Your condo management team is responsible for ensuring you manage owner complaints fairly and on time. However, complaints against your condo management company or managers tend to sidestep internal processes and go through the Condominium Management Regulatory Authority of Ontario (CMRAO). Since filing a complaint with the CMRAO is a serious action with potential legal consequences for property managers/companies, resolving issues through amicable means helps facilitate preferred outcomes.

Although the CMRAO regulates condo management services, the authority prefers owner complaints go through condo management and boards first. They expect all parties to act in good faith throughout the complaints process. As a result, having a transparent, formal Condo Management Complaint Policy allows complaints related to the Condominium Management Services Act (CMSA) to be resolved before they escalate.

The Role of Formal Complaint Policies
Introducing a strict process that condo owners follow can help effectively deal with even the most serious accusations, including director and manager ethical code violations. Your process ensures that all complaints are handled with the same level of concern and that unit owners feel heard. When resolutions are managed between the unit owner and board, owners can submit their complaints without fear of repercussions from property managers while providing a straightforward process to allow your management team to resolve issues quickly. Also, should a resolution not be possible, your team can recognize the need to bring in legal counsel.

Streamline Owners’ First Order of Recourse
The CMRAO wants condo owners to contact the manager, management company, or board directors as the first order of recourse to address complaints. Providing owners with a formal process and a clear path to follow makes them feel safe in making a complaint. When you involve the board, owners know their complaints will be reviewed by one of their fellow owners first. The more serious the complaint, the safer the owner should feel submitting their concerns or allegations.

Methods such as providing an online form on condominium community portals ensure the condo board receives the complaint instead of the manager in question. The form facilitates a formal investigative process, whether it involves conflicts of interest, lack of response to disability accommodation requests, or alleged harassment or discrimination. Your process makes it clear that all complaints will be treated with complete respect for privacy and fairness. Boards act as mediators to help resolve issues amicably.

Determining the Proper Complaint Avenues
It is also helpful to list the typical complaints covered under the CMSA, so owners understand the proper avenues to voice their concerns, as follows:

• Operating without a valid licence
• Failure to disclose a conflict of interest regarding contracts
• Soliciting proxy forms in contravention of the CMSA
• Failure to prevent fraud or errors
• Failure to protect the best interests of the condo corporation

A list allows owners to review the types of complaints handled via this process to decide if they are taking the proper steps. You can also provide a separate list of complaints that fall under the jurisdiction of the Condominium Authority Tribunal (CAT), including disputes related to condo records, noise, odours, light, vibration, smoke, vapour, pets, animals, vehicles, parking, storage, and other types of nuisances.

Setting the Investigation in Motion
To ensure each complaint is treated fairly, condo boards can:

• Instigate a confidential one-on-one discussion with the owner to determine the level of seriousness and what proof they have to help back up their concerns.
• Record everything in writing to share with your team.
• Follow up with your team to get your side of the story.
• Create a follow-up record showing the board dealt directly with the manager to try to resolve the issue.
• Establish a satisfactory response or resolution that either a) absolves management from wrongdoing or b) requires further investigation, legal counsel, or disciplinary action.
• Follow up with the owner to inform them what steps were taken or required.

If the owner is unsatisfied, you can review the CMRAO complaints process with them to help them decide if they wish to formalize their complaint against the condo manager.

CMRAO Escalation
A second written complaint surrounding the same alleged misconduct indicates that the condo owner is unsatisfied with your (or the board’s) response. This increases the odds that the condo owner is willing to take further steps, including legal action.

Should your initial assessment find the allegations are substantiated, your legal team can take disciplinary action to help satisfy both the recommended actions required by the CMRAO and the condo owner.

The Importance of a Formal Process and Response
A formal process ensures condo boards understand the importance of timely response to this type of unit owner complaint. Having lawyer-composed auto-responses ensures proper wording is used to avoid making matters worse while providing a formal response and record of receipt of the complaint. CMSA complaints must be taken seriously, so condo management company lawyers must review the accusations of Code of Ethics violations.

Maintaining precise records of all unit owner communications is critical to supporting legal processes (if it escalates to that point) and ensuring that a clear action path is followed for each complaint. A formal process ensures condo boards can make an unbiased initial assessment, gather information as part of a formal investigation, and review the information to determine the next steps. The policy also ensures that the entire community and board understand the steps to follow when condo management issues arise. Formal policies that involve condo boards as the first point of contact help create a safe environment to protect the interests of the board and condo owners you serve. It also ensures that proper legal channels are leveraged, investigations are unbiased, and your reputation is protected by following a fair and thorough process. 

Vadim Koyen is the President of CPO Management Inc., a full-service property management company specializing in residential and commercial condominiums in Toronto and the GTA. With over 10 years in the industry, CPO offers a wide spectrum of services, from strategic and financial planning to accounting, building maintenance and capital improvement.
cpomanagement.ca

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