Friday, July 12, 2013

After the Alberta Floods

Order is slowly coming back to our condominiums.  Floods have affected condominiums across Alberta.  Many condominium insurance polices do not cover floods.  Buyers do need to be aware of the location of any unit they are considering to purchase.  There are pods within communities that escaped  with no water damage and others that where not so lucky.

Many trades, services and contractors are arriving in Alberta to assist with the recovery.  Even with this recovery will be slow.  Being patient is the best advice we can offer.  Property mangers, condo owners, friends, family and many strangers have worked around the clock to get the infrastructure of these building functioning.  The work is far from over. 

If you are buying a condo it is important to allow extra time to obtain the condo documents.  Be sure to acquire the most recent minutes and financial data as well as current disclosure details.  There will be many condos requiring cash and this could result in Special Assessments (cash calls) or fee increases.  Many owners and buyers will be concerned over the cost of remediation and the risk of mold.  Obtaining information on these topics will be slow in coming as the boards and managers are focused on mitigating the damage and organizing the clean-up and repair. 

Sellers, Boards and Property Managers can assist the sale of units by documenting the action plans and making them available to the buyers.  In Alberta it is not mandatory under the condominium legislation that the inspection reports be provided.  Ask anyhow,- if owners do want to sell, they need to disclose to the satisfaction of the buyers.  Mortgage lenders will also be interested in the remediation plans.

Condo -Check is committed to assisting buyers in obtaining the documentation that enable us to complete a competent review in this changing time.  We are keeping in touch with engineers, insurance and the lawyers in the condominium industry to bring you current and accurate updates when possible. 

If you have questions please post them on our website at www.condo-check.com ( Q & A on the home page).  I will respond as quickly as I can, respecting the high volume of questions we are experiencing at this time.

We are committed to providing competent and thorough condo document reviews in every corner of Alberta and across Canada (except Quebec unless the documents can be provided in English)

Wishing you a speedy recovery of your condo and thank those who gave so much heart and muscle to assisting in this time of need.  You are all Condo Heroes!