Whoa - this guy really got screwed!
https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=134500
Quote:
Just got a letter that at the condo wants to fix the "building envelope" which will cost 2.1 million, and my share of that would be $64,000 due within 30 days of the letter, which would be about 30 days from now. My condo is only assessed at about 265k and I bought it a couple years ago for 335k (I know tax assessment isn't the same as market price). 2 years ago there was a previous special assessment which was supposed to be 1/3 of the total work and which was $8,000.
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Chateau Falls in connaught. sellers would have to legally disclose at this point anyway.
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Fair enough, but I haven't seen any information on why the estimate doubled in 2 years and how bad the damage is. This is not a rental unfortunately.
Not to mention the first $8500 I spent was for them to replace the roof and in doing so they caused severe water damage to my unit which they have not fixed and after stating they were putting it through insurance have decided not to pay for my repairs and I've been fighting them for 1.5 years for that money. So I paid them $8500 to ruin my condo, and now they want another 64k.
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I got hit by an assessment in the 6 digits a couple years ago. My unit factor is actually quite small relative to most other units so I actually got off lucky.
There wasn't much I could do about it. The board settled for a tiny amount against the builders and designers for envelope repairs. The lawsuit was a mess; so many of the contractors closed down their incorporations and, consequently, made it difficult to chase them. The residents who didn't pay are fighting action started by the board now.
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Bump. One of my wife's co-workers has a condo in one of the old brick "loft" buildings around 12 Ave in the beltline. No special assessment but his condo fees just jumped to around $750/month for a 1 bedroom loft.. A pretty large increase.
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Unfortunately have to bump this... just got a $40k special assessment in the mail today (that's the lump sum value; they say that up to 24 month payment plans may be available) for our townhouse complex. We first got wind that this would probably be coming about 2 months ago... certainly didn't expect it to be this much or this soon.
Apparently they're replacing all the windows (again), doors, siding, removing some landscaping, and assorted other bits and pieces all at once over the next 3-4 years.
What I don't understand is how one is supposed to be able to prepare for something like this. Even paying our share over 24 months would essentially our cost of living for housing. An emergency fund is great, but ultimately a drop in the bucket. When we moved in (~5 years ago), we - I thought - did all the right things. The home inspection came back relatively clean, just needed a new furnace and hot water heater eventually which we took care of. The windows had just been done and nothing else was flagged. Condo docs showed the reserve fund was great and there were no red flags.
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The first mention of the potential for the assessment was in the most recent board meeting minutes, which basically said (I don't have them in front of me) that this 'may' be needed, but the reserve fund might cover most or all of it. Honestly, I was prepared mentally for up to a $10k assessment after reading this thread... 4x that is just blowing me away.
Basically the letter we got said the following: "The Engineers findings have clearly shown that the siding, windows and doors have failed." When we moved in about 5 years ago, we were told that the windows had recently been replaced
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I want to thank everyone in this thread for re-affirming that I made the right decision when I bought a house instead of the inner-city condo I was considering.
So many of my friends have been hit with special assessments in the past few years, most of them due to shoddy workmanship with regards to work done (sometimes during contruction) on the building envelope.
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Reading some of that and reflecting on Suburgatory's list of questions, it seems to me that I'd catch something sooner than the point where $100K envelope repair would be required to be paid for within 30 days. I'm saying $100K and not $64K as in the first case above, because his is probably an 800sf unit, and I have 3,500sf of developed space, so I'm actually being very conservative.
Further, the one guy commented that he paid $8K plus for a roof special assessment (didn't you guys say roofs were covered in the condo fees) and the roofer damaged something that caused leaking into his unit. The board said they'd deal with it, but nothing has happened and looks like he is not getting anything. If it was my house, I'd be not paying the contractor and/or dealing with them directly. No false sense of security from assuming some condo board that isn't you will actually look out for you.
Then there is the guy with the $40K special assessment which includes landscaping. Wow! Putting a massive burdon on owners because the board felt they'd throw in some new patios, dirt and trees onto an already big surprise!
And this thing about the guy buys a place and is told doors and windows were recently replaced, only to be told that the board hired engineering consultants that concluded the doors and windows need to be replaced again. Who watches out for quality of things going in, quality of workmanship, and making sure that prices being paid are fair and appropriate? Oh right, the condo fees get paid to people that "ensure" those things.
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