Tony Gioventu
Province
Dear Condo Smarts: We are looking to buy a condo on Vancouver Island and find ourselves at a crossroads of information. Our agent told us we really only need two years’ worth of minutes, but our lawyer suggested we obtain at least five years if the property is old enough. This is where the confusion begins.
Just because we obtain the minutes doesn’t mean that what we are really looking for is actually published in the minutes. We looked at a property in Nanaimo two weeks ago that was built in 1992. The owner insisted it was a great building with no problems, the minutes gave the impression that everything was running normally and nothing on the horizon. We casually spoke to an owner in the lobby who hoped we would be able to sit on council and help them with the major repairs coming up.
We discovered the building has had an engineering report since 2004 to address major defects. Could you shed light on the purpose of strata minutes?
— Mrs. G.B. Evans
Dear Mrs. Evans: Minutes of strata corporations document the historic record of the decisions, reports and general information presented at council meetings, committee meetings and at annual and special general meetings. Every strata corporation relies on the skills of its recording secretary to document the proceedings and disseminate the necessary information.
The minutes are also intended as a tool to inform the owner and tenants of information that may be material to the ownership or tenancy in the strata.
In the event of a court action over bylaw enforcement or order-for-sale proceedings for unpaid strata fees or special levies, the lawyer representing the strata corporation or the defendant, and the courts may rely on minutes to identify if a strata corporation has properly enforced bylaws, applied fines and have accounted for claims properly.
For more information, recording secretaries may want to refer to Mina’s Guide to Minute Taking, published in B.C. The publication is available through local book stores or the CHOA office.
Tony Gioventu is executive director of the Condominium Home Owners’ Association. E-mail [email protected].
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