Letters to the council: keeping and minuting correspondence
Every email to the strata is a record the corporation must keep and an owner may later read. That changes how correspondence should be filed, summarized, and answered.
Correspondence is the record type councils most often lose track of, because it arrives constantly and in every format: letters, emails to the council address, notes under the president's door. Section 35 of the Strata Property Act lists correspondence sent or received by the strata corporation and council among the records that must be kept, and the regulation sets the retention period at two years. Owners and other authorized people can request copies under section 36, at up to 25 cents per page.
Make one mailbox the official one
The practical fix for scattered correspondence is a single official channel: one email address and one mailing address, stated in every set of minutes and on every notice. Mail to a council member's personal inbox still counts as correspondence to the council, so members should forward anything strata-related to the official mailbox the day it arrives. A strata that cannot produce the complaint letter an owner swears they sent two years ago is starting a tribunal case a goal down.
The two year clock, and when to keep longer
Two years is the regulation's minimum for correspondence, shorter than the six years for minutes and books of account. Treat it as a floor, not a schedule. Any letter connected to a dispute, an insurance claim, a bylaw enforcement file, or a major repair is worth keeping alongside that file for as long as the file lives, because the letter is often the evidence that the section 135 steps happened. Our retention guide lists the periods for every record type.
Minute the letter, do not paste it
Correspondence has a standing place on the council agenda, and the minutes should show each item was seen and dealt with: "Correspondence: letter from the owner of SL 14 regarding visitor parking, received June 2. Council will reply confirming the rule and referred signage to the maintenance item." Summarize neutrally, record the disposition, and leave the letter itself in the correspondence file. Copying letters into minutes spreads one person's words, and often their personal details, to every owner and every future buyer, which is how privacy complaints start. The privacy guide draws the line in detail.
Answer like it will be read aloud
Replies from council are correspondence too, kept and producible on request. Write them plainly, state the decision and the bylaw or resolution behind it, and skip the flourishes. An owner who requests a hearing must get one within four weeks under section 34.1, and the exchange of letters around it will frame how reasonable each side looks later. Two year old correspondence has a way of becoming exhibit A; write accordingly.
Let us handle the minutes themselves
StrataMinutes turns your council's rough notes into complete, professionally formatted minutes that meet the requirements of the Strata Property Act, usually within minutes. Every document comes with a compliance checklist.
No payment details needed for your first council meeting.
This page is general information for BC strata councils, not legal advice. Always check your strata's registered bylaws. See sections 35 and 36 of the Strata Property Act, Part 4 and section 4.1 of the Strata Property Regulation on BC Laws.
Related guides
Records Retention
Requesting Records
Minutes and Privacy
Council Hearings