Just when you think it’s safe to dig through the latest posts to the Flat Chat forum, somebody comes up with a question that makes you go WHAT!?!

But then, even when you think you know the answer, out of left field comes a Flatchatter with a different view and, well, sometimes it’s a whole new ball game.

The shocking question is about a woman who not only put a bathroom in her ground-floor unit without permission, she dug a cellar under it too – all without telling a soul.

Now, moving on from the obvious question of, “didn’t anyone notice all the building work?” the new owner is saying as far as he’s concerned this is all common property so the Owners Corp has to repair the bathroom which (predictably) is starting to cause problems.

Now, I thought I knew the answer to this;  in the absence of anything official to the contrary – like a special resolution by-law, for instance –  the Owners Corp has to take responsibility for maintaining and repairing common property.

But then one of our readers found a recent legal opinion that says something slightly but significantly different .  You can read all about that HERE.

And while you are over there at the Forum, check out these Qs in search of As.

• What’s more worrying, the fact that a scheme doesn’t have office-bearer insurance or the feeling that they think they might need it? That’s HERE.
• What happens when your local council doesn’t bother to check that the Owners Corp didn’t approve work requiring a DA? That’s HERE.
• The owner who attended the meeting along with her non-owner proxy – and blew up when she was told they couldn’t both speak – is now saying the vote was illegal because she was asked several times to leave the room and calm down. That’s HERE.
• Do we have to bring old carports up the modern building standards just because they are old? That’s HERE.
• Our new strata committee chairman has just turned a simple water leak repair into a full-blown kitchen renovation. Dodgy or what?  That’s HERE.

By the time you read this, there will be a whole other bunch of amazing and amusing questions on the Flat Chat Forum.  Don’t wait for the round-up – you might miss something good.