Strata Advocate

In early 2008 a series of public meetings with strata owners was organized by the VISOA. The issues identified at those meetings are summarized below under 6 categories.

A. Strata Governance: The complexities of shared ownership in a strata development require owners and strata councils to have access to relevant and authoritative information on the requirements of the Strata Property Act. It also requires penalties for those who refuse to follow the Act in order to deter irresponsible actions. Presently, neither is in place.

B. Strata Management Licensees: At the beginning of 2006 it became a legal requirement for a strata manager to be licensed by the industry-run Real Estate Council of BC. After 3 years of experience in the use of “licensed” strata managers it is clear that the licensing rules are too weak to adequately protect strata homeowners from improper actions by “licensees” . There is no enforceable code of ethics and conduct for these licensees who are in a position of trust in advising strata councils. Too often the advice is either incompetent or self-serving and contrary to the interests of strata owners.

C. Disclosure: Purchasers are not getting all the information they need to make an informed choice when considering a strata property. Some of this information is not even available to existing owners because there is no requirement to maintain it or it is being concealed from them. Owners do not have a statutory right to attend strata council meetings as observers.

D. Strata Development Approvals & Accountability: Serious irregularities have been found in some strata developments. The expense and stress of legal action put the strata owner at a big disadvantage when seeking recourse for unfair actions of large, well-funded developers. Developers are generally not accountable for actions that, through ignorance, neglect or even fraudulent misrepresentation, victimize strata buyers. Why? Because of weak penalties for non-compliance with the Real Estate Development Marketing Act and too few provisions to protect strata purchasers.

E. Property Taxation: Some strata corporations are required to contract privately for some services that are provided to other types of residential properties by the municipal government out of property taxes (eg. garbage pick-up, street cleaning). Where this occurs it means that strata homeowners are paying twice for the service. In some cases it appears reasonable for a municipal government to refuse a specific service to a strata property. In other cases the refusal is questionable.

F. Strata Fee Equity: Most stratas are required to divide up their costs among owners on the basis of a formula established when the strata was created. Some have found the formula to be unfair for some types of units in the strata. Often the unfairness could have been reasonably foreseen when the strata was created but weak oversight enabled the formula to be registered.

For further details on 30 specific issues and possible legislation alternatives for each one, please see the complete VISOA report “Beyond the Sales Pitch: Ensuring transparency & Accountability in BC Strata Developments” at: VISOA Beyond the Sales Pitch