I live in townhouse condo in eastern Ontario. Recent I was able to look at the financial statements of our little condominium corporation. They was signed by the PMC’s accounting department but they was not signed by the Property Manager even tho their was a place for her to sign them. Is this normal? Should the Property Manager or the board sign the financial statements – especial if there is a place for the PM to sign?

Also, another owner asked to see the minutes of a board meeting. She was given unsigned photocopys of the these. They were not in a book of minutes they were just printed on normal pages. Is this normal? We don’t know if these are real or legal because they are not in minute book and they are unsigned.

Please help – I’m confuse and frustrate. Sorry for the language – English is not my first language. Thank you.

Why dont you discuss these matters with board of directors ?
Do you have any proof that those letters came from PMC ?

the board of directors will not answer the questions of the owners. their is no communication. The financial statements and the minutes were for certain given by the property manager.

Hello Sam,

I assume you are refering to the monthly financial statements as presented to the Board and not the Annual Financial Statements which must be approved by the Board as evidenced by the signatures of two (2) Directors who have signing authority. It is normal proceedure for a property management company (PMC) to provide the background accounting services for Corporations who have contracted with them. The PM is actually an agent of the PMC with which your Board has contracted management services. If the PM were to sign the monthly statements, he/she would be signing on behalf of the PMC in any event. If the monthly financial statements are endorsed by any agent of the PMC, PM or accounting personnel, the PMC then assumes responsibility for the accuracy of those statements.

As for the "Minutes" of meetings of the Board, it is standard practice to provide these to unit Owners in the manner you describe. Of course, as a unit Owner, you could insist that the copies be certified as true copies of the "Minutes" by signature or by seal. It is my opinion that all "Minutes" should be signed by both the Secretary and the President. When I served as President of our Corporation, I insisted that all "Minutes" bear both signatures once approved.

Now for a couple of questions to you Sam. Why would a "small" Corporation contract with a PMC for management services? How small is "small"? Could you not self-manage or hire an "independent" PM without having to saddle your unit Owners with the added burden of the "profit margin" charged by a PMC? Should you wish to discuss any of these issues with a CAFCOR member, please feel free to contact me Sam at;

y.piche@cafcor.org

and I would be pleased to correspond with you about your situation there or refer you to one of our members who deals exclusively in property management issues. Of course, there is no cost to you.

Yvon