Condo parking bylaw question

[handcraftedrock]

Hello

I am the owner of a condo. My car is parked on my titled parking spot in underground parking. I will be using my car in the spring.


Question 1.
My car has a license plate attached with a sticker expired in Dec/2017. I,also, have a valid comprehensive insurance for a car since the car is just parked and not driven.

I have provided the condo board with a copy of my vehicle's ownership, license plate information and proof of insurance.



Cando's bylaw is saying that every vehicle must have a VALID license plate.
Condo board is forcing me to get a sticker for my license plate to be "VALID". Otherwise they will tow my vehicle.


Registry says my license plate IS VALID while it is parked on private property and I DO NOT require a sticker for a car that is not driven or parked on public roads.

What can I do to prove to a condo board that I am legal?


Question 2. Condo's bylaw is saying vehicles are not legal to be parked in underground parkade if "not used day to day"

Can a condo dictate the usage of my vehicle? Is even legal?

Thanks everyone for your time

[Marcel Petrin]

To the second part of your question, I'm not sure, depends on how it's worded. But I don't think they could enforce someone not using their vehicle every day, but just occasionally. It's probably in there because no condo owner wants to see their neighbor's jalopy up on blocks on the parkade.

As far as the first part goes, from my perspective, I'd just go spend the $75 or whatever it is to register the damn thing as opposed to wasting a bunch of everyone's time fighting over the definition of "VALID license plate".

[handcraftedrock]

Thank you for reply.


Well, it's not simple.
If it was just for a sticker I would pay these $87. Even though I do not agree. Condo doesn't enforce traffic laws. Government does.

To get a sticker I would need to get full coverage. In my case it's paying about $170(versus $14) every month. And at this time, I can not afford to do that.

[H.L.]

If it's your titled parking spot, I'm surprised they can do anything. We had quite a few cars remain in the same spot( some covered) because they took off for the winters..
I'd say it's not legal, but if you seek legal advice, it will cost more than the registration.

[kcantor]

i agree with marcel's conclusion on question 2 but a better way to determine it might be for the board to insist that any vehicle in the parkade shall be roadworthy at all times, not that it be exposed to the road every day.

on the first point, i would agree with marcel's assessment that it's a petty matter but disagree that the owner of the vehicle/owner of the stall should be required to spend the $75. the intent is that the condo board/management should be able to identify the owner of any vehicle in the parkade and the expired tags do that as well as a current tag.

it sounds to me like there is some personal pettiness/animosity that is driving both these questions and without assigning blame to either side that's probably what needs to be addressed more than the tag/vehicle use resolution. putting these questions aside, you might not be friends with those on the board but you are neighbors and that should govern the tone of the relationship.

in terms of the individuals involved, you don't say whether your communication has been with a member of the board or the property manager or the on-site manager. in any case, you have the right to make a presentation at the next board meeting to forward your concerns to the entire board and if done politely/courteously may have better results than escalating the issue on an "i'm right/you're wrong basis" with a particular individual. even if the bylaws are as presented, they don't necessarily have to enforce them and/or they may be willing to go the extensive work of changing them if a review and update is already scheduled. you might both however find that these are in the rules and regulations, not the bylaws, and those can probably be amended at the board level without having to get 75% unit holder and 75% owner approval.

good luck.

[McBoo]

I think the condo board is acting illegally. For a cheap way out (versus talking to a lawyer, which btw you can do for free for up to 1/2 hour through the bar association), send your question to Alberta Connects: https://www.alberta.ca/contact.cfm

Use the email option so you get a response that you can show to your condo board.

[handcraftedrock]

I really appreciate everyone's input for my question.

It is not just me who has this problem. There are 6 or 7 vehicles in the same situation. Including one 1946 classic car.

We have a board meeting this Friday, 13's...mmmm... Few of us would like to attend it and see if we can agree on something.
So far the letter to each of us was sent by one member of the board. Who is a retired lady.
Maybe with other board members we will have better luck.

Had today a conversation with a person from nearby condo. They also ran into this type of problem. However, it was very civilized. Condo approached the owners with a request to prove the ownership of parked vehicles(so it's not stolen or belongs to a friend), asked to make sure that vehicle is in good working order and not leaking any oil on a floor, and asked keep the vehicles clean(not covered in inch of dust with all kinds of drawings and course language) or just cover them.

That seems very logical and fair to me.

We will try to suggest that to the board on Friday.

I'll let you guys know results.

Thanks again everyone!

[gwill211]

I think the condo board is acting illegally. For a cheap way out (versus talking to a lawyer, which btw you can do for free for up to 1/2 hour through the bar association), send your question to Alberta Connects: https://www.alberta.ca/contact.cfm

Use the email option so you get a response that you can show to your condo board.

There's nothing illegal going on. In regards to the second question the op isnt happy with his bylaws. That's his own fault for not knowing what his bylaws are. Every condo has a similar type of bylaw to deal with abandoned vehicles.

Unfortunately buying a condo means abiding by the bylaws.

Question 1 is an easy fix imo. Once he explains the legalities to the board they don't have a choice other then to accept it..
of course he could stop being stubborn and just get the sticker.

[H.L.]

It's not abandoned though, it's in his parking spot, with insurance, that's not abandoned..
I think the board is acting illegally.

[gwill211]

It's not abandoned though, it's in his parking spot, with insurance, that's not abandoned..
I think the board is acting illegally.

It's not being driven on the road so as far as the board knows it's an abandoned vehicle. A proper sticker or a quick run down on the vehicle would clear it up with the board.

The boards just holding people to their bylaws. Nothing wrong with that.. it's actually the right things to do. Perhaps the bylaws a bit over the top or could be clarified better but it is what it is.

[H.L.]

It's not abandoned though, it's in his parking spot, with insurance, that's not abandoned..
I think the board is acting illegally.

It's not being driven on the road so as far as the board knows it's an abandoned vehicle. A proper sticker or a quick run down on the vehicle would clear it up with the board.

The boards just holding people to their bylaws. Nothing wrong with that.. it's actually the right things to do. Perhaps the bylaws a bit over the top or could be clarified better but it is what it is.

I think its very over the top. I'm awfully glad I'm back in a little house..

I hope the OP now understands the bylaws, we had some, all condos do. This wasn't a bylaw of ours...

[North Guy66]

It's not abandoned though, it's in his parking spot, with insurance, that's not abandoned..
I think the board is acting illegally.

It's not being driven on the road so as far as the board knows it's an abandoned vehicle. A proper sticker or a quick run down on the vehicle would clear it up with the board.

The boards just holding people to their bylaws. Nothing wrong with that.. it's actually the right things to do. Perhaps the bylaws a bit over the top or could be clarified better but it is what it is.

At the end of the day, all parties involved (the vehicle owners and the condo board members) live in the same building. As kcantor said, these folks are still neighbours.

Being civil and common sense should prevail. In handcraftedrock's last post he/she mentioned it was a retired lady who sent out the memo. Sounds like a case of someone wielding their power just for the sake of it. A power trip!

This is a condo board. It isn't a fascist state or a faceless red-tape bureaucracy. Hopefully presenting your case to the other board members will result in a satisfactory resolution. The board should show some flexibility or at least re-word the parking bylaws.

Question 2. Condo's bylaw is saying vehicles are not legal to be parked in underground parkade if "not used day to day"

Can a condo dictate the usage of my vehicle? Is even legal?

So what happens if you own a motorcycle? Even though it has to be registered and insured all year long, it is usually parked for 6 months. By following the "letter of the law", parking a motorcycle would be a big no-no.

[gwill211]

^If the board picks and chooses what bylaws to enforce and they selectively ignore others then they would be setting a horrible precedent for all other owners.

Ultimately the op needs to address things with the board. This is a very very simple issue that he can address real easily.

It's pretty typical for an owner to argue any bylaw they don't agree with.... I get to deal with all sorts of crazy stories from people for some of my rentals. Instead of working with the board people always want to fight. Be part of the solution not the problem.

[handcraftedrock]

Hello Everyone

I didn't think it would become such a heated discussion. Sorry about that.

So about an hour ago, I've received a phone call from a board's vice president.
He mentioned to me that the board is very busy with other more important issues and doesn't really want to spend the board's meeting to discusses our little problems.
Instead, they would like to approach each problem with parking individually, one by one.

He explained, that it has to do with vehicles not being moved during the last cleaning of parkade. As well as some complains about vehicles that parked for too long, covered in dust, loaded with junk and do not look presentable in other words.

The gentlemen also explained to me that in my case it was a misunderstanding and I took it too seriously. The condo board member was sending a standard letter to each vehicle she thought had an issue.
He asked me to understand that this condo board member is a retired lady and she just didn't know all the details about licensing laws.

So anyways.
He said that I am perfectly legal. I don't have to get any sticker(however license plate must be attached) and it is my business when I drive and when I don't drive. And NOT "day-to-day" usage of the vehicle basically means abandoned. And that's what we don't want in our building. AGREED 100%
He just inquired why I do not drive and why I do not just sell the vehicle. So I told him that as soon as I will get a job again, I am putting my vehicle to use. I just wanted to keep a vehicle with at least comprehensive coverage so I will not have an insurance gap.

So it's all good. With an exception of one neighbor that doesn't like me now. Oh well. Life goes on.

THANKS AGAIN EVERYBODY!!! You been great

******************
Moderator, you can close this thread if you like. Thanks for letting me use it.

[alkeli]

Glad it worked out mostly in your favor. Hopefully as long as you keep your car clean-looking and it's not being used to store things, then it shouldn't be a problem. Have you received anything in writing that you're fine? I would request a simple signed statement, just so that if one day somebody tries to get your car towed, you can present it. This would be especially important if there is some kind of condo bylaw/agreement that cars need to be registered and/or driven on occasion.