Liens

Serve notice of the lien by personal service or prepaid mail to owners of residential and commercial industrial units at least ten (10) days before registration of the certificate of lien [sections 84 (4) and (5)]. This notice must be on Form 14 of the New Act [see regulation 24]. This notice is hereinafter referred to as the “Form 14 notice”. This necessitates a change to all Corporations’ lien procedures.

Ensure that sufficient time is available to register a lien after the Form 14 notice has expired. We recommend that the Form 14 notice be forwarded preferably in the first month and no later than the last day of the second month of common expense arrears.

It is essential that a properly drafted statutory declaration of service is prepared for each form 14 notice and that it be executed by the individual who actually mailed the notice. This must be done at the same time the notice is sent, so as to minimize the possibility of errors. The statutory declaration will be required if the Corporation proceeds with registration of lien on the unit. Lastly the statutory declaration must be sworn by a Commissioner of oaths for the Province of Ontario.

The Condominium Corporation is entitled to charge its reasonable expenses for the Form 14 notice (and all for reasonable costs relating to collections of arrears of common expenses – see section 85(1)). The problem is, what will the Corporation do if the fee for the Form 14 notice charged by its solicitor for example, is $80.00 and the unit owner does not pay? If the unit owner continues to miss common expense payments, a lien is registered and the $80.00 charge may be collected under the lien. However, some owners will bring their common expense payments up-to-date but will refuse to pay the $80.00 Form 14 notice charge. If the Corporation registers a lien for this amount, the costs of lien will be well over $500.00 and may be deemed unreasonable by a judge. If the Corporation does not register a lien, collection is by the usual tedious, sometimes unsuccessful methods; letters, phone calls, putting the unpaid expense on the Status Certificate, etc.

Amend lien policy for industrial/ commercial condominium sites to reflect new super priority for common expense liens on industrial/commercial units.