Power of Sale

What is a Power of Sale?

A Proprietor’s Strata Plan may file an application to the Commission of Strata Corporations to exercise a Certificate of Power of Sale (giving the Corporation the right to sell the unit) under Section 5A(2) of the RSTA; to recover arrears of contributions (maintenance, insurance, assessment, etc.) that have been outstanding for more than thirty (30) days.

When can a Corporation apply for Power of Sale?

The amount of money outstanding is irrelevant in determining whether the strata corporation may make the application for a Certificate of Power of Sale. The only relevant consideration in respect of a Corporation’s ability to make an application is that the arrears are outstanding for a period in excess of thirty (30) days.

Filing a POS Request

What you will need

Application Form 9

Application fee of $5000 per strata unit

Notice, including letter and statement of accounts

Certified Copy of the Registered Title

Photograph of affixed Notice

Completed Declaration Form

What is the process

Step 1: Obtain Certified Copy of Registered Title

The Corporation must obtain a certified copy of the registered title for the strata lot for which the arrears has accumulated. This should be obtained from the National Land Agency (Office of the Registrar of Titles), located at 93 Hanover Street, Kingston. From the certified copy of the title, the applicant must extract:

name and registered address of EACH proprietor;
name and registered address of EACH mortgagee (bank, building society, credit union, etc.); and
whether any other parties have been lodged on the title (eg. caveats).

Step 2: Prepare the Notice

The Notice to recover arrears in pursuit of a certificate of power of sale has two components: the notice letter and the relevant statement of account.

Paragraph 2 of the Notice Letter template may be omitted if the Corporation does not charge interest on outstanding arrears. Otherwise, any further omission/amendments will nullify the document and lead to the rejection of the application. If the Corporation does charge interest on maintenance, it must submit a copy of the minutes at which the resolution on the interest rate was approved.

The applicant must fill in all information on the template except the interest charges if not applicable. Each owner and each mortgagee is to be sent a Notice to his or her registered address as it appears on the title, as well as any other address provided. The Notice must be signed under a named officer of the executive committee and the seal of the corporation affixed.

The Statement of Accounts must cover the period of arrears that appears in the Notice letter. The statement must begin with a zero balance and must clearly identify the expenses charged.

Step 3: Serve the Notice

The Notice should be served by two methods: by registered mail AND by affixing the Notice (including the Statement of Account) to the front door of the strata lot.

In sending by registered mail, the strata corporation must ensure that the Post Office stamps the registered slip in a manner that clearly shows the date of postage.

In affixing the Notice on the Front Door, a photograph is to be taken at a resolution and distance that clearly shows:

the apartment/shop number;
the content of the letter; and
the person who affixed the Notice to the front door .

The person who affixes the Notice to the front door (the declarant) is to complete the Declaration Form template, stating the name of all of the owners of the strata lot.