January 8, 2009

Dear C.O.N.S. member;

I assume that many of you have downloaded the Condominium Act Review Discussion Paper from the Service Nova Scotia web site (www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/condoact).

One issue that I want to bring to your attention is the one dealing with arbitration.  I will not repeat what is being recommended, as you can read that in the discussion paper.  What I want to do is make you aware of another avenue for settling disputes between owners and boards.

Ray Hunt and I, as your representatives on the Review Committee, tried to get the Committee to agree to recommend that the province appoint an Ombudsman to enforce the Condominium Act.  Presently, there is no government official with authority to enforce the Act.  We feel that is wrong.  If the government feels that legislation is necessary to regulate how condominiums are run, then it should be the body that enforces the Act.  As it is now, we, the condo owners, are responsible for enforcing the Act.  The present mechanism is Arbitration which can be a costly process.  There is a basic principle here that is not being followed.  That is, the party that creates the rules of behaviour, should also be the party that enforces those rules.

 How would an Ombudsman work?  If an owner feels that his/her board is not operating in accordance with the Act, they could go to the Ombudsman, state their case and he/she would then render a decision.  The same process would work if a board feels that an owner is not abiding by the by-laws, declaration, etc., it too, could go to the Ombudsman for a decision.  We feel this is a more effective way of settling disputes than what presently exists. To put this in the context of the present recommendations, it is suggested that the Ombudsman could be used to settle Tier 2 disputes.  What do you think?

Should you agree with the basic principle that the body that creates the rules, should also be the body that enforces them, then please respond to the Review Committee by February 13.  If there is a sufficient show of support for the Ombudsman concept then it may be possible to include that recommendation in the Review Committee's final report.

Sincerely,

Lorne J. Verabioff

President