Strata insurance just got a lot smarter
It’s a staple joke in just about every cop show – don’t shoot him … it’s too much paperwork. We hate filling in forms, don’t we? And as for the…
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Roundup: When the developer just doesn’t get it
Buying an apartment is possibly the only commercial transaction in our lives where someone sells you something – usually for a lot of money – but thinks they still own it.…
Strata schemes accused of using ‘slave’ cleaners
It started with a simple question to Flat Chat: Who is ultimately responsible for the cleaning contracts in apartment blocks? The answer revealed that thousands of strata schemes across…
Roundup: How bad does your strata manager have to be?
Did you know there is not a single instance (that we know of) of a strata manager losing their licence for being really bad at their job? Sure there have…
Proxy pain as non-owner rules unit block
It’s a familiar scenario: someone gets on your strata committees and starts ruling the place on the highly dubious basis of whatever they want is what’s best for everyone. That…
Roundup: Nitpickers set sights on strata laws
Every so often on Flat Chat, our readers get a bit nit-picky and we don’t get so many big sexy issues like ”my neighbour’s dog ate my cat” or ”can…
Ghost tenants make a myth of rental reform
Resident owners paranoid about tenants taking over strata schemes don’t need to go to the barricades just yet. There’s a fairly massive hole in the government’s laudable plans to give tenants…
Roundup: Non-owner neighbour rules block
There’s a late arrival on the Flat Chat Forum this week and it’s a cracker. A committee member who isn’t even an owner and lives in the block next door…
Pet restrictions up the garden path
With slightly pet-friendlier by-laws to be included in the new strata legislation, some animal-free apartment blocks are worried that they are about to be over-run by schnoodles, spoodles and labradoodles.…
Forum roundup: Parking, pets and puffing
It seems the new strata laws can’t come soon enough for the Flat Chat faithful. Our readers have been champing at the bit this week, wanting to know when the…
Free course – become a strata guru
Ever thought you could do a better job than your strata manager? One way to find out what it takes could be to take the free course Sydney TAFE is offering …
Strata voting goes hi-tech – and old school – in new regs
Flat Chat with Jimmy Thomson A significant lurch towards strata democracy was revealed last week with proposed regulations allowing participation in meetings by people who need not be in the…