Sale of Units During the COVID - 19 Pandemic - by Jennifer Dickenson, Vice - President
themselves and their building healthy. If someone sees something contrary to the cur- rent restrictions, they can call by-law enforcement to address it. Superintendents should be notified immediately after the movers exit the building for the last time, so they can start disinfecting the hallways, ele- vators and entrances to the building. Residents are respon- sible for sanitizing their own units (door handles included).
There is a lot of anxiety around the transmission of the COVID-19 virus (rightfully so). Boards and Condo Managers have been over- whelmed with all of the new con- siderations, restrictions and poli- cies they’ve had to put into play in the last months since the virus came to Canada. One thing most didn’t think of right away was the sale and pur- chase of units. I mean, who would sell or buy right now?! Well, there are all sorts of reasons, including already completed agreements. We aren’t to question “Why?”, but we should also discuss “How?”. There are some steps each corpo- ration, or at least the condominium management company, should take right now. Corporations should create a policy for move-ins/outs. A manager can create a generalized policy and then modify for each corporation. Where a policy al- ready exists for your high-rise buildings, it should be reviewed and include the following and where a policy does not exist for other types of condominium build- ings, here are items to get you started:
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Jennifer Dickenson, BSc (Hons), RCM is a condominium manager at Dickenson Condo Management. She was elected to the CCI Board of Directors at the AGM of 2016 and served in various positions of the chapter. Jennifer is currently the VP of the Chapter. Effective June 1 st , 2020 she also assumed the du- ties as the National Representa- tive for the Chapter.
With move-ins , every high-rise should have closed their in-house office doors to non-employees right now, so those moving in will need to be informed how to regis- ter to get a parking space or their laundry access card, etc. With move-outs , the same thing applies. Fobs, laundry cards or oth- er passes shouldn’t be returned person-to-person right now, so find a system that works for your building. (Many are using enve- lopes and dropping them at the corporation’s drop box with re- fund payment and receipt.) Con- sider ripping up the deposit cheque instead of returning it (show proof of destruction of the cheque). Once you have a policy prepared and approved by the Board, send it to ALL owners and include it in the status certificate. As a way to nip some potential issues in the bud, consider cre- ating a policy for sale of units. Many people aren’t able to get their short-term lease income right now (legally or otherwise), so we’re anticipating seeing some units go
Include items like:
Confirmation the resident moving in has spoken to their moving company (if applica- ble) to learn their Physical Dis- tancing policy and how they plan to apply it. This applies to townhouses as well as high- rises. By learning the moving company’s policies, the resi- dent can help reduce the risk of spreading the virus, keeping
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