Although condominium common property is owned collectively by all the homeowners, it's still private property that they have the right to control, usually through an on-site manager or through Directors of their corporation's Board.
This seems like an obvious point, but in some cases residential condominium developments take a casual attitude towards control over the grounds. No one thinks about who is in charge, so nobody takes charge, and that can lead to neglect or unregulated behaviour on the property. The duty really falls to the Board of Directors to ensure that they personally police the common property, or assign the job to someone who will perform the role and who is on site to do it.
Here are examples that I've bumped into. One day I met a flyer distributor in a hallway of my building, sliding pizza-delivery information under suite doors. (Note the proprietary way I that said "my building") When I told him to stop and to leave the property he challenged my right to order that. My forceful reply was that as Chair of the Board of the owners I had complete authority to run this private-property hallway, and that he'd leave or be facing the police and discussing a charge of trespass. He left.
On another occasion I met people at our building's front door who were buzzing suites to engage in religious discussion. Now I respect others' beliefs, and have actually enjoyed such discussions in the past, but I'm confident that most of my neighbours would rather not be phoned from the front door for this purpose. I politely asked the gentlemen to stop, but they refused. I then expressed regret and politely but firmly asked them to leave the property. When they still refused I had to drop the politeness and make it very clear that this was private property, that I had authority to control the property, and that they were in trespass and subject to prosecution if they did not leave as the owner demanded. They left.
The same right to control condominium common property extends to parking areas. My home building has an on-site loading zone that is often taken up for hours at a time when someone parks there. Other Directors of our little corporation and I have authority to call on the Calgary City Parking Authority, which serves the city's property owners on their private property, as well as regulating municipal streets and parking lots. We ticket and tow as necessary to keep that common-property loading zone free for the purpose that our owners want it to serve. It's our private property, after all, and those elected to represent the property owners have the right and even the duty to administer and control it.
The best option is to have a paid on-site property manager who has a mandate from the Board through an employment contract to manage the entire property. Most condo developments can't afford that, though, and the off-site manager simply isn't around to do the job. Then it falls to Directors, although I find that the larger the building or townhouse development, the less leadership there is in this regard. Owners should tell their Directors and especially the chairperson to take a commanding attitude, ordering ner-do-wells out and off the property, ordering mis-parked cars ticketed or towed, and even telling the manager to find someone to better sweep the front walks and clean up the lobby.
When we live in condominium homes, the common property is OUR property. We need to control it and maintain it. Sometimes that takes a pushy personality to accomplish. Don't let your collective private property muddle through without leadership and control.
Calgary Condominium Directory
