How to save $100,000+ on building envelope failure in B.C.'s infamous, shark-infested condo
market - what to know about savage strata governance in the midst of a decades-old leaky condo epidemic that's affected high-rise, low-rise
and even many new single-family homes.
WELCOME to the wild, wild west!
The Owner's Guide to B.C. Condomiums - 2010 by Leo Biblitz, a 21-page report on strata governance in the midst of a
decades-old leaky condo epidemic, is available for sale as a pdf at a price of $25 (twenty-five Canadian dollars). Download the report as soon
as you complete the easy, secure PayPal payment process. It's that simple!
The report is intended for individual use only. Distribution/republication is prohibited; however, pricing for distribution of
the report to a wider audience, such as a strata corporation, is also available from the Webmaster. Please send inquiries to
dennis_boyko@yahoo.ca. By clicking on the PayPal
Buy Now icon below, you are agreeing to these terms.
To ask a question about strata governance in B.C., please see Submit a condo inquiry. All replies by e-mail typically within a day or two, depending on volume.
Unlike jurisdictions such as Ontario and Alberta, there is no legal requirement in B.C. to compel strata corporations to undertake regular
professional inspections or to implement a professional building maintenance/repair plan although such a program is the only way to
ensure problems are identified and resolved in a timely manner. Unfortunately, owners, strata councils and professional condo managers
here are authorized to make decisions about real property affecting multiple owner-investors using only their eyes and what the Strata
Property Act refers to as the duty to act in good faith for the good of the corporation as a whole. There is nothing in the Act to
explain the truth to owners, which is that managing a strata corporation effectively - especially in the midst of a leaky condo epidemic -
requires a combination of professional observation, assessment, record-keeping and problem-solving skills beyond the expertise of the
average homeowner.
In the absence of proper maintenance/inspection programs:
- individual owners have very little information of substance about either the condominium unit or the shared common property;
- strata records typically reveal little or nothing about the strata corporation's construction or its true state of repair;
- there is no proper basis on which to develop or implement repairs/upgrades or even calculate strata fees and nothing beyond a duty
to act in good faith to prevent a seller from concealing evidence of defects/damage. Not surprisingly, owners hoping to sell often prefer to
keep such information off the record and, in most cases, I've found, they succeed.
The buyer's challenge, then, is to come up with a price based on gaps in the legislation, the strata records, the private pre-purchase
building inspection, the seller's representations and a warranty scheme that's less about consumer protection than promoting an
expectation that catastrophic housing failure is somehow an acceptable risk.
I. Highlights of the decades-old leaky condo crisis still very much with us and why it's likely to remain so for some time.
II. A formula to help calculate a fair condo price. How to interpret various gaps in the legislation, strata records, pre-purchase
private inspection and seller's representations.
III. Leaky condos: environmental hazards inside and out. More about toxic mold - safety precautions for workers; nothing for
householders who often remain in the condo throughout invasive, lengthy building envelope repairs.
IV. Tenants and condos: oil and water. Summary of the rights and obligations of landlords, tenants and strata corporations,
conflicts most likely to arise and the tortured procedures required to resolve them when they do.
V. 'Board lords' and condo bullies. How to apply the 29 Strata Property Act instruction guides to a typical condo dispute
without enriching the legion of leaky condo feeder industries.
VI. When and how to find a good condo lawyer. How to search condo judgments at the B.C. Courts Web site for
a list of potential advisers and how to search that list at the Law Society of B.C.'s helpful Lawyer Look-up link. Before signing a retainer
agreement, a few questions about a lawyer's/law firm's interest in the transaction under advisement - beyond providing legal advice, that is.
Lawyer-developer-realtor may be one and the same here in the wild west!
VII. An expensive, fruitless encounter with the B.C. Condominium Homeowners' Association (CHOA).
VIII. B.C.'s new public-private partnership with the British Columbia Arbitration and Mediation Institute (BCAMI), a dubious new
enterprise offering condo owner subscribers high-priced services best suited, in my view, to labor disputes and leaky condo litigation
typically involving multiple defendants.
IX. Planning authorities acting against environmental warnings and risk assessments. More about flood, mud and fire hazards and
how to search public records to determine whether your strata corporation may be at risk.
You laugh tonight and cry tomorrow / When you behold your shattered schemes ... The Boulevard of Broken
Dreams
Vancouver's Boulevard of Broken Dreams, legacy of a decades-long, province-wide 'leaky condo'
epidemic.
Photos of various reconstruction rehabilitation renovation sites along W. 7th Avenue at Oak Street March 29/06 reveal more than the
ubiquitous low-rise, wood-frame leaky condo failures that have become the rule not the exception in B.C. If you turn your gaze across the
sparkling blue Burrard Inlet, you'll see the familiar green net tarps topped with protective white capping over at least two highrises -
431 Pacific and
Parkview Towers - 289 Drake St.
Update Dec. 31/09:
A brisk walk along W. 7th Avenue between Oak and Cambie on New Year's
Eve revealed the familiar whine of a buzz saw emanating from dark interiors covered in scaffolding and the tell-tale blue and green net
tarpaulins indicating 'leaky condo syndrome.' Every second or third complex appeared to have succumbed - not all for the first time, either,
according to several residents and business owners.
The report is intended for individual use only. Distribution/republication is prohibited; however, fees for the distribution of the
report to a wider audience, such as a strata corporation, are available from the Webmaster. Please send inquiries to
dennis_boyko@yahoo.ca.
The report is not offered as investment or legal advice. Rather, it should be viewed strictly as original research and opinion
intended for individual condo investors, resident owners, tenants and strata managers, who ultimately make their own investment and legal
decisions.
LLB from UBC, more than seven years moderating www.bccondos.ca, former career as a print journalist and a
former leaky condo owner. I'm not a member of the B.C. bar and make no secret of my view that legal advice is the preferred approach to
condo inquiries. However, in my view, B.C. lawyers fail to meet the public need for:
(a) strata governance advice
(b) by an informed, disinterested party
(c) at a reasonable rate.
In an effort to fill that gap, I offer quality, fully transparent research as well as problem-solving strategies based
on that research.
If for some reason your original download fails or you wish to obtain a second copy of the report, please submit a request to dennis_boyko@yahoo.ca including either the transaction reference number on your PayPal receipt or the e-mail address listed on the PayPal receipt. We will be pleased to send you a backup copy of the report by e-mail within 24 hours of your request, during business hours Pacific Time (PT), within six months of the original date of purchase.
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