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[Johnston]

Question 1. If someone wishes to have their information held by a strata manager changed, for example, because of a change of owners of a lot (which can be substantiated by a land titles record search result), and does so thru section 22 of the Strata Schemes Management Act (NSW) 2015, may they do so by a ‘written notice’ of their choice, e.g. a letter that provides all the relevant information required by sections 22(2) and 22(3) for a Strata Interest Notice? I have a situation where a strata manager has refused to accept a strata interest notice that is not in “the prescribed form” (their words). They provide a (company-branded) form for the purpose of section 22 and they insist on this being used. I can find no provision in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 or the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 that prescribes a particular form. Moreover, I have searched NSW Fair Trading’s website under ‘Fair Trading forms’ and trawled through 511 results over 52 (computer) screens, and found no form relevant to strata interest notices / section 22. The strata manager has provided no evidence that a strata interest notice must use a ‘prescribed form’. Does anyone know otherwise? (I am happy to be found ignorant.)

Question 2. Is a strata manager right in insisting that a strata interest notice under section 22 of the Strata Schemes Management Act may only be lodged by a solicitor (using the ‘prescribed form’). The Act, at section 22(1) requires a strata interest notice to be given to the owners corporation by “A person who has an interest in a lot that, subject to this Act, gives the person a right to cast a vote either personally … (etc.)”. Wouldn’t that be person be the owner of the lot in fee simple and whose ownership has been registered by NSW Land Registry Services? Does anyone know the legal basis for a strata manager’s noncompliance with section 22(1)?

Thanks for perseverance.

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[Quirky]

You are correct that there is no specified “Notice” that must be used to provide the information listed in section 22(2). However part (3) requires that evidence be provided to back up the claim that the strata roll (which is the point of this) should be amended. Maintaining the building’s strata roll is an important task, and care must be taken to ensure that it is done properly. Therefore many strata managers ask that a form they devise be used, so this is done accurately and legally, as mistakes can have serious consequences. There is a court case that a strata manager messed up updating a strata roll, when a special levy was voted on at a general meeting – leading eventually to the strata manager paying a lot of money out of their own pockets, around $90k if I remember correctly (& I might not).

Now, a random person who emails a strata manager and asks that the roll be changed with information they give in their email, will set off alarms.  When a lot is sold, the conveyancing solicitors usually do this task, and the strata manager will be able to check they are who they say they are, and the conveyancer will know exactly what documents and evidence to provide to back up the update.

So, because of the legal and financial risks arising from this task, it is to your advantage to get the roll updated correctly, and speedily. Keep in mind that if a special levy is struck, or an important decision is taken at a general meeting, and the roll does not reflect the correct ownership situation, there can be a big and expensive problem arising as a result that you will have to deal with.

So you should follow their procedure, and if by doing that, something goes wrong, they they will take the blame rather then you. But no, there’s no Form needed, so you should be able to negotiate some changes directly (eg, if the name in the roll is spelt wrongly, or your address changes).  But a change of ownership of a lot should be done carefully, and the strata manager has to ensure that the information is accurate and properly recorded.

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Johnston

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