The Fantasy
Strata condo living is marketed as:
- “affordable”
- “carefree living”
- “low strata fees”
- “quiet, yet connected community”
- “places for people to call home”
The Reality
- Approximately 1.5 million people live in 32,000+ stratas in BC with no consumer protection.
- No oversight or enforcement to ensure strata councils comply with the Strata Property Act/Regulations or Bylaws.
- Strata property managers are shielded from accountability by the BCFSA, the Strata Property Act, the Civil Resolution Tribunal.
- Strata fees are soaring due to insurance industry profiteering and inadequate strata repairs and maintenance.
- The Leaky Condo Crisis continues.
- The Insurance Crisis continues.
- Owners are allowed to hoard proxies to control strata voting at general meetings, in turn, controlling all decision-making.
And there’s more…
SIGN THE PETITION!
Protecting Democracy in BC Strata Corporations:
Penalties for non-disclosure
This petition on behalf of the citizens in BC who currently, or will reside in a strata complex, brings to the attention of the House the need for penalties to enforce mandatory Sections 35 and 36 of the Strata Property Act (the ACT). Additionally, invoices and agendas for regular meetings of council should be added to the list of documents a strata must produce and store under s.35 and share with owners on request under s.36, providing the disclosure necessary for oversight and consumer protection, so owners can see how their strata is being managed and how their funds paid in trust, are being spent.
Section 35 lists the documents strata corporations must prepare and store and s.36 requires the strata to release these documents, on request by an owner, with one or two exceptions, within 2 weeks of the request.
We ask the legislature to amend s.35, s.36 and the accompanying regulation, in order to provide legal certainty and to ensure transparency, accountability and oversight by owners, and democracy for all strata homeowners.
What is the strata crisis?
Some strata corporations in BC that are well-maintained by informed owners and a transparent strata council that fully complies with all strata legislation while making decisions in the best interests of the strata.
For too many strata property owners, due to lack of meaningful oversight and consumer protection, the Leaky Condo Crisis of the 1990s-2000s has not only continued, but has expanded into a broader, pervasive crisis of multiple issues that negatively impact their equity, housing stability and quality of life.
What are the solutions?
Not only have substantive solutions been recommended to the BC government many times over the years, there is strata legislation delivering true consumer protection and a robust, integrated strata model already in place in another province that provides comprehensive information, resources, tools, direct support, dispute resolution and most importantly, oversight and monitoring of the strata system.
Knowledge and participation are required to solve the strata crisis.
What Can You Do?
Be informed. Participate in your strata. Ask questions. Speak up.
Complacency feeds the crisis.
Let your BC Government know something needs to be done—now! Here’s how.
Help us collect data on the current state of the strata system in BC. Complete our series of strata surveys as they become available and view the results immediately.
Dedicated to strata property owners’ interests…
Stratas in BC are self-governed, non-profit corporations with no authoritative monitoring or oversight. When the only voices heard by government that advocate and lobby for changes and ‘improvements’ to the strata system, typically through the Strata Property Act, are those of industry businesses and associations that provide services to strata corporations—the interests and rights of individual strata owners are lost.
The information on this website created by concerned strata owners and is intended to provide a starting point for strata owners to understand the nature and reality of the strata system they have bought into. Watch for information, resources and tools to be continually added to support strata property owners in BC.
BC Strata News
A Vancouver strata that denied a condo owner’s request for an exemption to rental rules has been ordered to pay over $19,000 in damages, in a decision that describes the council’s conduct as “insensitive, stubborn and high-handed.”