Richelle Komes’s first warning from management at her Mississauga, Ont., condominium came in February 2023.
The issue: Komes had allowed a visitor — her cousin — to stay overnight in her home, and park in her underground parking spot.
“[Y]our visitor appeared to be intoxicated which is [a] danger to the public safety and to the other residents in the building,” read the letter from the condo’s on-site manager.
Komes insists her cousin was not drunk. She also said her cousin was only in a public space while walking to her unit.
Komes said she wasn’t aware of any visitor restrictions, and when she asked management for a copy of the rule, it wasn’t provided.
The building does now have a visitor restriction in place, requiring permission from the property manager or board of directors for any guest staying overnight for more than one night per month. However, the rule didn’t come into effect until July 2023 — five months after Komes’s cousin came to visit.
“After I received that first letter in February, I felt scared and I felt alone. I didn’t know what to do,” said Komes, who bought her two-bedroom condo in 2022.
Those feelings have only escalated since then, she says.
She’s one of more than a dozen owners at 135 Hillcrest Ave. who are raising concerns about how the building is run. Many say they fear harassment and intimidation from the condo’s board and management, due to the condo corporation’s frequent use of legal warnings, which the owners say serve to silence them.
CBC has reviewed legal letters sent to seven of those owners on behalf of the corporation over the past several years, for alleged issues ranging from harassment to violation of rules, spreading gossip, noise complaints and derogatory comments. In each case, the board also ordered the owner to pay for the legal costs associated with sending the letter to them.
Linda Pinizzotto, founder and CEO of the Condo Owners Association of Ontario (COA), a Toronto-based advocacy group, said disputes between owners and condo boards are unfortunately common, but that the number of issues at 135 Hillcrest sounds “extreme.”
“The board needs to chill out, and remember the fact that they do represent the owners,” said Pinizzotto.
While boards are tasked with protecting their condo corporation, she said, “that does not mean protect them by contacting a lawyer every time you turn around and sending out legal letters. It creates more adversity in the building.”
Board president Ismael Jirby, building management and their lawyer have not responded to CBC’s emails and phone calls.
Group of owners say they fear harassment and intimidation from their condo’s board and management, due to the corporation’s frequent use of legal warnings.
Owners on the hook for legal fees
The February 2023 letter was just the start of Komes’s friction with the condo’s board and management.
This April, Komes received a letter from the corporation’s lawyer, saying she had made “defamatory” comments about the corporation and a company it had hired for HVAC work. It said her conduct amounted to “workplace harassment.”
The letter, from a lawyer with Elia Associates, also appeared to reference the February 2023 incident — saying Komes had violated the condo corporation’s rules by allowing a visitor “who appeared to be intoxicated” to stay overnight.
Komes was also charged $800 to cover the cost of the corporation hiring a lawyer to write and send the five-page letter.
“I was frustrated, and I was outraged because everything listed in the letter was untrue,” she said.
Letters allege gossip, harassment
Last year, Arpil Dedhia and Dhawani Shah, also owners at 135 Hillcrest Ave., got into a legal dispute over blinds that apparently did not comply with rules about the style of window coverings — despite appearing to meet the written requirements specified in the corporation’s bylaws.
Another owner there, Raulson Sequeira, received a letter in January this year saying he had argued with staff, spread gossip and made unfounded allegations. It also said he had “accosted” other residents. Sequeira vehemently denies those claims, and has refused to pay the legal fees he’s been charged.
In addition to that letter, Sequeira received three noise complaints in February and March this year, one of which stated his daughter was running in a hallway.
Sequeira requested relevant records, including the security footage from the seventh-floor hallway where his daughter was allegedly running and “causing a considerable amount of noise” the evening of Feb. 24. The board’s response states “no such records exist.”
Sequeira said he felt “targeted,” since the letters began after he raised concerns about certain issues, including the building’s restrictive visitor policy, and the corporation’s involvement in lawsuits.
“I feel sad about it because you know this was supposed to be a dream home,” Sequeira said.
“This is our first-time home that we bought.”
Efforts to address concerns
Audrey Loeb, a partner with Shibley Righton LLP in Toronto who practises condominium law, said there are times when people “don’t realize” their behaviour has become problematic.
“They think they’re being totally reasonable and they think they’re being fine, but they can be hard on management, they can be highly critical of the board of directors,” she said.
“It can cross a line from being inquisitive or inquiring, to actually being the kind of conduct where it goes on and on and on, and it becomes harassing.”
Loeb has not reviewed the correspondence between management and the owners at 135 Hillcrest. In cases where owners do need to “stand up” to their board, she suggested hiring a lawyer to help navigate the Condominium Act.
Komes said since last fall, she has contacted the Condominium Authority of Ontario several times to seek advice, and has also contacted the Condominium Management Regulatory Authority of Ontario. She said she doesn’t have the funds to hire a lawyer.
Condo owners can also take some issues to the Condominium Authority Tribunal, which has jurisdiction over certain issues, like nuisances from noise or smoking.
In an email to CBC, Ontario’s Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery said it is considering expanding the jurisdiction of the tribunal.
“The government recognizes the importance of providing condo communities with more opportunities to resolve certain internal disputes faster and more affordably, outside of the traditional court system,” said spokesperson Matteo Guinci.
In May, Sequeira contacted a mediation facilitator at the Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Centre, which offers the service for free to help resolve neighbourhood disputes. The facilitator has twice contacted the board president and management to request a meeting, but has not received a response.
‘It’s not a correctional facility’
The owners who are raising concerns believe the key issues lie with the leadership of the board.
“They need to manage the building as a big house. It’s a big house with 341 rooms. It’s not a correctional facility,” said Steve Moran, a condo owner in the building who won $50,000 in legal costs and damages from the corporation in 2022.
A judge ruled the condo failed to make “reasonable” accommodations to allow him to renovate his unit.
135 Hillcrest Ave. is run by a three-person board, with one position coming up for election each year. Owners can also requisition a meeting where they can vote to remove a board member. Calling such a meeting requires signatures from at least 15 per cent of owners.
But some owners say communicating with their neighbours and collecting those signatures isn’t easy, since they feel monitored both in the building’s hallways and within a WhatsApp group for the condo community.
And they fear being hit with more legal letters — and associated fees.