Never buy a condo without seeing one.

While a Status Certificate sounds like a single piece of paper, it is in fact a collection of documents provided by a condo corp to a prospective buyer of a resale condo in that condominium. This collection of docs provides a financial and legal “snapshot” of the condo and unit at the date that it was issued. Typically, if the building is managed by a Property Management corp, the Certificate is prepared by the PM. IF requested by a prospective buyer, the Certificate must be provided within 10 days. The Condominium Act allows for a $100 fee to be charged for preparing/delivering the Status Certificate.

The Condominium Act dictates what info needs to be inside:

1. 1. The names and addresses of all Directors and Officers of the condo corp;
   2. Any information about common area expenses for the unit in question;
   3. Any special assessments that have been levied by the condo board;
   4. The contract for the Property Management company;
   5. Details of all insurance;
   6. Complete minutes of the last general meeting;
   7. Copies of the condo declaration, its by-laws and any rules;
   8. The current annual budget for the corp;
   9. A copy of the most recent Reserve Fund study, which must state the amount in the reserve fund within 90 days of the certificate date, and any plans to increase the size of the reserve fund.

The certificate should also say if there are any judgments outstanding against the condo corp or if it is currently party to litigation.

It will also attest whether the current unit owner is in arrears paying their monthly common expenses. Sellers will almost always acquire one of these in the course of listing their condo. If they haven’t, it may be a warning sign to a buyer.