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Hi community,
I moved into a strata of 2 – one rental (with absent owner) and one owner living on site. The previous onsite owner used to take care of the common property/gardens/cleaning etc and there were no gardeners employed. As a result trees are overgrown and taking over. I’ve taken care of the common area for almost 18mths and now hurt my back. I’d like to seek compensation for the equivalent time and cost invested in maintaining the property. Do I need a by-law or should the strata manager reimburse me if I have the invoices of expenses and know the cost of the gardener? Thanks for the heads up.
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Before you did any work for the strata, did you seek approval in writing from the strata committee or managing agent for payment? Was an hourly rate mentioned? Were the number of hours you expected to work listed?
You could present an invoice to your “committee”, politely explain why and see if they pay it. If they refuse, put a motion to your next meeting and if they still refuse, seek mediation at Fair Trading.
Section 9 (3)(c) of the Act says the owners corporation has responsibility for “maintaining and repairing the common property of the strata scheme.” That might be your initial grounds for mediation.
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Nhut, you’re toast. No pre-agreement, no obligation to pay you. I’ve read adjudicators orders saying just this. Arrangements and payments need be discussed beforehand, but that said you might still present them a list of what you’ve done and your fair price, and get a professional quote to compare the difference which should be plenty (as they have gear and insurances etc that you don’t). I know it seems just but the committee really do need things done in the right order as they have limited scope to spend money on behalf of all owners. I got busy myself doing a shopping list of things my mob never thought needed doing then one day I presented details and bills. I’d saved them thousands of dollars and helped the place look less bedraggled then presented a detailed bill seeking reimbursement. Unbelievably they short paid it and then claimed my doing so was damaging common property! Unreal. I thought to undo the work where I could but thought my own efforts addressed things they wouldn’t do so I just moved on. Perhaps you might too.
Perhaps you could ask for reimbursement for any monetary outlays you have made to obtain materials for the work carried out?