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Reasonable Doubt: Can I deck my condo’s halls?

‘Tis the season to decorate for the holidays. If you live in a single family detached home, you may be install lights and inflatables, with synchronized music. If you live in a condominium unit, however, you may be more restricted in your ability to decorate your home.

Let’s start with the door to your unit. You may think of the door as yours and yours alone. As a result, you may think that you are free, for example, to nail a hook into the door to put up a wreath or other decoration. However, for most condominium units (especially those in high-rise buildings), the unit entry door is a part of the common elements (i.e., outside of the unit boundary). If you put a nail in the door, that would amount to an alteration to the common elements, which cannot be made without the consent of the condominium corporation’s board of directors (and what you may deem to be an unreasonable amount of paperwork for a decoration). Even if you use an over-the-door hanger or adhesive hook instead, there may be restrictions on the types of decorations allowed or the time period they can be up, so consult your condominium declaration before putting anything on (or over) your unit entry door.

The same goes for your balcony railing. Most balconies in high-rise buildings are also included in the common elements, and cannot be modified without the consent. Plus, many buildings have rules that are intended to preserve the exterior appearance of the building which may restrict what can be placed on a balcony. For example, some buildings have rules that provide that only outdoor furniture may be placed on a balcony.  (These rules may also restrict your ability to put lights or decorations in an exterior window if the lights or decorations would be visible from the outside of the building.) 

You may be thinking that you can at least do as you please within your unit. This is true…for the most part. Certain items could be restricted in a condominium corporation’s rules, such as natural (or ‘real’) Christmas trees. Because trees are flammable if they dry out (and, frankly, can be flammable even if kept well-watered), many condominium corporations prohibit them indoors. Given how seriously most condominium corporations treat fire hazards (or perceived fire hazards), it is best to observe these rules. As for those buildings that allow natural Christmas trees, many have restrictions with respect to how these trees may be disposed of at the end of the holiday season. For example, you may be required to dispose of your tree off-site instead of through your building’s waste-disposal services.

Now that this author has taken all of the fun out of decorating for the holidays for condo-dwellers, be festive (within reasonable limits)! If the rules regarding decorations are ignored, the condominium corporation could pursue either arbitration or a court application to enforce the rules, and could seek its costs of doing so.

On behalf of the other contributors to this space, best wishes for the holidays to you and yours, and we look forward to writing for you in 2016.

Timothy Duggan is a condominium lawyer and civil litigator with Horlick Levitt Di Lella LLP. Reasonable Doubt appears on Mondays, but will return January 4.

A word of caution: You should not act or rely on the information provided in this column.  It is not legal advice. To ensure your interests are protected, retain or formally seek advice from a lawyer. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Horlick Levitt Di Lella LLP or the lawyers of Horlick Levitt Di Lella LLP.

website@nowtoronto.com | @timmyd_ 

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