Property Management

March 21, 2025 Published by Huronia Chapter - By Kirsten Bahlieda

The Sorting of Records

From the CCI Huronia Winter/Spring 2025 Condo Buzz Newsletter

Property Managers and Condominium Boards handle a plethora of tasks daily for owners in the communities they manage. Some tasks are predictable – we know we need to renew service contracts before they are due to expire and schedule the annual general meeting within six months of the fiscal year end. But some tasks are less expected, such as the arrival of a multi-page Records Request from an Owner.

In 2017, the government established a formal process for Owners to request and receive access to various records of the Corporation. The process consists of various timelines for the Corporation to respond and produce records, but the first step is receipt of the formal Request for Records. The formal request will specify what records are being sought, what period to which they apply, and what format they may be received in. Most Corporations have now availed themselves of the benefits of electronic file storage and this makes the process of electronic delivery of requested records much simpler in most cases. But even with the benefits of electronic storage there may still be time required on the part of the Manager to review and redact information on records before they are distributed. Confidential information and information which could relate to a current or possible future litigation must be thoroughly reviewed (and redacted, as required) before documents are released, and sometimes legal advice is recommended to determine if the information requested is even something that an Owner is within their right to request.

The CAO has created a handy guide to assist with common questions pertaining to Records Requests and this should be the first resource considered when a Request for Records arrives (www.condoauthorityontario.ca/ resource/guide-to-condo-records/). Core records such as Audited Financial Statements and copies of the governing documents are straight forward and within an Owner’s right to possess. But imagine you receive a Records Request desiring to see copies of enforcement letters sent by management to other unit owners who have broken the rules – is this information that a Unit Owner is entitled to receive? The answer is usually “no”, but in any instance where the Corporation intends to deny access to a record in their possession the Board or Manager may wish to have a quick chat with corporate counsel to ensure that the Response Form denying access to the requested record correctly explains why the Record is not being released (and, that the Corporation is within its right to say “no” in the first place).

Kirsten Bahlieda
MCRS Property Management