Rights as Condo Owners: Rules vs. By Laws

Rights as condo owners: Rules vs. By Laws 

The hierarchy of condo laws:

1. The Condominium Act

2. Your Condominiums Declaration

The Condominium Declaration legally describes each unit within the condo building and sets out boundaries. The declaration will outline and break down how common costs and expenses are calculated for the building.

3. Your Condominium By-Laws

By Laws are legally binding documents written by the developer. These will go hand-in-hand with the Condominium Declaration and will cover important issues that were not specified previously. By Laws often will include how the corporation can spend funds.

4. Your Condominiums Rules

Rules are the most basic day to day things you will see within the building. This will include things like what time the gym opens and how late the party room stays open until.

The Declaration, Laws and Rules cannot disregard or contradict the Condominium Act. 

Often times condo owners will not be aware what the difference between a Rule and a By-Law is. To modify a Declaration, the Board of Directors needs approval votes from 80% of condo owners. To pass a By-Law, the Board of Directors requires 50% of all condo owners in favour. Finally, to pass a Rule, the Board of Directors can do as they see fit. If the residents of the building are not in favour of the new rule change, they require 15% of condo owners to sign a petition for a meeting where the rule can then potentially be discussed and altered. 

To pass a By-Law the Board of Directors must have the approval of the residents and the residents must be informed about the possible change. A substantial amount of the residents will have to agree on the change before it can move forward. A Rule is something that can be passed without even asking the residents. In order to get a petition signed to change a rule, obtaining 15% of the residents to sign the petition can be difficult. This can be especially so in a bigger condo building, where hundreds of residents live. Many residents are not made aware of their rights and do not know it’s possible to change a rule if it is something that they are not in favour of. Many would not even know where to begin.

Although rule changes are made with the resident’s best interest in mind, it is still good to be educated about your rights as a condo owner living within a building. If there is something you don’t agree with, you have the right to appeal it as a condo owner. 

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