How Condo legislation changes will affect you.

dougcourt
May 2, 2014
3 min read

As of Feb 1/2015 there are numerous condo changes that have become law for buyers and sellers. As a professional in the industry, these changes have created confusion and a sense of anxiety within the real estate communities. Like most changes a time of adjustment will be needed to adapt and fully understand the full impact of what has transpired.

Although there are numerous changes here are some of the highlights of the new legislation. The first change is a new offer to purchase. This incorporates some of the more basic information for a buyer and seller, such as, the cooling off period for a buyer now goes to a full 7 days from the time all the Condo documents are provided to them. The buyer is not allowed to satisfy this condition before a full 7 days and the condition will run until midnight of the 7th day. This is a longer period of the previous 48 hours but does not factor in statutory holidays, Sundays, so should take some of the confusion away from the timelines. Please be aware that a buyer may cancel their contract at anytime during this cooling off period and will receive the return of their deposit in full.

The other major change that can affect buyers and sellers is the material change law. A material change is not quite definitive but could include changes in the common element fee, change of rule or by-laws within the corporation, such as the rules around pets, parking or even how a common room is used. In an effort to protect the buyer of a material change from the time they purchase and the cooling off period has passed but possession has not happened, if a material change takes place it is the responsibility of the current owner to notify in writing the changes to the purchaser. Once this happens the purchaser now has additional 7 day cooling off period where they can cancel the contract during this time. However this is most unlikely too happen it is a possibility and should be considered when dealing with offers to purchase.

There is no hard fast definition to what constitutes a material change but all changes should be reported to the buyers.

The other major change for you that purchased and sold condo's years ago, was, who owns their portion of the reserve fund and should the buyer pay you back for that portion? As a condo owner you own a percentage of the corporation and each condo corporation has a reserve fund to manage their building and expenses. In years past some condo owners felt that their portion of the reserve fund should be paid back to them by the buyer, however this became difficult and an extra cost to the buyer. That has not been the normal transaction as of late and the offer now states that the reserve fund portion will now remain the ownership of the corporation.

Some other highlights that the vendor must provide over and above all of the condo documents, are a more detailed disclosure statement, floor plan of the building, current financial statements, reserve fund amounts within 90 days of purchase, plus, plus

Here is a great site ( http://www.gov.mb.ca/condo/newact/index.html )that details all of the changes that took effect on Feb 1,2015

These changes confirm the importance of hiring a real estate professional, to guide you along the buying and selling process.

Happy Condo Buying and Selling.

Doug Court is a professional sales associate with Re/max executives realty in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada He is been an award winning salesman since 1987.

Doug can be reached at 204-292-9090