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Has anyone had the issue of a strata manager backdating the agency agreement, for example from the 30th july back to 30 june. Can anyone tell me if this legal? Also is it legal to be coerced into signing an agency agreement? I was informed by dept of fair trading that even though a motion to change strata managers owners weren’t under a legal obligation to sign with the chosen manager and could sign with another manager. Is this correct? What is enough time given in regards to a letter being sent to inform owners of meetings? I was told about clear days and that at least 14 days notice should be given, is this correct? Thank you
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murphy – re the Agency Agreement, weren’t you satisfied with the responses that you received on the last occasion that you posed the same question?
An Agency Agreement is with the Owners Corporation, so unless you’re the Secretary of the Executive Committee or an authorised representative of the Owners Corporation, then you as an individual Owner don’t sign the Agency Agreement and so you can’t be “coerced”.
Although I don’t know what question you put to the Department of Fair Trading, as stated in the previous paragraph, the advice that you’ve cited is incorrect.
Providing Owners with a Preliminary Notice of an upcoming General Meeting is optional, but if your question relates to the Agenda Papers, then Owners must receive that a minimum 14 days in advance.
murphy72 – This will be necessarily lengthy, but in response to your statements and questions:
…I am unsure of the legality of a agency agreement that was signed on one day but backdated by nearly 4 months.
Ans: I answered that question in your last post, but to reiterate it depends upon the wording of the Motion that the Owners Corporation voted upon, and what was written on the copy of the proposed Agency Agreement that’s required for inclusion in the Agenda Papers.
Dept of fair trading informed me that even though a motion was carried at an AGM, an agency agreement had not been signed by the owners corp and therefore the option to go with another manager was there.
Ans: True. Once the Motion to appoint the Strata Managing Agent has been passed, they have to provide the Owners Corporation (O/C) with three signed (by them) copies of the document, which once all are signed by a representative of the O/C, the “deal’s done” and one copy is retained by the Secretary of the O/C.
Yes I am an authorised representative, I have General Power of Attorney.
Ans: I think you’re saying that you’re a legal representative of an Owner, when what I was referring to in my last post (#3) was a representative of the O/C. So I’ll reiterate, you are not required to sign the Agency Agreement unless you are the Secretary or the nominated representative of the O/C as shown on the Agency Agreement.
The owners corp was coerced into signing because the manager did not inform owners of their rights or give an opportunity to discuss and decide what powers are to be given.
Ans: if a copy of the proposed Agency Agreement was, as required, provided by the proposed Strata Manager for inclusion with the Agenda Papers, then Owners would have had an adequate period of time (whether that be 7 or 14 days) to read it, and if any didn’t understand the document on the day of the Meeting, then they shouldn’t have voted in favour of its acceptance by the O/C.
The Owners should not have had the meeting on strata premises. It was an Owners Corp meeting not a strata meeting.
Ans: it’s entirely appropriate, and indeed usual in my experience, for General Meetings of the O/C to be held at the Strata Manager’s premises.
The manager is aware of the obligations available for managers but not informing owners of their rights.
Ans: I don’t know what you mean, but it’s the responsibility of Owners to inform themselves, even by asking questions prior to a vote being taken on the day of the General Meeting.
In regards to time, you have just confirmed that the manager did 2 things wrong. 1st did not send notice asking owners what they want on the agenda and 2nd that only 7 days was given when it should have been 14.
Ans: what I said in my last post was the a Preliminary Notice, where Owners are advised about the date/time/venue for a General Meeting and are invited to submit any Motions for inclusion on its Agenda, is optional. The NSW Strata Schemes Management Act states at Schedule 2, Cl 27 that:
“Notice of the meeting must, at least 14 days before the meeting, be served on each owner and each first mortgagee and covenant chargee shown on the strata roll.”
So its at least 14 days before the Meeting, but in contemplating what can be done about a lesser period of notice, you need to consider that even if the Agenda Papers were provided demonstrably late, unless it can be proven that the outcome of a vote, in this case concerning the appointment of the Strata Manager, would have been different had the papers been provided earlier, then neither the O/C or you as the representative of an Owner could in my opinion win a legal argument to have that vote overturned by the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal.
Assuming that the Agency Agreement is currently “legal” or even if it will shortly be, then any Owners who at the time of the vote or since are dissatisfied with the document and/or with the Strata Manager, should read its termination provisions and then lobby for sufficient support to invoke those at another General Meeting.
That’s why I answered “TRUE” to the statement by the Department of Fair Trading; the deal’s not done and your Owners Corporation could, either voluntarily or if petitioned to do so by a minimum 25% of Owners by unit entitlement, convene another General Meeting to re-consider the recent Proposal or to consider one from a different Strata Managing Agent.