A recent Case before the Condominium Authority Tribunal of Ontario (the “Tribunal”) contains some important findings and reminders for corporations responding to records requests:
- Record of notices relating to leases of units under s. 83 of the Condominium Act, 1998 (the “Act”) – Section 83(3) of the Act requires corporations to keep records of notices of leases received from owners. The Tribunal found that owners were entitled to the list of units that have provided a notice under section 83 notwithstanding the exemption under section 55(4)(c) of the Act (i.e. records relating to specific units and/or owners).
- Periodic Information Certificates (“PICs”) – In addition to the providing the certificate itself, the Act requires that certain documents must accompany the PIC, including copies of director disclosure statements and the corporation’s budget. It is important to include these records when distributing PICs to owners and when providing owners PICs through a records request.
- Redaction Requirements – Section 13.8(1)(b) of the Regulation requires that corporations provide a written statement to owners when any redaction is made to a record, including outlining the reason for the redaction and the applicable exemption under section 55 of the Act or the Regulation.
- Third Party Documents – the corporation maintained a blanket insurance policy that covered numerous properties managed by the management company. The corporation’s insurer redacted any information pertaining to other properties for privacy reasons. The corporation obtained the redacted policy through its insurer. The Tribunal found that the corporation satisfied the records request as the record outlined the important information pertaining to the corporation’s insurance policies. The Tribunal also determined that section 13.8(1)(b) of the Regulations did not apply as the document was redacted by a third party so no accompanying statements were required.
On a final note, the Tribunal reiterated that the jurisdiction of the Tribunal is the Applicant’s entitlement to receive or examine records and that the Tribunal cannot order a corporation to answer questions arising from those records, nor make any determinations about board governance.
