April 2020
The greatest responsibility a condo owner has is to pay their share of common expenses. This is a contractual obligation agreed to when purchasing any condo unit. The condo corporation relies on your timely payments to meet its financial obligations and maintain infrastructure. Failure to make payments means there may not be enough money to pay employees, maintain common areas and undertake maintenance.
Condo resale prices are negatively affected when a community lacks the funds to maintain itself and which becomes evident because of outdated infrastructure and structural problems. Nobody wants to buy into a community that fails to maintain itself.
Every dollar collected in condo fees is accounted for and used to maintain the community.
A condo owner cannot choose to withhold payment of condo fees
Condo owners may go into arrears for any number of reasons. They may lose their job or become sick and lack financial reserves to continue paying condo fees. Priorities may differ and condo fee money may have been used to pay tuition or other expenses. Money may have been withheld because of an ongoing dispute with the corporation or an unresolved problem.
A condo owner cannot choose to withhold payment of condo fees. Any failure to pay condo fees places an unexpected and unreasonable burden on all other condo owners, and any mortgage holder which has loaned money with the expectation that condo fees will be paid.
Condo corporations have broad powers to collect outstanding condo fees
Condo corporations have broad powers to collect outstanding condo fees. A condo owner cannot avoid paying condo fees without risking serious repercussions. The most serious repercussion is that the corporation can register a lien against the property. For more information on liens see Failure to Register a Lien in the Condo Archives.
Other Condo Archives articles pertaining to condo fees
- When Common Expense Fees are not Paid – The Condo Lien Process
- Failure to Pay Condo Fees – One Toronto Condo Corporation loses $1.3 million
- Condo Liens
- Condo Fee Arrears
