酷我-北美枫

[星子]

Condo owners stuck after garage repair goes awry


JOE FIORITO

A dozen of the neighbours met at Rowena Agaton's house on a recent evening. They kicked off their shoes in a pile by the door, and their kids sat in the kitchen with their toys.

Nobody knew quite what to do.

The neighbours all got the same letter recently. The letter came out of the blue a few weeks ago. It says they're on the hook for $2,500 apiece. They can't afford the money, most of them.

That's beside the point.

They all live in a condo development on John Garland Blvd. It is a not a highrise, but a series of row houses, nice and neat, south of Finch, west of Kipling; 252 units in all, run more or less like a co-op. A few years ago the condo board undertook to have repairs made to the underground parking garage. It was falling apart. A contractor was hired and work began apace.

And then there was a change of board and the new president, Bert Joyal, thought he could get a better deal. He killed the repair contract and awarded the work to others. No one told the residents, nor were the residents advised that there might be consequences.

Oh, but there were consequences.

The contractor who had been repairing the garage — in good faith, and with no complaints — did what you or I would do. He sued the condo corporation, and he won. The judgment was clear and terse and unequivocally in his favour.

And so there was a lien placed on the development, consisting of a few thousand dollars to cover the amount of unpaid invoices at the time the contract was cancelled, plus a great whack of damages and interest payments — close to half a million dollars in total.

Hence the letters.

Everybody who lives in the condo development is now on the hook for a share of what's due. Nobody in this room is rich. Some of them are new to the neighbourhood and were unaware — or perhaps they were not advised clearly — that there were some problems when they bought their units.

Lou Hamlyn, a grocery clerk, is married with two kids. He bought his three-bedroom unit recently. He said, "We knew there was a lien, but we didn't think it involved us. Our lawyer did a bunch of lawyer stuff."

Oh, I'm with you, Lou; my eyes glaze over when the lawyers talk. "But then we got this letter saying we had to pay."

Ouch.

He added, "I got other commitments. We racked up debts buying the place. I'm new to owning. We have loans we have to pay." And now he has this other obligation; on top of all this, the garage remains unfinished and no one is doing any work right now. It will take at least another half a million to complete the job.

Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Evelina Odicta is an optician. She has three kids and is still paying off her tuition bills. She bought her unit last July. "It wasn't very clear when I bought. My real estate agent said there was an ongoing court case. " But her real estate agent apparently never told her that she'd be on the hook for damages incurred as a result of a broken contract.

Just between us, don't you think caveat emptor stinks? And, just between us, don't you think condo boards ought to be legally required to hire professional management?

Florence Foster has lived in her unit for many years. She has seniority in this crowd. She has been trying to find out just what the board has been up to recently. "I wanted to see the books. The president wouldn't show us. I filed a notice in small claims court. It took a year and then we got one file box with most of the documents missing. There were cheques with no invoices."

Florence got a lawyer and took matters a step further. "A superior court judge ordered the president of the board to hire an inspector to audit the books." She smiled at the notion of a victory, no matter how minor.

The judge not only appointed an inspector, he directed Mr. Joyal to pay the first $10,000 of the cost of the audit out of pocket.

In the meantime, just to be safe, Florence has paid $2,500 to cover her share of the lien. "I'm on a pension. I can't afford it. But you don't want to have a lien on what you own." I love an old-fashioned girl.

Perla Villanueva isn't sure how she'll handle things. "I'm a single mom with two kids. I guess I'll have to wait for my income tax refund." She said this lightly, and everyone in the living room laughed; they, too, are waiting for their refunds. The laughter stopped when Perla said, "I have bills to pay — phone, hydro — and I have to buy shoes and clothes for the kids."

Last word to Rowena. "I send money to the Philippines every month. I can't afford more bills. We moved to Canada to feel a little luxury in life. We're not feeling it."

The neighbours are now suing to get access to the rest of the records, and to have the current board removed, and to saddle the current president with the costs of cancelling the contract. Mr. Joyal said he couldn't comment.

I'll keep you posted.
Additional articles by Joe Fiorito


(ZT thestar.com)

[[ANNA]]

Condo owners stuck after garage repair goes awry


JOE FIORITO

A dozen of the neighbours met at Rowena Agaton's house on a recent evening. They kicked off their shoes in a pile by the door, and their kids sat in the kitchen with their toys.

Nobody knew quite what to do.

The neighbours all got the same letter recently. The letter came out of the blue a few weeks ago. It says they're on the hook for $2,500 apiece. They can't afford the money, most of them.

That's beside the point.

They all live in a condo development on John Garland Blvd. It is a not a highrise, but a series of row houses, nice and neat, south of Finch, west of Kipling; 252 units in all, run more or less like a co-op. A few years ago the condo board undertook to have repairs made to the underground parking garage. It was falling apart. A contractor was hired and work began apace.

And then there was a change of board and the new president, Bert Joyal, thought he could get a better deal. He killed the repair contract and awarded the work to others. No one told the residents, nor were the residents advised that there might be consequences.

Oh, but there were consequences.

The contractor who had been repairing the garage — in good faith, and with no complaints — did what you or I would do. He sued the condo corporation, and he won. The judgment was clear and terse and unequivocally in his favour.

And so there was a lien placed on the development, consisting of a few thousand dollars to cover the amount of unpaid invoices at the time the contract was cancelled, plus a great whack of damages and interest payments — close to half a million dollars in total.

Hence the letters.

Everybody who lives in the condo development is now on the hook for a share of what's due. Nobody in this room is rich. Some of them are new to the neighbourhood and were unaware — or perhaps they were not advised clearly — that there were some problems when they bought their units.

Lou Hamlyn, a grocery clerk, is married with two kids. He bought his three-bedroom unit recently. He said, "We knew there was a lien, but we didn't think it involved us. Our lawyer did a bunch of lawyer stuff."

Oh, I'm with you, Lou; my eyes glaze over when the lawyers talk. "But then we got this letter saying we had to pay."

Ouch.

He added, "I got other commitments. We racked up debts buying the place. I'm new to owning. We have loans we have to pay." And now he has this other obligation; on top of all this, the garage remains unfinished and no one is doing any work right now. It will take at least another half a million to complete the job.

Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Evelina Odicta is an optician. She has three kids and is still paying off her tuition bills. She bought her unit last July. "It wasn't very clear when I bought. My real estate agent said there was an ongoing court case. " But her real estate agent apparently never told her that she'd be on the hook for damages incurred as a result of a broken contract.

Just between us, don't you think caveat emptor stinks? And, just between us, don't you think condo boards ought to be legally required to hire professional management?

Florence Foster has lived in her unit for many years. She has seniority in this crowd. She has been trying to find out just what the board has been up to recently. "I wanted to see the books. The president wouldn't show us. I filed a notice in small claims court. It took a year and then we got one file box with most of the documents missing. There were cheques with no invoices."

Florence got a lawyer and took matters a step further. "A superior court judge ordered the president of the board to hire an inspector to audit the books." She smiled at the notion of a victory, no matter how minor.

The judge not only appointed an inspector, he directed Mr. Joyal to pay the first $10,000 of the cost of the audit out of pocket.

In the meantime, just to be safe, Florence has paid $2,500 to cover her share of the lien. "I'm on a pension. I can't afford it. But you don't want to have a lien on what you own." I love an old-fashioned girl.

Perla Villanueva isn't sure how she'll handle things. "I'm a single mom with two kids. I guess I'll have to wait for my income tax refund." She said this lightly, and everyone in the living room laughed; they, too, are waiting for their refunds. The laughter stopped when Perla said, "I have bills to pay — phone, hydro — and I have to buy shoes and clothes for the kids."

Last word to Rowena. "I send money to the Philippines every month. I can't afford more bills. We moved to Canada to feel a little luxury in life. We're not feeling it."

The neighbours are now suing to get access to the rest of the records, and to have the current board removed, and to saddle the current president with the costs of cancelling the contract. Mr. Joyal said he couldn't comment.

I'll keep you posted.
Additional articles by Joe Fiorito


(ZT thestar.com)