One of the responsibilities of the Condominium Authority of Ontario (”CAO”) is to provide information and training about the rights and responsibilities of condominium owners and residents.
The CAO has listed on its website the ten most common issues relating to condominium living:
- Records
- Meetings
- Rules
- Personal Property
- Noise
- Pets
- Odour
- Issues with Condominium Manager
- Neighbour to neighbour
- Short-term rentals
The first three issues relate to the governance of the condominium, while the balance of the issues are common disputes between condominium residents and condominium corporations.
For each issue the CAO website sets out:
- An overview of the issue;
- How the issue is dealt with in the legislation and/or the condominium declaration, rules and by-laws;
- Suggested solutions (primarily self-help remedies) to resolve the problem in an orderly manner;
- Additional help alternatives such as mediation, arbitration and legal proceedings that can be used when the issue has not been resolved using self-help remedies.
The CAO also provides owners with a sample letter/e-mail for owners to use when contacting the condominium corporation about an issue.
With the rapid growth in the development of condominium buildings, many unit owners are new to condominium living and may not understand how living in a condominium differs from living in a freehold home or in a rental building. Hopefully as owners and residents become more educated about their rights and responsibilities, there will be fewer disputes and if there are disputes, they will be more easily resolved in a conciliatory fashion.
