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We have a similar system in NSW. But a proper strata report is something else entirely and can be a deep dive into the minutes, agendas and decisions of the committee, as well as a look at correspondence and finances.
Thanks for the clarification, I now understand where you and Kaindub are coming from. I guess I view the vendor disclosures and the strata reports (ours in the above example totalled something like 50+ pages when the full 10 year maintenance plan was included) as ample for most buyers, but a more forensic report would be helpful for the buyer and perhaps demonstrate the sound or otherwise governance in place. That kind of report is something that current owners would find very insightful too, so perhaps something that could be a part of an annual/biennial ‘strata audit’ of sorts (if such a requirement existed, it would be a great report I think but could discourage committee members from signing up). How that report would clearly be able to identify that the committee was ruled by a dominant chair or that decisions were made to largely favour of a few vested interests and that the report writers would be able to write that as being the case, I can’t quite see though.
Thanks too for your work in putting together this site, Jimmy. It is a great resource for the strata community.
I see many properties for sale which have a strata report supplied by the owner. The question I pose is, if you were the vendor, would you commission a report that paints an adverse picture of that strata?.
Hi Kaindub, thanks for your reply. I appreciate all your contributions to this site! I think we have a different understanding of the strata report. In Vic, the report completed by the OC manager includes all lot-specific things like levies owing and the like, issues specific to the lot or affecting the lot, special levies struck, anticipated future levies based on the current financial condition, the most recent minutes from the OC and details specific questions and answers which any reasonable buyer might want to know before committing to purchase (e.g. our most recent sale included a transparent but unhelpful (for us) statement from the OC manager that there was a cladding issue on site – albeit it did not affect our unit). The information supplied also includes the full maintenance plan for the site which looks at all the nooks and crannies of the complex. So the vendor pays for this information once and it is available to all potential buyers at no cost as part of the vendor statement. I think this is fair, reasonable and transparent for all. There is no need for any buyer to pay for such a report unless they are under contract and need an updated financial position prior to settlement.
In Vic we need to provide our own search as part of our vendor statement which is provided to buyers upon request. The cost is around $150-250 depending on the number of OCs involved, cost is borne by the vendor and payable to the strata manager. The format is standard and the contents are completed by the strata manager. It generally takes the strata manager 2 weeks to complete, with a quicker turnaround time anywhere up to doubling the cost.
Only before settlement does the buyer purchase a revised statement to ensure that adjustments are correct. So there are generally up to 2 statements per transaction in Vic – one of the vendor, the other of the buyer.
Other parts of the vendor statement include extracts from Land Victoria records that include among other things lot surveys and lot liability tables, these available to all prospective buyers who ask at no cost as they are included in the vendor statement.
I cannot imagine paying for my own strata statement as a prospective buyer. It seems very inefficient, setting aside the cost aspect which would be prohibitive.
maybe it is something I need to look into or maybe there’s some specific bike insurance I can look into as that’s the main item I’m worried about.
Contents insurance on its own isn’t too expensive. Just make sure the policy covers a bike (make sure to list it) and ensure your policy covers the storage cage that is in the basement, in writing from the insurer. Then you should be good to go. Note if you list something, then that deducts from your sum insured for everything else. So if your sum insured is $30,000 and your bike is $1,000, and you list your bike, then the bike is covered for $1,000 and the rest of your contents is covered for $29,000, less the excess. Just something to be mindful of. Best of luck!
(Victoria) My bike was stolen from my secure basement car park many years ago. It was secured with a rack dynabolted, and a U lock to the rack. But the thief got around that with a crowbar. Cameras recorded footage, but the thief wasn’t found. Thieves can break into anything.
I have a tip though – itemise the most valuable contents in the cage on your contents insurance policy. I had my bike listed as a specified item on my insurance policy. Nevertheless, my contents insurer who shall remain nameless kicked up a big stink. I had police reports, camera footage, emails from my strata manager. Nevertheless they spent four months fighting me, saying first that the bike was on common property (which it wasn’t – my car park was on title) and then the strata manager wrote emails in support of me to the insurer, backing up my claim that it was on private property, I paid rates on that land, yada yada. Then the insurer decided to try a different tack, claiming that the bike was stored away from my home. That failed, as I said the land was rateable and I owned it. Then a new approach – the underwriting department claimed there was no intention to cover a basement car park. I just held my ground, said they took my premium and also allowed me to list the bike as a specified item. And I said that what they intended was irrelevant if it wasn’t in the policy documents. They gave up and then paid the claim. Like they should have. The only reason they paid the claim in the end, so they said, was that the bike was listed on the policy. My lesson from this was I now list my valuables, especially those I think the insurer may push back on if a claim needed to be made.
(reply from Victoria). Sorry this is a bit of a story but it is relevant I think to your valid points on transparency. Please bear with me.
I was a member of my OC committee, one of seven or so. At my AGM in August 2020, in the middle of Melbourne’s ‘snap’ three month lockdown (well, one of them anyway), I was quietly sitting in my living room during the zoom AGM with the other OC members and the strata manager. Then during the meeting, the then chair announced he was stepping down and he nominated me as his replacement. No forewarning of this. Then the deputy chair and other members piped up in support. I said a very tentative…. um ok then…
Next day, I got an email from the strata manager ‘congratulating’ me on my election to chair and then I got maybe 10 attachments to an email detailing possible cladding works of the order of up to $400K that I had never been made aware of on the committee, and correspondence over some time that the chair and the strata manager had had on this issue and on legal risks etc. Email after email. As a committee member for the past year, I was unaware of any of this. Then as new chair, I was being asked by the strata manager to find a lawyer to represent the OC and find a building inspector to commission survey works of the site to examine the extent of the problem. I didn’t know where to start (where is my yellow pages??). I resigned shortly thereafter, it just become too stressful. I had my day job… and to spring this on me was a bit of a shock.
What this is trying to say in a roundabout way is that sometimes not even members of the committee are aware of what is going on, and that there may be a lot of things happening behind the scenes that the chair and strata manager are working on (perhaps with the committee) to get their ducks in a row. It could be that the other owner got wind of it, but it may not be a fait accompli as yet. They may not want to give incomplete information to owners – as when they do, they then probably need to certify it in writing if asked by a vendor or buyer (not sure if NSW have the same OC certificates as Victoria).
A simple solution might be a friendly phone call to the strata manager and see what’s up. They may not want things in writing, but you might be able to get some clarity that way on the phone. Just a thought. Best of luck with getting some answers.
(reply from Victoria) Check the rules, there should be something in there about changing the appearance of a property from the outside, or explicitly about signs? But taking a step back, I don’t see what the issue is or that the committee can unreasonably deny signage even if put to them retrospectively. One day you too may want to sell or lease your own property.
One of my OCs I used to belong to had a pragmatic approach (in a complex of 46):
- max of two signs erected at any one time
- max sign size of 6 x 4 ft (absolutely no bigger signs)
- max of five weeks for any sign to allow for a typical auction campaign
- designated spot near the mailboxes for all signs
- no generic ‘for lease’ or ‘for sale’ signs which can be ugly – they needed to be genuine with photos/descriptions etc.
- first in, best dressed (so no arguments)
- permission must be sought by the owner or agent prior to sign going up – SM delegated authority by the OC, the OC don’t hear about anything except for any approvals outside of the points above
It worked for us.
(in Victoria) for the fear of repercussions, I always included the OC rules with the docs supplied to the agent and ensured a clause in the agreement read that the tenant had been supplied a copy of the OC rules and agrees to them. The clause has served me well on a number of occasions when my final tenant ran amok with the OC time and time again. Gave my agent good purchase on an argument to get the tenant issued with warnings.
(Reply from Victoria) G’day. My old OC used to permit people to install over-bonnet sheds in their car park in the basement of the complex upon application to the OC. That involved some drilling into common concrete in between the car parks and also did change the look as each owner had their own shed that was not a consistent model or colour. That was all approved, the question just needed to be put to the committee with plans for what it might look like, ensuring it would not disturb the neighbours, and ensuring the installer had insurance etc. Making sure the boxes were ticked.
But not sure if NSW have different rules about these kinds of things.
Is it as simple as asking the SM (and the OC) for their view?
(Victoria) I agree with @kaindub. My old complex was mixed use shared with restaurants, bars and a tattoo parlour. The broker could only get one insurer to quote and even then we had to agree to exclude certain events from the insurance for them to renew. They would also not allow us to increase the insured value, so we potentially were underinsured for full replacement. It was increasingly harder and harder to get enough insurance each year.
In my humble view, it’s ultimately up to the owner who they nominate to represent their interests on the OC. Technicalities aside, I don’t quite see what the fuss is about. You may not agree with the points of view, but they likewise may not agree with you either. Each to their own. In Vic, we can have non-owners on the committee representing lot owners as their nominee, for instance due to their greater expertise or interest in serving on the committee. My committee greatly benefitted from a member who was a professional builder that could read a contract like a hawk – he was a non-owner.
That is great to hear – you did it all without chocolate muffins too! Keep plugging away!
I think it’s risky for the car park owner. We had rules around the use of car ports. During lockdowns, residents were using their car ports as venues for makeshift illegal gatherings. The rule was simple – the car port could only be used to store a motor vehicle, bicycle or the like, not be a venue for a party. The reason I bring this up is to ponder how the OC might be able to effectively police the use of a car space that is let/sublet/licensed to a third party who may not even live on premises? Would the OC need the contact details of the car park lessee? Or would the owner of the lot be responsible for how the car park space is used and for any damage caused to common property like driveway and gates etc.? What if the lessee damaged a gate mechanism that cost $1000 to repair – who would be responsible? As far as the OC is concerned, there is no lessee (unless I am missing something). Sorry if this is unhelpful.
I totally empathise with you newb – and this was from someone who had six years of strata under their belt to move into a complex multi-strata development with issues up to its eyeballs. I appreciate and admire your enthusiasm and conscientiousness.
I agree though with Jimmy and others. Unfortunately, I too ruffled feathers through letter writing about finances, insurance and the upkeep of common property which got me nowhere fast. There were $100K+ in overdue levies that were not being followed up by the strata manager. Illicit drug transactions on common property. All sorts of things.
What it took was some patience. Firstly, once I realised I had gone in guns blazing, I sat back and kept myself to myself. These things have a habit of settling down if you go silent for a while, a few months at least. You have ruffled feathers but maybe, just maybe, some on the committee have heard your messages and some of it will sink in over time. Say hello to them as you see them, make small talk, be interested in their dogs, whatever it takes. Just become known as someone constructive who is not out to make trouble. Help them realise that you are someone they want on the committee.
Once you have established some rep, then you can begin to dial things up in a respectful manner. Baby steps at first. Just pick one or two issues and build up your knowledge, make some phone calls yourself to get quotes, go out take pictures of other complexes as might help (I did this when looking at new security systems and signage). No more letter writing or emails or badgering the committee over everything. For the finances, the best way I found to address it was to ask politely at the AGM for a financial auditor to review the accounts (as often as recommended by your SM). It is a pretty weak control to be honest, but it could cause your committee and SM to reflect on their actions. It is a subtle way to bring finances into the fore.
Then you can also volunteer to help the committee with various things that take almost zero effort. For example, if a tradesperson is coming early one morning, you could volunteer to let them into the building or show them where work is required. You become someone they can trust and rely upon. Then over time catalogue issues in the place, things you have found in your travels, and raise them informally with some suggestions. Form a bit of a working group to work through the list and prioritise. It may be some things are on a maintenance plan eventually. But other things might be small potatoes that you can sort out yourselves.
In short, I wish you the very best of luck. Subtlety is key. Once you make your inroads, then you can start to respectfully disrupt things. You will then be seen as a trusted, reliable and constructive community member.
I had a similar issue in my place in VIC. It was very similar to Moo102’s experience from my committee too – a reluctance to take responsibility unless evidence showed it was an OC issue.
Over the course of five years, a mysterious ingress would take place in colder months only and always around the entry walls inside my apartment. Investigations by the OC plumber were inconclusive during the intervening years and I was forced to go 50/50 in costs a few times with the OC even though the problem was unsolved. Fast-forward to the fifth year and I proverbially lost it with the Strata Manager and said we needed to solve the problem, no more 50/50. By that stage the common area walls in the outside stairwell above our property were wet to the touch. Finally we had good service from the OC plumber (a different plumber who was totally onto it and sympathetic with our issue) and he forced entry into the apartment above (they were obstructing entry to OC plumbers for years) and found their shower wall was buckling and filled with water. He shut their water down at the mains and then proceeded next day to take to their bathroom with a pick axe or the like, water rushed out like a torrent. It was their showerhead that had a break in the pipe join – that was never fixed by them. He fixed it and they were billed thousands of dollars of OC plumber time to essentially replumb their shower and rebuild their bathroom walls.
Long story short, zero compo from the horrible owner above, zero compo from the OC, but we were free from water ingress from that point on. Cut our losses and moved on, it’s easier than fighting an uncooperative owner and OC/SM for dollars if it means that the problem is solved and our sanity can be restored.
I hope this experience helps you out, Moo102 – unidentified water ingress is one of the worst things in strata!