Dang! I have friends in Canada and I think of Canadians being so much more gentile and honest than Americans. But then, I seem to be selling a lot of books in Ontario so maybe I’m wrong.
But one of the biggest thefts I’ve read about is a 4.1 million dollar embezzlement from a condo association in that Province. A man who managed 13 condominium operations in Hamilton and Burlington just swiped a little at a time from each one of them over five years. That’s almost a million bucks a year. Not bad work if you can get it.
A founder of the Condo Owners Association used a couple of interesting phrases: “downright ridiculous” and “a disaster zone.” When asked if HOA fraud was rare, her response was, “No, no, no, no, no, no!” And she says laws in the Province to protect condo owners is non-existent.
Heck, she ought to take a look at the U.S.
It’s worse.
(link to man who stole 4.1 million Canadian dollars)
The HOA issues and abuses, and especially in the condo’s in Canada, have been receiving a lot of attention for years. I can recall reading articles and posts about one of their advocacy groups a number of years ago. Now, a google search reveals a the extent of the HOA/Condo issues throughout Canada and a number of”alliances.” or advocacy’s, especially for the condos.
Last December, another HOA homeowner advocate passed along information about a documentary covering the condo issues and problems in Toronto, Canada.
It is called, “The Condo Game”
“The Condo Game: a documentary wake-up call
Toronto has one of the world’s biggest condo markets with hundreds of huge high-rises, but the boom has a darker side for consumers Photo Credit: CBC”
http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2013/11/19/the-condo-game-a-documentary-wake-up-call
See the video on YouTube:
http://youtu.be/KC6cfUtZoEs
Yet, another link states:
“The Condo Game: Facts from the Condo Game – Doc Zone
Toronto has the highest rate of condominium construction in all of North America, greater even than mammoth metropolises like New York and Mexico City.”
http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/features/facts-from-the-condo-game