Condo Status Certificate
The condo status certificate is one of the most important pieces of documentation when it comes to the health and information pertaining to a condo building. Reviewing a condo status certificate while purchasing a Square One condo allows you to take a look at the inner workings and details of the condo corporation, management and your individual unit of choice. Failing to review the condo status certificate can be extremely detrimental and could cause unforeseen problems down the road.
The condo status certificate is a lengthy document that details all the various items one would be interested with in regards to the condominium. This ranges from the pet policy, the amount of money in the reserve fund, any special assessments against the corporation, plans for maintenance fee increases, etc. The status certificate is also specific to the unit itself, detailing whether you own a parking space or if it’s simply for exclusive use, what locker is associated with the unit and other various points. As you can tell it is a crucial piece of information when it comes to evaluating the overall standing of the building and your unit of choice. Without the condo status certificate you are basically buying blind.
Typically when submitting an offer for a condominium, a clause is inserted within the offer making it conditional upon the review of the status certificate. What this means is that even after the offer has been accepted and the deposit submitted, the seller will provide the status certificate for you and your lawyer to review. If there are no warning flags then the deal can complete and you are the proud new owner of a condominium. If there are detrimental issues like a large upcoming maintenance fee increase or substantial repair-work that cannot be covered by the current funds, among other thing, then the deal can be cancelled and everyone walks away. Without checking the condo status certificate, you have no way of knowing what condition the building is in from a financial and managerial standpoint. Some individuals will state that they can get this information through other sources but the status certificate pertains to each specific unit as well, giving you the information if there are any particular problems with that property of choice.
So why doesn’t everyone review the condo status certificate? It’s the same reason some people don;t bother with a home inspection – it costs money. Typically to obtain the status certificate it will cost around $100 (one-hundred-dollars). This is a small price to pay for the peace of mind you get and the potentially catastrophic financial obligations you may have to cover in the future. Remember, when you purchase a condominium you become a “shareholder” of the condo corporation. This means that any large scale repairs, lawsuits, or other problems that require large quantities of capital will be funded by the residents proportionally. Knowing ahead of time if such issues exist is a logical way to avoid future problems.
A condo status certificate is provided through the management company within a maximum of 10 (ten) days of the request date. There are third party providers like CONDOCafé who speed up the process by making it paperless (through a digital copy). In some cases, especially when time is of the essence for selling your property, it would be wise to order the status certificate upon listing and keep it on hand. This can avoid the ten day delay sometimes encountered by going through the condominium management.
Overall the condo status certificate is quite a simple premise. A succinct summary of everything you need to know about the condo and building. Think of it like a home inspection for the condominium. When making such a large scale investment ranging in the hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, taking some time to review the condo status certificate is the sensible thing to do. For further questions regarding status certificates or other topics, contact us.
