A condo owner had been moved out of his unit a few months before finally deciding to sell it. He went to the unit to check on it and as he pulled into the condo’s underground parkade, he saw that all the parking stalls had been repainted & renumbered. He then discovered that one of his two underground parking stalls had been literally erased.
I don’t know whether he was later able to reclaim that 2nd parking stall underground or if it was relocated to an outside stall – the reason being that the parking stalls in that particular condominium were assigned and not titled or leased.
This is important to know when considering a condo purchase. Here in Alberta, there are three ways of distributing exclusive use of parking to owners:
1) Assigned Parking: An assigned parking stall can be relocated by the Board of Directors whenever needed. Again, assignments are at the discretion of the board and can change at any time.
2) Titled Parking: You actually own the parking stall, it has its own title, and is issued separately from the residential unit. The parking unit is designated a legal unit number and a unit factor on the Condo Plan. In some cases, the parking unit will be shown on a Condominium Plan as part of the unit. When this happens, the Unit sizes are larger because the registered area of these Units include parking (See my blog article: Registered Size vs Total Living Area )
3) Leased Parking. There are two forms:
- Leased Parking-Delineated. If the Condo Plan shows areas of common property that can be leased, (usually illustrated with dotted lines and identifying numbers) it can transfer with the sale of the Unit without the Condo Board needing to grant approval. This type of Leased Parking can be as valuable as a titled parking stall.
- Leased Parking-Not Delineated. If the Condo Plan only shows areas of common property and each parking stall cannot be identified, these types of leases are only valid while the owner holds ownership. When they sell the Unit, the lease to the parking space terminates. The new buyer would have to renegotiate the lease with the Condominium Corporation.
Related News Article
Condo Parking – Global TV Story
Buying or selling a condo? Feel free to contact me.
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Mike Fotiou, First Place Realty, is Certified Condominium Specialist
Lou Pesta, Q.C., writes: A new development in the market has come to my attention recently. Twice in the past couple of weeks, I have been approached by buyers with purchase contracts (with different developers) where the price was inflated by $40,000 to $50,000 to show a higher price on the face of the agreement. In the portion of the contract showing how the price is paid, there is a corresponding “cash back” on closing provision.
Lou Pesta, Q.C., writes: A number of large condominium projects are nearing completion in Calgary and elsewhere in the province. With the current economic downturn, both REALTORS® and buyers are asking about the consequences of not completing a new condominium purchase. Since this is a complicated area of law and several remedies including specific performance, forfeiture of deposits and damages may be available to the developer, you are strongly urged to refer these types of questions to a solicitor.
