Strata Agents

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Does anyone else live in a strata where property managers draft strata bylaws, minutes, and correspondence, and hire its lawyers?

Does your strata have a Strata “Agent” or is that person called the Strata “Manager?” Does their title vary from time to time?

Call me slow, but I just realized that although owners and council members have responsibilities under the SPA, there’s a legal process whereby most, if not all, the powers and duties of the strata council can be transferred to a single individual who has absolutely no responsibility under the SPA!

This is a 2-step process: first owners adopt a bylaw that allows for the powers and duties of council to be delegated; second, a person who is not an owner is named as the new “Strata Manager.” Once this is voted on with approval and recorded in the minutes, the deed is done. This is what the CRT and courts call “democracy.”

I don't think most owners realize that they just allowed an administrator with an inherent conflict of interest to take over strata management from the strata council that they elected for the job and could have held responsible. So long as it’s in accordance with the annual budget, the general authority to make expenditures is also delegated. Even the powers that the SPA expressly prohibits council from delegating can end up in the hands of a strata manager who profits while owners pay the costs. This happens when owners adopt bylaws that allow a 3-member council, give the president a second deciding vote, and allow property managers whose pay cheques are funded from the pockets of owners to be council members.

Although this is rarely, if ever, the strata’s intention, it is allowed under standard bylaws and s.4 and s.28 of the SPA, and seems to be commonly exploited throughout the property management industry.

When strata management decisions are no longer made by those the owners elected, votes, minutes of decisions, disclosure of conflict, and other obligations under the SPA and strata bylaws can be dispensed with, since neither apply to property managers.

Did you know that?

It took me years to figure out how councils could disregard the law so blatantly and persistently and still be supported by the courts - they just have to delegate the job to someone, anyone, who is not governed by the SPA! This includes contractors hired to thwart council's s.72 repair and maintenance responsibilities on the basis that council is entitled to rely on professionals and is not responsibble for the negligence or misconduct of those professionals.

I’m not happy with one person holding most, if not all, the power, much less someone who is not an owner and is not responsible under the SPA. Has any strata ever wanted this to happen? If so, how is that in the best interests, or for the benefit, of the owners? Does anyone have any ideas on how standard bylaws can be changed to promote accountability and protect democratic governance?

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So, am I just a "storyteller" and "keyboard warrior" or is there something we can do about it? Right now? Or ever?

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This gung ho Electronic General Meeting movement is exactly what I was afraid the property management industry was going to run with! NOTHING could be worse for democratic AGMs. Absolutely nothing.

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Wrong you say... yes it is wrong... but profitting from their own wrongs is a pillar of BC's property management industry, and that industry includes the legal professionals. They all feed each other at the expense of owners of strata property in BC.

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WHY are the titles "agent" and "manager" CONFLATED?

The elected council is the strata's manager, unless the owners adopt a bylaw that allows council to delegate their job to someone else.

When the strata's hired administrator is licensed as a "strata agent" they can be called that. They are not the "strata manager," unless the current council decides to vote to make them the strata manager in accordance with an enpowering bylaw, and said delegation is reported in the minutes as required by s.35 of the SPA.

That is why the title of the strata agent can change with the election of each new strata council at the AGM. However, when those licensed as strata agents contravene the SPA, or the best interests of the strata, they are not acting as true agents. They are "property" managers.

The SPA allows council to delegate its powers and duties, but it doesn't allow council to offload its responsibility. Only the CRT and courts allow that! 

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Where does that requirement for a 3/4 vote to get rid of the PM come from? Is it a contractual term, a SPA requirement, or a bylaw that the owners adopted?

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Wow. So much for consumer protection!

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Tony Gioventu told me years ago that CHOA was doing exactly that. He just didn't say WHEN their strata friendly version of an "industry standard contract" might be ready...

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 If the SPA says 3/4 vote notwithstanding the contract, what good is bargaining hard for anything else?

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What major heists were in the news? Name them please!

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 I agree that stratas need an online presence administered independently of the property management company. I think this should be a fundamental requirement mandated by the SPA, and until then, hiring should be based on the PM company subscribing to the online service that manages the strata's data for the benefit of the owners, not to generate add-on fees for PMCs!

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Sorry, I didn't want you to feel pressured. I don't know what would be illegal about sharing the contract, or your notes, but I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable. I trust that you're in a better position than I to know what goes on in your strata, including any non-disclosure agreements.

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The strata's own encrypted web site sounds good, but I'm afraid that volunteer administration of that poses forseeable problems. I suggested subscribing to a commercial service, independent of the PM company for better control and continuity.

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 I think several apps have already been developed. If any one of them is not controlled by a PM company that's the one I would subscribe to.

Court reporters can provide real time data sharing, so I know it's possible, and I think that has to be a term of the PM contract for a reliable paper trail.

I used to do accounts payable using ACCPAC accounting software, I think that's now called Sage Business Cloud X3 ERP, which claims it can manage your entire operation on a global scale If you made a mistake and correction, both would show up in the paper trail, you could not erase anything.

Bottom line, where there's a will there's a way. The problem is, there are compelling reasons in BC's mulit-million dollar strata agency industry that explain the lack of will. None of them in the best interests of strata corporations or owners.

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That's interesting. I thought strata "agents" were licensed. I don't think BC licenses anyone as a strata "manager." I wonder if that's changed. Or is the RECBC just playing tricky word games by referring to administrative duties as strata "management" services.

RECBC still acts like an individual has no "standing" to complain and that it won't investigate a complaint by an owner that is not supported by the strata council.

In reality the RECBC will, on a case-by-case basis, act on a complaint by an individual. It just does not notify the individual reporting the misconduct of its disciplinary action. That's a secret you have to search out yourself.

The trick is that the individual basically does the RECBC's job for them. You have to provide sufficient evidence that the licensee committed professional misconduct as defined in the Real Estate Services Act to relieve them of the burden of an investigation.

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