Enjoying Your New Condo Community

Living in a condominium means being part of a community that include fellow residents, board members, property management and various service providers. The nature of living in close proximity to one another and using common facilities inevitably results in a complex web of interpersonal relationships. This can be one of the most enjoyable aspects of condo living, as new friendships are created and opportunities arise to become actively involved within your community.

For your condominium community to thrive, it is important that all residents are considerate of one another and do what they can to promote the "common good." Occasionally disagreements do happen, and in these instances the Board of Directors will often be asked to step in and help resolve the issue.

The Board of Directors of a condominium corporation run the business side of the condo community.  This is a people-focused business, which is filled with strong emotions at its core. Whether it is the board members themselves, the property manager or their interaction with the board or with the residents, the relationships in a condominium are very personality-intensive.

Board members are volunteers, most of the time unpaid, and are there for a limited term.  Running the corporation is not as simple as running a business or a household --- it is a complex combination of the two duties. Teamwork and hard work are essential and while the responsibility of settling disputes and establishing policies and procedures for the community usually rests with the board of directors and property management, all residents have to do their part to make the relationships work.

Here are a few tips to help foster happy condo community relations:

• Support the board members and join a committee.  Get to know your board.

• Be proactive by dealing with your personal issues before the Annual General Meeting and provide some constructive suggestions.

• Find out how you voice your complaints or suggestions.  If you don?t know, then it is likely that others don?t as well. Boards should be conveying this information to its residents.

• Find out who responds to residents concerns and how timely is the response?

• When the response is timely is it also effective?

• Everyone should be courteous. This applies to every person, including the property manager, board member and the residents.

Promoting good personal relationships within your community means working together constructively. To do this it is important to recognize that those involved need to gain an understanding of the dynamics of those relationships within the condominium community. This will assist in building a much stronger community.

Denise Lash is a partner of the law firm Heenan Blaikie LLP where she practices condominium law. You can email Denise at dlash@heenan.ca