What a POTL fee is and what it covers
Freehold in Oshawa comes in two flavours. In the first, the house and its lot are entirely yours with no shared elements, and the City maintains the street; most of the garage-front streets in Pinecrest and Samac are like this. In the second, you hold the house and lot freehold, but the row shares a rear laneway, guest parking, a mailbox pad or a water and sewer connection, and those shared pieces are held by a small common-elements corporation that every owner is tied to. That is what a parcel of tied land means, and it carries a monthly charge, usually a fraction of a full condo fee. The charge pays for plowing and repaving the lane, lighting and insurance on the shared parts, and a reserve for their replacement. Your roof, windows, driveway and yard stay yours outright. Because a POTL is technically a condominium, a status certificate exists; review it. The Millers know which Windfields, Kedron and Taunton rows are POTL and what each fee covers.