When purchasing a resale condominium, it should be conditional on review of the Status Certificate and the accompanying documents. This document is equivalent to a disclosure statement, providing insight into the financial stability of the condominium corporation, the reserve fund, any special assessments, if there are any current lawsuits against the corporation and the current budget.
According to the Condominium Act, the certificate must be delievered within 10 days and a fee of $100 is applicable. Once you receive it, the general rule of thumb is that your lawyer has 2 days to review it and confirm that you are satisfied with the contents of the report.
The "meat" of the Status Certificate is usually only 5-10 pages, outlining the current financial details etc., however it also includes all the rules and regulations of the corporation and can be quite a lengthy document, lots of paper!
There is a service that now reduces the paper documentation and emails you the complete Status Certificate. There is the usual $100 fee, plus a "convenience" fee of under $30 when I checked. The reduction in paper, the convenience of email rather than courier or running all over the city to pick it up and deliver to the lawyer is well worth the convenience fee, and we are saving trees at the same time.
Not all condominium buildings are registered with the program yet, but hopefully they will join and provide easy and environmentally friendly ways to access Status Certificates.
To find out more, check out the website: Status Certificates
