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Reasonable Doubt: the dos and don’ts of attending your first condo board AGM

There is no shortage of new condominium buildings in Toronto. Many of the people purchasing units in those buildings may be first-time unit owners who aren’t familiar with condominium governance and procedure. To this end, first-time unit owners who have received notice of their building’s annual general meeting often ask us what to expect at the AGM, and what they should and should not be doing. My recommendations are generally along the lines of the following.

DO: Attend your AGM. Your condominium unit is likely to be your largest investment, so you should do what you can to participate in the management of that investment’s value and to stay informed about issues that might affect it.

DON’T: Attend your AGM expecting to be dragged down a flight of stairs by police.

DO: Read the information in the notice package sent to you by your condominium’s management. It will generally include items like the minutes of the previous year’s AGM (so that you can see what was discussed at the meeting), the audited financial statements for the corporation (so you can see how financially healthy the corporation is, and what the corporation’s net asset position is), and resumes for the people who are running for a spot on the board of directors (so that you can make as informed a decision as possible about who to vote for).

DON’T: Be surprised if the only people running for election to the board are either the same people who are already on the board (running for re-election) or the same people who ran unsuccessfully for the board at the last AGM. In many buildings, the pool of people who are interested in being a member of the board is relatively shallow. A good indicator that you are in one of those buildings is if, immediately upon moving in, the property manager asked you if you would be interested in running for the board.

DO: Run for the board! Or, rather, don’t be afraid to run for the board just because you are new to the building. Being a member is the best way to gain an understanding of how your condominium runs, and the issues and decisions that your condominium faces. Even if you are not elected, your candidate speech at the AGM will give your new neighbours a good opportunity to get to know you.

DON’T: Use your candidate speech as an opportunity to complain about the property manager or the current board members, or to attack your neighbour for making too much noise. A candidate speech should be used to emphasize your positive qualities, not to grind axes with people with whom you disagree.

DO: Ask questions. At the AGM, you will usually have an opportunity to direct questions to the auditor (about the audited financial statements and the financial health of the corporation), and to the board or the property manager (about matters relating to the general business or operation of the corporation). You can also have the benefit of hearing answers to the questions that your neighbours have.

DON’T: Ask questions about issues that are specific to you or your unit. First, the “G” in “AGM” stands for “general”, and so matters discussed at an AGM should be of a general nature relating to the building as a whole. Second, unit-specific issues often give rise to confidentiality concerns, and so you will usually get a better and more detailed answer from the property manager in a one-on-one discussion about the issue after the AGM than you would during the meeting in front of your neighbours.

DO: Listen to the meeting chairperson. Whether the meeting is being chaired by the president of the board, the property manager or the corporation’s lawyer, the chairperson’s job is to maintain order and ensure that the meeting is handled in a fair and orderly manner. Having chaired dozens of AGMs and owners’ meetings, I have seen first-hand that the unit owners who attend an AGM get much more out of the experience if the meeting proceeds properly and everyone conducts themselves in a polite and respectful manner.

DON’T: Blame the meeting chairperson if the AGM runs long and you get home later than expected. A long meeting can be a good meeting if it means that everyone had an opportunity to participate, ask their questions and get information about their building.

Timothy Duggan is a condominium lawyer and civil litigator with Horlick Levitt Di Lella LLP. Reasonable Doubt appears on Mondays. You can contact him on Twitter at @timmyd_  and tell him what you would like to read about in future columns.

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 | @nowtoronto

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