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A couple of narks on the EC refused to hold an EGM to vote on my proposed by-laws, even after advice from the managing agent to do so. I had to wait 6 months for the AGM (at which the by-laws passed unanimously), but forwent rent on the property for the interim.
Can I claim these losses through NCAT or is this a Small Claims Court matter?
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I’d go to small claims court, it is notoriously difficult to get a monetary claim through NCAT, and the first step of going to NCAT (after you’ve applied to dept of fair trading for mediation, as you have to do) is to apply for an Ncat Adjudicator’ order, an Adjudicator does not have the power to awards costs of any type even if a decision was handed down in your favour. You would have to go to the next step of applying for an NCAT Tribinal order and get a favourable decision there before you could make any claim for costs through NCAT.
NCAT doesn’t have that jurisdiction, they don’t award compensation to owners, as distinct from costs which are the costs of running a proceeding (and it is pretty rare for costs to be awarded).
I guess you could issue a letter of demand for a purported debt, but you would have to be pretty sure that you had a basis for it, including that you took all necessary steps to mitigate any loss (such as was the property uninhabitable during the period).
This is not legal advice.