Form B Certificates
The Form B is a very important document because it not only outlines what parking stall(s) and storage locker(s) are designated to the unit, it also tells you how much the maintenance fee is and how much money is in the contingency reserve fund (minus any expenditures already approved but not yet taken from the fund). Click this link to download an view a Form-B-Information-Certificate.
Many real estate professionals mistakenly believe that a Form B that is dated within the past 30 or 60 days is current. In fact, a Form B is a snapshot of the current state of affairs in respect of information relating to both the strata lot and the strata corporation. Information such as the amount that the strata lot must pay in strata fees can change if a new budget is approved at an annual general meeting. Thus, if an annual general meeting was held after the Form B was prepared, although the Form B may be less than 30 days old, it may nonetheless be out of date. Similarly, the answer to the question respecting whether the strata corporation has been sued or is subject to arbitration can change in a day.
Attached to the Form B must be the strata corporation’s Rules, the Current Budget, the owner developer’s Rental Disclosure Statement, if any, and the most recent Depreciation Report, if obtained.
Where a strata lot is part of a section, if the section is in compliance with the Strata Property Act the section will have its own strata fees, its own operating and contingency reserve fund, and possibly, its own depreciation report. Thus, a Form B will be required for the section as well as for the strata corporation.
Information Required for a Form B Certificate.
You’ll need to know the parcel identifier (PID) for your property.
A PID is a nine-digit number that uniquely identifies a parcel in the land title register of British Columbia.
The Legal Lot Description is a written description of where exactly the property is. This is based on the survey systems that have been carried out over the past 100 years.
You can find the PID and the Legal Lot Description for your property by doing a search on the BC Assessment website: BCAssessment.ca
You’ll need the Strata Plan and the Strata Lot as outlined in the Legal Lot Description will also be required.