Deryk Norton of the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association wrote in to let us know that VISOA has released their report on BC strata legislation deficiencies. This is a follow up to this story we posted about in April. Deryk mentions in his email that the Vancouver dailies haven’t covered this issue as they seem to more interested in ‘real estate boosterism’ than critical consumer issues. Here is the text of the news release, with a link to the PDF report:
The Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association (VISOA) today released a report entitled Beyond the Sales Pitch: Ensuring Transparency and Accountability in BC Strata Developments. The report describes significant deficiencies in BC’s legislation affecting owners of 460,000 condominiums and other strata properties, or one in four taxable properties in the province.
This report comes after a series of public meetings with strata homeowners, written submissions from homeowners and consultation with homeowner associations on the mainland. Based on concerns expressed by strata homeowners, the report describes issues and proposes solutions. Most issues involve legislation deficiencies in transparency and accountability, including some corrected years ago in other jurisdictions. Highlights of deficiencies in BC’s legislation are:
• Requirements for disclosure of property condition and financial information that are inadequate for both strata homeowners and prospective purchasers,
•Lack of prosecution of developers operating contrary to strata legislation,
•Lack of an accessible and authoritative source of legislation interpretation to support the operation of strata corporations according to law,
•Dispute resolution provisions that effectively indulge irresponsible actions and leave disputes unresolved, and
•Standards for licensing strata managers that are ineffective in protecting the rights of strata homeowners.
VISOA will be taking this report to the provincial government and asking for a public review of the legislation affecting strata homeowners. It will also be available to other organizations and interested individuals”, said Felicia Oliver, VISOA President. The report can be viewed at www.visoa.bc.ca.
VISOA is a non-profit organization that has provided information and education services to strata homeowners and strata councils on Vancouver Island since 1973. It is independent of both government and the real estate industry.
