A recently released decision from the Condominium Authority Tribunal (CAT) shed some light on an interesting question: can someone who ceases to be a condo owner still be entitled to access the records of the corporation or is this a privilege only available to current owners?
The case
In Baljak v HCC 371, an owner commenced a CAT case regarding certain corporate records, and subsequently sold their unit. The question for the CAT was, if this person is no longer an owner, do they still have any entitlement to records under the Act?
So, once an Owner, Always an Owner?
The Decision
The CAT’s decision here is quite short, and can be read here, but if you’d like the even shorter summary, keep on reading.
That CAT took note of section 55(3) of the Act, which states that Corporations must permit “an owner, a purchaser or a mortgagee of a unit…” to examine or obtain copies of records. Based on this, the CAT found that the person requesting a record must be an owner when the records are request and when the records are provided. In other words, the entitlement to records does not extend beyond someone’s ownership.
Accordingly, the CAT granted the Corporation’s motion and dismissed the matter.
Knowing this may help condo corporation deal with records requests, which can come to an end when an owner ceases to own.
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