Well, the advent of the new strata laws did make a difference – the number of visitors to this website went up by about 10 percent in the past week.

So welcome all you newbies and welcome back all you oldies.  The next year is going to be interesting, enlightening and, dare I say it, entertaining.

And without further ado, let’s roll up our sleeves and tackle a selection of pre-Christmas crackers from the Flat Chat Forum.

• A balcony balustrade is unsafe by today’s standards. Does the owners corp have to replace it to bring it up to code?  That’s HERE.
• A meeting has been called to pass a contentious and expensive plan just a week from Christmas, when most owners are distracted, on holiday or otherwise engaged. Is that a good enough reason to ask NCAT for an order delaying it?  That’s HERE.
• A strata plan bodge-up back in the day means a neighbour has to trespass on the next property to get to his own. What’s the answer? That’s HERE.
• Office-bearers aren’t allowed to charge for their services to the committee – but what if the payments are mad to the chairman’s company? That’s HERE.
• Defamation, verbal abuse and harassment from a deposed autocratic chair make this Flatchatter’s life unbearable. What are her options?  That’s HERE.
• Dirty water sluices down when upstairs washes their balcony – do you have to wear it (in every sense)? That’s HERE.