners is the solution. You can take it from Mr. Gioventu and not just me. That is why records and casting votes are so important. As an owner, please attend meetings and take an interest in your properties. PAY ATTENTION to the facts and see what is happening.
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According to strataadvocate.ca over 50% of taxable properties in the Vancouver lower mainland and Victoria are
strata units. BC strata legislation ignores the glaring lack of accountability
for misconduct by strata property managers and leaves BC without defined
offences and penalties for flagrant non-compliance with the law.
Current legislation sets the same "rules" for strata managers as for realtors and consequently, there is no requirement for a strata manager to comply with the Strata Property Act or to refrain from knowingly assisting non-compliance by a strata corporation. Nor does a strata owner have effective access to the disciplinary process. Licensees are in a position of trust in advising strata councils but too often the advice is either incompetent or self-serving. Undue influence by a strata manager can make it impossible for a strata council to pass the required motion for making a complaint to the Real Estate Council. For too many situations the "rules" are weak or unenforceable or both.
