- Contents
- Buying a Condo?
- Condos' Financial Structure
- Owners' Money Facts
- Owners’ Meetings and Voting
- Boards of Directors
- Owners' Rights and Responsibilities
- Managers and Management Companies
- Common Problems of Condo Living
- Condo Act, Declaration, Rules, and By-Laws
- What Should Be Done to Improve Condo Governance and Help Owners?
- FAQs About Your Building & Your Unit
- Condo Auditors & Lawyers
- Condos & Insurance
- Tenants & Landlords
- Are Condos Family Friendly?
- Links and Bibliography
Problems with Liens
Below are suggestions that would help improve the situations regarding liens.
- The necessity to lien a unit in arrears in common element fees before the 3rd month expires should be extended. Condos should be able to recoup all arrears up to 6 months after they started. This would give managers more flexibility. It would also help owners who are under financial strain.
- The Act should make it standard that, in all condos, owners who do not do proper maintenance and repairs of their exclusive-use common elements and, as a result, force the corporation to carry these out, should be liened if they refuse to pay. As things stand with Sections 91 and 92 of the Act, the declaration of a condo has priority in this respect and this becomes an object of confusion for all concerned.
- It would also make matters easier if a lien could be registered against an owner who does not pay rental fees for lockers, guest suites, and parking spaces that belong to the corporation.
- Above all, we have seen in Abuse of Legal Letters and Liens that owners need recourse when unfairly liened. Therefore, the situations that can result in a lien should be more clearly delineated.
- One could even suggest that, when an owner is the victim of an improper lien, a simple recourse should exit and the offending lawyer should pay all fees with an appropriate penalty, which would then act as a deterrent.