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[deliria1]

Hi,

 

Just wondering if I need to seek permission from the owners corporation to remove paint from the concrete ceiling in our apartment? I would like to return the ceiling to its raw state.

There is nothing that states the ceiling needs to be painted, in fact the developer was meant to leave it unpainted for us (as per a condition in the contract) – but the morons went ahead and painted it anyway!

The builders are refusing to remove the paint prior to settlement (even though they are legally obliged to) and have offered a $5000 ‘contribution’ (it will cost more than this) towards us removing the paint after settlement. 

Here is the rub however, they have told us that in order to do it after settlement we would need to seek permission from the owners corporation.

Now I don’t know how many apartments the developer owns, but i know there are a handful that haven’t been sold – and there are a bunch being leased through the one agent (so not sure if this is stock the developer has held on to).

Anyway, we feel it is unlikely that we will get permission from the owners corporation.

Can anyone offer some advice?

Thanks 

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[Jimmy-T]

Going back to the start with this, Deliria, why do you assume the Owners Corp will refuse permission?  The developer can have no more than 49 percent of the votes at the very most – but it would seem churlish in the extreme of them to vote against you.

Just another point – has the first AGM been held and is there an executive committee and strata manager in place?

Given that you are locked into this purchase, they are the people with whom you should be negotiating.

Also, I don’t even see how removing paint is a common property issue.  They’d be quick enough to tell you paint is your problem if the shoe were on the other foot.

Is your lawyer a strata specialist or just a regular conveyancing solicitor?  If it’s the latter, it would be worth making a call to a strata lawyer who will be able to give you a very clear idea bout your options once you settle.  Have a look on our sponsors page or links page for some ideas.

Finally, regarding my cavalier comment about ‘walking away’ – you are still in a postion where you can make this a positive  experience for you.  It will require a shift in thinking from the understandably combative approach you are taking now, but for the sake of your future peace of mind, you need the developer (and more importantly Owners Corp, Executive Committee and Strata Manager) to be your friends, not your enemies.

However hard that may be to swallow, it will make all the difference for the future – trust me, I’ve been there, done that and paid the price for getting it wrong.

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[FlatChatFan]

Deliria, you have been given some very good advice, especially from Jimmy, Whale and Struggler.

Back to the beginning, if you have not ‘Settled’, the place is not yours, even if you paid for tiles, etc. I think you should check with one of the specialised legal firms as surely there is some sort of a time limit that a potential purchaser is able to stall Settlement.  You may find you have been Gazumped and someone else is living in the place you think is yours.

That happened to my daughter who bought ‘off the plan’.  The builder kept delaying the Settlement until they drove past and noticed someone else was living in the place.

I almost purchased a place that was going to charge a Special Levy of $100,000 for each of the 66 owners (on top of what they had already paid out in massive legal fees), because of arguments about building defects. 

I found out when the Strata Search was done, before a building inspection.  The case was before the Supreme Court because the insurance company only wanted to pay a fraction of the cost to repair the place. Two years later nothing has been done. 

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[Austman]

@FlatChatFan said:
Deliria, you have been given some very good advice, especially from Jimmy, Whale and Struggler

But the original question was can the paint on an interior ceiling be removed (or changed) without OC permission.  And in short, the answer is yes it can.  It would have to be the most extraordinary situation for this not to be the case.

The developers are totally bluffing, as many who don’t understand OC laws (sadly) tend to do.

Make a phone call to a specialist lawyer.  Please.

The other matter about if the developers will act as they say after settlement.  Well, I’ve been hurt a few times on this and I would not trust them.  Developers tend to just walk away after settlement – they just stop corresponding and cancel their mobile numbers etc.  So have such matters legally agreed on before settlement. 

But that is not really the question you asked.  To which the answer is:

You can interiorly decorate as you like without OC permission.

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[deliria1]

Thanks Everyone, for all your responses. It is much appreciated.

I will keep you posted on the outcome.

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