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Manager Contract Notice of Termination Letter
Topic starter Posted : 22/09/2021 11:20 am
I’m preparing a letter to give notice to our condo management company that we are terminating their contract at the end of the year.
Does anyone know, are there any specific legal requirements that I should take into account in this letter?
In particular, are there any requirements around who signs the letter? Do all board members need to sign, or is only one board member signature required?
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7 Replies
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Posted : 22/09/2021 11:46 am
@MarkH
Have you looked in the existing contract for the company’s requirements? There may be terms relating to how much notice they require and to which you have agreed.
What do your bylaws (or policies and procedures) say about signing officers?
I presume you would need a majority board decision, and the existing signing procedures (usually the President and one board member) may be required on the letter. The decision should be ratified by approving the board minutes, usually at the next meeting, before sending the written termination to the company. However, a discussion to inform the company in advance of the written decision would be courteous.
E&OE. Just my opinion; this is not legal advice. Perhaps you should consult your lawyer. A dispute over the contract could be costly and time‑consuming.
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Topic starter Posted : 22/09/2021 2:18 pm
@calgarymark‑2
Thanks for the info.
The existing contract states ninety (90) days before Dec. 31st, to be sent by “ordinary mail”. I assume registered mail would be sufficient.
Our bylaws state:
“The board shall determine by resolution from time to time, which officer or officers shall sign cheques, drafts, notes and other instruments and documents …”
Our current signing officers I believe are the president and the treasurer (myself). Is there an official way to find out who the signing officers are?
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Posted : 22/09/2021 3:34 pm
@MarkH
If the contract only asks for ‘ordinary mail’, registered mail would not be necessary. If you feel the need for a signature returned to you to assure you the company actually received the mail, then use registered mail. It does cost a little more for the assurance.
To find the signing officers you would need to go back through the board minutes to find the resolution following on from the bylaws’ requirements. If the last resolution specifies the positions of the signing officers, and you are one of them, you only need the people holding the positions to sign the letter. However, if the resolution specifies the officers by name, and those named officers are no longer in the positions, you need a new resolution.
Hoping this helps ??
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Topic starter Posted : 23/09/2021 3:19 pm
@terry‑g
@calgarymark‑2
Thanks, both of you.
The big takeaway for me from your comments is that meeting minutes contain information that has legal ramifications. So it’s important that they are accurate. In fact, I am supposed to be a signing officer, at least that was my recollection from when I took over the position of treasurer. But the meetings [minutes?-AMH] don’t state this. The manager writes our minutes. So that could have been an intentional omission!
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Posted : 23/09/2021 4:54 pm
@jonfklein@gmail.com
@GibsonT
The big takeaway for me from your comments is that meeting minutes contain information that has legal ramifications.
Yes!
So it’s important that they are accurate.
Yes.
In fact, I am supposed to be a signing officer, at least that was my recollection from when I took over the position of treasurer. But the meetings don’t state this.
Bad!
The manager writes our minutes. So that could have been an intentional omission!
More likely just not competent. However, the minutes of the last meeting are supposed to be approved by a majority vote of the board (or the corporation at a general meeting) at the next meeting, attesting that the minutes are an accurate record of the decisions at the earlier meeting.
This post was modified 2 months ago by MarkH
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Posted : 24/09/2021 7:36 am
GibsonT (@terry‑g)
The issues raised above are essentially board governance issues. Since Mark and I started COF, we have always worked on trying to help condo owners improve their governance.
Governance supports management. Poor governance leads to ineffective management. Our valuable condo assets deserve more.
In an upcoming event (October 2021) , we have invited a representative of Alberta Culture to talk about the Board Development Program and how it can help condos. The program is available through YouTube, although condos are not quite the same as non‑profits. (Both Mark and I took the program and served as trainers for non‑profit boards around the province for a couple of years).
