Condominium Act section 117 letter template

An owner says the corporation is overreacting. Another says the same conduct has been happening elsewhere for months. By the time a director searches old email threads, the original complaint, photos and delivery confirmation are scattered across three personal inboxes. A well-written Condominium Act section 117 letter helps, but the letter is only one part of the file your board may later need.

Here is a practical starting point for a self-managed Ontario condominium corporation. Adapt it to the facts, your declaration, by-laws and rules. Do not treat section 117 as a general-purpose nuisance provision.

Sample Condominium Act section 117 letter

Date: [date] Delivered to: [unit owner name and delivery address] Re: [unit number] - request for compliance

Dear [owner name],

The corporation has received reports concerning [describe the observed condition or activity clearly and without conclusions]. The reported incident(s) occurred on [date(s), time(s) and location(s)]. The corporation's records currently include [briefly identify photographs, incident reports or other material].

Section 117 of the Condominium Act, 1998 prohibits a person from permitting a condition to exist or carrying on an activity in the condominium corporation if it is likely to damage property or cause injury or illness to an individual. Section 119 requires owners and occupiers to comply with the Act, the declaration, by-laws and rules.

Based on the information presently available, the corporation is concerned that [state the specific connection between the facts and the concern]. The corporation requests that you immediately cease or correct [specific conduct or condition] and confirm in writing by [date] that this has been addressed.

If you believe the information is incomplete or incorrect, please provide your response and any relevant information by [date]. The board will consider it before deciding whether further action is required.

This letter is a request for compliance. It does not determine liability or waive any rights of the corporation under the Condominium Act, 1998, the declaration, by-laws or rules.

Sincerely, [Name] [Position], on behalf of the board of directors [Corporation name]

That wording is deliberately measured. It identifies what was observed, names the statutory concern, asks for a defined corrective step and gives the owner a chance to respond. It does not accuse an owner of wrongdoing as though the matter has already been decided.

When section 117 is the right provision

Section 117 is serious. Its focus is a condition or activity likely to damage property or cause injury or illness. It may be relevant to a dangerous obstruction, an activity creating a credible risk of physical harm, or conduct that creates a real risk of property damage. The facts matter. So does the wording of the Act in force when the letter is sent.

Not every unpleasant, inconvenient or disputed issue belongs in a section 117 letter. Noise, pets, parking, storage, smoking and short-term occupancy concerns often turn on the corporation's rules, declaration or by-laws. In those cases, section 119 may be the more direct statutory reference because it requires compliance with the governing condominium documents.

Using section 117 casually can weaken the board's position. An owner who receives a letter describing ordinary rule enforcement as an injury or damage issue may reasonably ask for the factual basis. The better approach is to state the actual conduct, cite the rule or declaration provision that applies, and use section 117 only where the evidence supports that level of concern.

Build the record before sending the letter

A compliance letter should not be the first place the facts are organised. Before it goes out, the board should be able to answer a few basic questions: What happened? When and where? Who reported it? What did a director personally observe? What governing provision applies? What response is requested?

Keep the original complaint, but separate it from confirmed facts. A complaint that says "there was an unsafe item in the corridor all week" is useful context. A photograph taken at 8.15 pm on a particular date, along with a director's note of where it was taken, is a more precise record. Both may belong in the file, clearly labelled for what they are.

It also helps to preserve the rule, by-law or declaration excerpt relied upon, the board's approval of the letter where appropriate, and the version actually sent. If the owner replies by email, text message or the corporation's portal, save the reply with the notice rather than leaving it in one director's phone.

This is where volunteer boards lose evenings. The issue is rarely drafting a paragraph. It is reconstructing the history six months later, after a secretary has resigned or an owner alleges selective enforcement.

Delivery is part of the evidence

A precise letter sent to the wrong address, or sent without any record of delivery, can create an avoidable argument. Follow the notice provisions in the Act, your by-laws and the corporation's established process. Record the delivery method, address, date, time and the person who sent it.

Where the matter concerns an ongoing risk, document what the corporation did after sending the notice. Did a director reinspect? Did the owner reply? Was the condition corrected? If it was not corrected, did the board meet and consider the next step? A simple chronology is often more persuasive and more useful than a large folder of unlabelled attachments.

Consistency matters here, but it does not mean every situation receives identical treatment. Two complaints may look alike until the facts differ: one may have reliable photographs, another may be uncorroborated; one may involve an immediate safety concern, another may be a first report. Record why the board took the step it did. That is the answer to a selective-enforcement allegation, not a vague assurance that the board treats everyone fairly.

What should happen after the deadline

Do not make a deadline that the board cannot monitor. Put a diary entry against it and decide in advance who checks for a reply. If the owner responds, acknowledge the response and record whether the concern is resolved, requires clarification or goes to the board for a decision.

If there is no response or the issue continues, the next step depends on the facts and the governing documents. The corporation may need a further compliance letter, a board resolution, mediation, legal advice or an application for a compliance remedy under section 134. Do not promise cost recovery in a first letter unless the declaration's indemnification provisions, the facts and the corporation's counsel support it. Ontario condominium corporations cannot levy fines. Where recovery is available, it is generally pursued under the declaration's indemnification provisions, not presented as a penalty.

A dispute can also turn into a records question. Section 55 governs access to condominium records, and a request may expose whether the corporation can produce a coherent compliance file. If a Condominium Authority Tribunal notice arrives, the board will be working to a timetable, not leisurely searching Gmail. The Tribunal's filing stages can involve $200 fees, but the larger cost for a volunteer board is often the time spent rebuilding a missing history.

Make the file transferable between directors

A shared spreadsheet can track dates, but it rarely preserves the source material, letter version, delivery proof, owner response and board decision in one place. That gap becomes obvious when a director leaves or the corporation changes how it is managed.

YardRule is designed for self-managed Ontario corporations with up to 100 units. A board can capture GPS-stamped, time-stamped photos, generate a letter from a template, record delivery, collect an owner response and keep an append-only history of the matter. Escalation reminders at 30, 60 and 90 days help ensure a deadline is not forgotten. The record remains readable and exportable if the corporation stops paying. Pricing is $49 per month for up to 25 units, or $99 per month for up to 100 units, with a 30-day full-product pilot that does not require a credit card.

Software does not decide whether section 117 applies. It does make the board's evidence, decisions and communications easier to find when someone asks for them. The better file usually wins the board back its time.

Before you send the next compliance letter, make sure the facts, the governing provision, the delivery record and the follow-up date all sit together. That is a calmer place for a volunteer board to make its next decision.

This article and any template are general information, not legal advice. Your corporation's declaration and counsel govern.