CONDO CLIENTS:
FAILURE TO PAY CONDOMINIUM CONTRIBUTIONS OR SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS
The Board of Directors is tasked with budgeting for the needs of the Corporation. Budgets are typically a guess at what the future may hold. After the budget is set and the Condominium Contributions are calculated, the Corporation is to provide a copy of the annual budget as well as the Contributions due and payable for a particular Unit. At that point Unit Owners are responsible to ensure that their fair share is paid.
If a Unit Owner fails to pay their monthly Condominium Contributions, a Condominium Corporation has the right to conduct the following:
- Ask the Owner’s mortgage company to pay the outstanding amounts and add it to the Owner’s mortgage. The Corporation will normally try to contact the Owner before the mortgage company. Avoiding notices, statements and letters from your Board will result in this action.
- Require an Owner’s Tenant to pay the monthly rent to the Corporation to cover the unpaid Condominium Contributions. If an Owner rents out his or her Unit, then this is an option for the Corporation.
- File a caveat against the title to the unit at the owner’s expense. Caveats are a similar to a lien on the property and show that there is an interest by the Condominium Corporation which is registered against the title of the Unit.
- Charge interest to all arrears as stated in the Corporation Bylaws. The Condominium Property Act allows a maximum of 18% to be applied to all Contributions due and payable to the Condominium Corporation. The Corporation Bylaws must be clear and outline how and how much interest is to be applied for this to be enforced.
- A Condominium Corporation can sue the Owner(s) for all outstanding contributions, interest and its full legal fees.
The last process after all other avenues have been exhausted is for the Condominium Corporation to conduct a legal foreclosure on the title to the Unit. This process can get extremely costly, and result in the loss or forfeit of a home.