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An Alberta condominium board President convinced her friends on the condo board in late 2009 to give her 15 - 18 K from the Reserve Fund, which is not permitted by law. The money was used to fund her defence in a private lawsuit. Condominium insurance only applied in 10% of the funds payable. The owners removed her and her board. The current board failed to hold her to account. The statute of limitations has run out. Owners and the condo complex have no money.Question 1: Is it posssible for the owners to start a class action law suit against the former president and the involved board members? Question 2: Can the statute in this case be revived and/or extended and by what means?
Optional Information: Province/Territory relating to question: Alberta Already Tried: Convince the board to act. The past president's lawyer was the board lawyer and stopped any attempt to get at his client. He was removed. There is no money to get justice. Insurance will not cooperate. A private matter, not inurable. The current board is afraid of consequences and has become unapproachable. The past president and board are celebrating their victory and will attempt shortly to take power back and undo all that has been done to bring them to justice.
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Hello,I apologize that no one has yet responded to your inquiry. I'm happy to try to assist if you're still looking for assistance.If so, please advise of the following:(1) When did the other owners first discover that the Reserve Funds were used for a Personal law suit rather than one related to the Board Member's activities on the Board's behalf.(2) Was the case PURELY personal or did it, in any way, relate to the Board Member's conduct as a member of the Board?(3) How many units are there in this Condo/Strata? Are there sufficient owners aware of this situation to avoid the possibility of the former Board being re-elected?
Experience: Cross-Border (US/Canada) Lawyer
Answers;
1. During the mid-2010 AGM, a smoke screen smear tactic against the few who dared to oppose, failed to hide a small notation on the final page of the AGM package called "Legal Expenses" to the tune of over 12K to the end of 2009. The management company revealed it came from the Reserve Fund. More was taken in the beginning of 2010 and then the attention turned to use of the operating Fund. The total estimate was 20K, mostly from the Reserve Fund.
2. The lawsuit was entirely personal and private and against the woman who was also the President. She managed to get a 10% coverage ruling from the condo insurance firm based on a small technicality in the Statement of Claim.
3. There are 38 Units. Many absentee landlords represented by management firms. Attempts to inform those who understand English failed. Manangement firms refused to be involved. Two people were left to fight the president and her followers. These two were punished with acts against the law (refusal of services, refusal to upgrade, refusal to repair, dozens of widely published accusations including criminal acts, etc). The tactic of isolate and vilify.
Hi. I am on line. Am in overload mode, but must work on this horror story. I replied a few minutes ago.
Hello,Unfortunately these situations are not uncommon in Condo/Strata situations. The 'runaway Board' scenario does happen and it can be problematic and expensive to resolve as it will require the Owners to sue on behalf of the Board (a right typically explicitly included in the Strata/Condo's Declaration or Bylaws - so be sure to have counsel look for that). The Owners would be suing the Board requesting that it Act and suing the former Board and the President for authorizing/concealing and misappropriating the funds (respectively).As far as the various tactics employed to, "divide and conquer" counsel will need to deal with that against the Board on a case-by-case basis.I wish I could tell you that there's a simple non-legal solution to these cases, but where you have an existing Board unwilling to act, a former Board which may have been involved/complicit in misappropriation of funds you really don't have much other option but to force the present Board to act or, yourself, act on behalf of the Board if - as it should - that right exists for a unit owner.In Alberta the best way to get in touch with a local Property/Condo Lawyer would be through the Law Society's Referral Service which can be found here: LINK.Regards XXXXX XXXXX wishes.
Thank you. This perfectly matches my own take on the matter as I have expressed to the current board.
You're very welcome. Best of luck on your case and please to let me know if you need any other information or feedback as you go about it.