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Topic
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When the building was built many years ago there was no plan for the common property storage cages. The builder drew lines and stencilled a unit number for each space and most residents used these spaces as assigned over the years.
Recently a dispute has developed between 2 Owners as to who is entitled to a particular space and the EC has ruled in favour of an individual on the basis of a drawn plan by an individual using a few numbers that are not the same as to what the builder marked.
At a recent meeting of the EC it was resolved by them that this plan be accepted as the EC’s basis for decision making.
Over the years different Owners and Committee members have drawn up plans for the common property storage area but to my knowledge an exclusive use by-law has never been established or registered.
The validity of the EC using this plan as the basis for decision making and also for the allocation of the common property storage space is questioned.
Your help would be appreciated!
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Replies
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You have two factors at play here. The first is what is says on your strata plan and in your by-laws (which is nothing, by the sound of it) and the other is the principle of accepted use. In the absence of any clearly and legally esablished division of the space the CTTT is likely to rule in favour of how the space has been divided and used in the past, especially if there has been no previous objection to its division in that way.
If the proposed division of the space is based on numbers painted on the wall that have been ignored for years, I would think it wouldn’t stand up to much scrutiny at,, say, the CTTT.
I would suggest mediation (it’s free via the Community Justice Centre) but the EC should think about employing an experienced strata lawyer or a specialist surveyor to draw up by-laws that will sort this out once and for all.
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The EC can allow the use of common property as it sees fit but can’t apportion exclusive use to any individuals. Only the owners Corp can ‘dispose’ of common property in this way and it has to be done via exclusive use by-laws passed at a general meeting.
The smart thing for you EC to do is either get a proper legal survey done and apportion the spaces via a by-law, or pay for the creation of storage spaces and let them to the owners for a fee which would go back into the admin funds.
That way people who didn’t want spaces wouldn’t be paying for them and those who wanted more space would pay accordingly. Since owners effectively benefit from the money in the admin fund, there’s no loss of value to anyone.
What it can’t be is a land-grab based on a few ancient stencilled numbers that no one has observed until now.
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