Condo boards should communicate regularly with unit owners. Lack of communication and disregard of owner concerns often leads to disputes in condominiums. As such, it is always a good idea to build a relationship with condominium owners and a sense of community through ongoing communication of condominium bylaws, rules, and expectations for living together. Here are some tips for improving communication:
- Address concerns promptly.
- Provide copies of minutes to owners so that they have a good understanding of what’s happening.
- Allow unit owners to attend and observe board meetings.
- Consult with owners at the annual general meeting (AGM) and encourage them to communicate with each other.
- Provide an information package to new owners.
- In preparation for AGM’s, communicate the meeting details (time and place) to owners. Also remind owners why they should attend, as well as provide an agenda. You can also provide a post-AGM summary.
- Remind owners of rules and responsibilities on a regular basis.
- Create a condominium community using newsletters (monthly, quarterly), e-mails, events, or a website. By enabling people to come together as a community, it can help increase owner responsibility and accountability for the property.
Service of documents on owners
Under the Condominium Property Act, a corporation has several ways to serve documents (such as written notices or requests) on owners, including:
- Personal service on the owner.
- Ordinary mail or recorded mail to the owner’s address. For ordinary mail, service is effective 7 days after sending the document. For recorded mail, service is effective on the signing date of the acknowledgment of receipt.
- Electronic means to an electronic address as provided by the owner (e.g., e-mail). Service is effective 24 hours after sending the document.
Electronic notices and notifications
Owners can request and agree to receive communication from the condominium corporation electronically. This includes minutes, notices and notifications, including notices of meetings or bylaw non-compliance and notifications of new rules.
When the corporation sends electronic notices to owners, the notices and any attachments must be sent in a way that can be retained forever by the owner. For example, the condominium corporation cannot send notices through a webpage link that will expire.
Also, the corporation does not need to send notices to electronic addresses unless:
- the electronic address is an e-mail address or
- any other type of electronic address allowed by the bylaws/rules or acceptable by the board (through board resolution)
Furthermore, owners who provide an electronic address for receiving communications from a corporation must make sure that they update the corporation of any changes to their electronic address.
Electronic notices and notifications are considered to have been received by the owner 24 hours after it is sent to the electronic address.
Last updated: June 2022