Condo Declarations Are Not Carved In Stone
One of our first posts of the year was on the requirements for making, amending, or repealing by-laws. In response to that post we were asked about the requirements for making, amending, or repealing rules. This lead to our third post of the year. If you haven't read both posts make sure you go back and read them. Today, we will briefly describe the options for changing a condominium's declaration or description (sometimes called the "survey" or "plans").
The Condominium Act, 1998 (the "Act") describes three methods for amending a declaration and/or description: 1) with consent; 2) with an order of the Director of Titles; and 3) with a court order. It is important to note that the Act allows a condominium to update its address for service or mailing address without amending the declaration. For more information, see section 108 of the Act.
With Consent
The most popular method of amending the declaration and/or description is to do so with the consent of the owners. If the amendment includes a change to the proportions of ownership or contributions to the common expenses, the exclusive use common elements, or maintenance and repair obligations, it requires the consent of the owners of 90% of the units. All other changes require 80% of the units. Ask your lawyer for a definition of "units" for the purposes of a declaration or description amendment.
I should note that this method may also require the consent of the declarant if the declarant has not transferred all of the units (except telecommunications units) and less than three years has elapsed from the later of the registration of the condominium and the date the declarant first entered into an agreement of purchase and sale for a unit.
Once the board of directors are satisfied with the proposed amendment they must call a meeting of owners to present the proposed amendment to the owners. The normal process for calling a meeting is used, including the use of the prescribed forms and the normal timeline. The notice of meeting must include a copy of the proposed amendment. The board must collect the written consent of the owners, but the consent does not need to be collected at the meeting. The amendment must be registered in the land registry office before it becomes effective.
With an Order from the Director of Titles
The Act also permits condominiums to amend the declaration or description without the approval of the owners in certain circumstances. Section 110 of the Act states that a condominium (or another interested person) may apply to the Director of Titles appointed under the Land Titles Act for an order amending the declaration or description to "correct an error or inconsistency that is apparent on the face of the declaration or descriptions, as the case may be." The amendment is not effective until a certified copy of the order is registered on title to the units.
Our office has seen this process used where there was a minor typo found in the declaration, such as where it referred to the wrong instrument number for a document or it referred to levels that did not exist. The Director of Titles has refused requests where the error or inconsistency appeared to be obvious to us, such as where there was an inconsistency between the unit boundaries in the declaration and those in the description.
With a Court Order
The Act also permits condominiums (or an owner) to seek an order from the Superior Court of Justice to amend the declaration or description without the approval of the owners. Notice of the application must be given to the condominium and every owner and mortgagee whose name appears in the condominium's records. The judge must be satisfied that the "amendment is necessary or desirable to correct an error or inconsistency that appears in the declaration or description or that arises out of the carrying out of the intent and purpose of the declaration or description." The amendment is not effective until a certified copy of the order is registered on title to the units.
The courts have also ordered declarations and descriptions (and other documents) to be amended in other circumstances. For instance, if the declaration is oppressive, unfairly disregards an owner's interests, or unfairly prejudices them, it is possible that a court would order the condominium to amend the declaration if an application is brought by the owner under section 135 of the Act (oppression remedy). This is very rare. See an old post for further information: https://ontcondolaw.com/2014/06/06/owner-successfully-applies-to-court-for-amendment-to-declaration/
We previously wrote a single post summarizing the requirements for changing declarations, by-laws and rules. I encourage you to review it if you want a more succinct version of our last three posts. You can find it here: https://ontcondolaw.com/2018/08/29/amending-the-condo-documents/