A status certificate is a document that highlights the essential information about a building and about the unit you are buying.
Your lawyer will likely review the status certificate and highlight problems or items of concern, like:
- Legal actions that are pending against the corporation (which could increase your maintenance fees).
- Special assessments owing or in that are in the works.
- Liens registered against the building or unit of interest.
- Adequate insurance coverage.
- Rules and by-laws (pet owners be mindful of pet restrictions), and
- Specifics about the unit you’re buying (like parking, locker or maintenance fees owing).
To obtain a status certificate, you can order one through the building property management company and it generally costs between $100-$125 and can take up to 10 days to collect.
This document is important to review because it shows you how much money is in the reserve fund and the future repairs that are forecasted. If the building is being managed properly, you’ll see that the maintenance fees will increase modestly, with inflation. If it isn’t being managed properly, you might note that future increases in maintenance fees are significant or a special assessment is planned to offset the shortfall of money.