- This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 9 months ago by .
-
Topic
-
We just held the annual meeting for our strata building. When it came time to vote on the future of our strata management, the manager presented only one option — a fresh three-year term with their company.
A few of us asked instead for a short extension of three months so we’d have time to review alternatives. He insisted this wasn’t allowed because the agreement had already lapsed, even though we must have already been in an extension period at that point. Several owners voiced concern about being pushed into another long-term commitment. Eventually he agreed to put forward a one-year term, acting as though he was doing us a special favour because he supposedly wasn’t sure the term could be changed.
Overall, it felt like he was applying pressure to lock us in again. When questioned about whether the previous committee had been notified that the contract was coming up for renewal, he said no notice was required — but I’ve since learned the legislation actually does require advance notice.
I’ve also been told by another committee member that the manager deliberately scheduled the AGM after the contract end date to create urgency and make people worry about having a gap in strata management if we don’t sign on again. As far as I can tell, there was no communication about extending the agreement between the expiry date and the meeting either.
My questions are:Is it legally possible to extend a strata management agreement after it has already run out (under section 50 of the Strata Management Act)?
If the owners approve a new agreement at the AGM but the committee hasn’t signed it yet, does it still count as valid?
If the committee declines to sign, could they be forced to honour or pay out the contract anyway?
I tried calling the Fair Trading helpline, but they weren’t helpful and their complaint timelines are very long right now. Hoping someone has experience or knowledge with this kind of situation.
-
Replies
-
There should be a Management agreement. The one we have is the standard REINSW agreement, and what you ahave for the term of the agreement depends on which of the 5 options. Our previous one was for 3 years and may continue for a further 3 years after that. We would sign a new agreement at each AGM. We eventually terminated the agreement during the time of the agreement without any penalty. There were so many cases of bad management that he was in breach of the agreement anyway, so he wouldn’t have wanted to take action.
Assuming that most owners want to change, what I would do is get a copy of the agreement. Find a strata manager that you want, and ask them what options you have. A good one will set up an EGM with the right motions and notify the owners, and change will quickly occur.
The one we have is the standard REINSW agreement,
SCA-NSW, surely?
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
SCA-NSW, surely?
No, is labelled with REINSW and has an October 2023 Copyright statement. On reading it gain I realised that the owners are the Principals and we can terminate with 3 months notice after the initial 3 year period. I can scan it, remove our strata details, and send it to you.
Thanks for the offer. Might be worth a look. But in any case it will be well out of date. Most of the strata nasties have been taken out of the SCA contracts as of this year, so it is probably full of strata law holes as is.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.