Something in the news about the horrific condo collapse in Florida reminded me of a similar experience. I too own a condo.
Full disclosure - I do not live in the condo. We bought it 25 years ago for my mother-in-law to have housing security. However, we receive all official notifications such as AGM agendas and minutes, financial statements and resident petitions etc.
About 20 years ago, the annual building and grounds condition report flagged up a problem with the unit balconies. For various reasons, the re-bar in the concrete floors was rusting which needed to be addressed. So the condo association board commissioned a report and presented the findings and recommendations to the next AGM. This was of course all detailed in the AGM pack.
In essence, the report said the situation was concerning, becoming serious, but was not yet critical. The report recommended immediate remediation at a cost per unit of hundreds of dollars. The committee recommended this course of action, to be funded from the reserve account, which would be reimbursed by a small condo fee increase over the next few years.
The AGM approved this and quotes were sought. When the quotes were presented to the unit owners, as required by law, a small group who had not attended the AGM, became angrily vocal. Increasingly rancorous emails flew to and fro. The small group threatened legal action, made various accusations and called a SGM. They did not want their condo fees to go up to pay for the balcony repairs which were not serious and were not critical.
The SGM voted to "patch" a half-dozen worst cases and to delay addressing the rest. This process had taken one or two years, and then the quotes, quote approvals took a couple of years. The repair of a few balconies out of a hundred-plus took about five years.
About five years ago, the annual building and grounds condition report now showed the balconies' condition as mostly serious and many critical, including those which had been patched 10 years before. Again, the association committee sought quotes which they presented to an AGM and approval was again. However this time, the repair bill per unit was near $20,000. The conditions report and the consultant's report both said the huge hike in the cost was due only to the delay in addressing the problem 10 - 15 years prior.
And again, a small group who had not attended the AGM, became angrily vocal. Increasingly rancorous emails flew to and fro. This small group threatened legal action, made various accusations and called a SGM. They did not want to pay the special assessment.
The SGM voted to proceed with the repairs and to accept the quote, special assessment and payment provisions. So the small group hired lawyers, tried to remove the association board, lobbied in passageways and the foyer (against condo rules), posted fliers under doors (against condo rules), verbally and aggressively attacked board members and those who had voted against them at the SGM, circulated anonymous, misleading and in some instances untrue emails and social media posts etc.
This all delayed the balcony repairs by two years, then there was covid, then there were materials shortages. The balconies on one side of the building have been repaired, those on the other should be finished by Christmas. However costs have gone up and some cannot be predicted. So every unit owner has received an interim assessment of $20,000 with a warning that the final assessment could be around $25,000.
Twenty years ago, the repair bill would have been a few hundred while today, it is around $25,000 all because a few loud and active people blocked what should have been done when it should have been done. And the kicker? The condo association has also had to pay hundreds of thousands in legal fees which will of course put up condo fees for everyone.
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