While we don’t see this too often in professionally managed properties, on rare occasions a Council member (or two) will branch off and “do their own thing”, disregarding the Strata Property Act, The Strata Agent’s advice, and BCFSA regulations.
This type of situation can create a real challenge for the rest of Council, Owners, and The Strata Management company. This is a much more common occurrence in self-managed stratas where BCFSA oversight doesn’t exist, but can happen in professionally managed buildings as well, albeit usually smaller ones.
We see this situation occur when there is very little interest from Council, and owner apathy in general, which allows for bad actors to take action without much transparency.
When a Council member, or the entire Council decides to go rogue and not follow the SPA, this can put the entire strata corporation in danger of being non-compliant. Without the oversight of a professionally managed strata following BCFSA guidelines, things can get a bit chaotic.
We have seen the following happen before with Rogue strata councils:
Council creating separate strata accounts and funneling funds into those accounts
Council members using their own preferred contractors such as family and friends, and paying invoices to them without obtaining competitive quotes. Sometimes the work is done, but sometimes there is no actual work done.
Less obvious ones such as non-compliant special levies, budgets, etc.
What can owners do if Council starts going rogue?
Fortunately, there are options available IF the owners are savvy enough to see what’s going on.
Options include:
Voting the current Council off the island. Owners require a 20% petition to force an SGM whereby a new Council can be elected via majority vote.
Wait until the AGM and then elect a new Council at that time.
Filing a complaint with CRT to overturn certain decisions made by Council, or to have the Council member removed completely. This can be a long and drawn out process, and may be too slow if quick action is required.
Owners can hire a lawyer to get involved, but they can only do so much as well, basically following the SPA and procedures laid out as per below, as well as the Strata Corporation’s bylaws.
From the management company’s perspective, this can be a very difficult situation to navigate, and should always include your managing broker. As Agents for the strata corporation taking exclusive direction from the elected strata council, your best bet is to terminate services if things get too hairy. If the Council is requesting that you do something unethical, unprofessional, or contrary to BCFSA rules, your best bet is to give notice, and jump ship!
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