Rentals are coming, Rentals are coming
Recent changes of the strata property act have removed rental restrictions for all strata corporations. Since the change I have attended multiple seminars talking about the changes and most of the questions and narrative is how can we make our building less attractive to rentals. Many councils are looking for ways to try and eliminate them including raising the age limit to 55, increasing strata fees, and discussing other options on how to encourage investors not to buy into their building. Rentals won’t come just from investors, they will come from current owners.
There are three things strata corporations can do to improve their experience with rentals in their building.
1- Understand the Law - Many councils and strata management companies in the past have been reluctant to effectively communicate with tenants and chose to communicate only with landlords. The Strata Property Act provides rights to tenants and one of the main areas overlooked is communication with bylaw enforcement. If a renter is in violation of the bylaws the strata corporation has a responsibility to inform the tenant of the infraction along with the owner of the property. With the advent of the CRT which has given owners and tenants a venue to dispute issues at strata corporations, many cases have been heard in the CRT where tenants were fined for bylaw infractions without proper due process of the act being followed. This has resulted in the fines in these cases being reduced or reversed.
2- Improve Communication - In addition to understanding the law, improving communication with all parties involved in the rental of the property will improve stratas rental experiences. When an owner rents out their strata lot there are more people who need to receive communication. The landlords could manage the property themselves or hire a property manager to manage it on their behalf.
With technology today most strata management companies have electronic tools for communicating information about the property to owners. When an owner rents their property many companies are hesitant, or lack the ability to add tenants or rental property managers to their electronic communication. Strata councils should ensure their management company has the ability to add the other parties to their communication tools. This will improve the communication with tenants and landlords, which in turn will improve the tenancy at the property. Tenants want to feel a part of the building like any other resident and have the rights to necessary information. Providing the information up front will reduce the potential issues ending up in the CRT which eliminates significant time and effort for council and management companies. Providing the landlord only with the notice of the annual fire inspection and then applying a fine to the tenant due to the landlord's failure to forward the notice on time, is a violation of a tenants rights.
3- Recommend landlords don’t use the Strata Company managing the building -
Strata managers and rental managers are governed by the same licensing governing body BCFSA. It is recommended by BCFSA that companies managing a strata corporation don’t manage rentals in properties they provide strata management service to. The reason for this is there is a natural conflict of interest. When a company manages both the strata and a rental in the same building, one of the two parties must be identified as the primary client. In every case the strata corporation, the larger client will be identified as the primary client. Identifying one as the primary client means that when there is a dispute between the two parties the strata management company won’t be able to represent the secondary client due to the conflict of interest as they must represent the primary client. This leads to many landlords not being provided proper advice during a conflict between the strata corporation and the owner. The main area for conflict during a rental is enforcement of bylaws. As mentioned above, understanding the law and improved communication can reduce issues and or concerns over bylaw enforcement.
When a management company manages the rental it takes direction from council on bylaw enforcement and council often has an expectation that when they also manage the rental the management company has influence over the landlords decision to pay a fine and or not dispute the infraction. Failing to provide the landlord or tenant proper information about the bylaws and their right to dispute it is a violation of the landlord, and tenants rights. More and more cases are being brought to the CRT with fines being overturned because of lack of due process being provided to the landlord or tenant.
It would be prudent for strata councils to encourage, even recommend owners use a rental management company other than the strata company managing the building. This will separate any conflicts of interest and eliminate concerns for lack of representation for the landlord. Strata council could interview some rental management companies and recommend these parties to their owners who are considering renting their strata lot.
Are you a strata council member, would you like to know more about landlord/tenant rights in your strata corporation. Cartref Properties provides information sessions to strata councils answering questions on renting in a strata corporation. It may be worth council having an opinion that is not from their strata management company.
Cartref Properties doesn’t provide strata management services only residential rental management and we specialize in renting products in strata corporations.
Need assistance managing your rental property, Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com
