Condominium self-governance? Issues, external interests, and the limits of statutory reform

Condominiums are assumed in enabling statutes, related regulations, and statutory reforms to resemble ‘self-governing communities’ of owners whom collectively undertake numerous governance responsibilities to manage and sustain their buildings and living arrangements. Drawing from intensive interviews with condo owners and condo industry representatives in Ontario and New York State and a large qualitative survey of condo owners from Ontario, we outline five overlapping and longstanding governance issues that challenge the notion of self-governance and reveal it to be more illusion than reality. This disjuncture stems not only from common dilemmas of collective governance, but also from the growing influence of external and mostly commercial interests in condominiums broadly consistent with neo-liberalization. We also consider more recent reform attempts by Ontario and New York State and discuss statutory limitations in addressing these issues. We express doubt that condo statutory reform alone can successfully remedy the governance problems facing condo housing and proffer remedies including moving beyond the perception of condominiums as autonomous, self-governing realms.