[Felix]

I was hoping to make it clear whether or not the SM should provide a hard copy or e-mail to the Sec. of the EC to keep the strata roll as stated in the Strata Living booklet of Fair Trading.

If there is not much cooperation from the SM in informing the Sec. regarding changes of tenants and real estate agents managing the properties, then how is the Sec. able to keep an up to date strata roll?

Every one knows when a sale takes place but even then the name and address of the new Owners contacts are sometimes not passed on to the Sec.

[Felix]

i have read Suzie’s comments with interest but want to get something straight.

Does our SM have to provide me with a copy of the strata roll if i ask for it ?

I ask this because he has refused to provide me with a copy when I asked for it when i was the Sec. of the EC.  I am not the Sec. of the EC now.

He said it would have to be approved by the OC at an AGM.

I might add that I already had a previous copy dated about 2 years before.

Following his not providing me with the Strata Roll, he proceeded to provide one to the Sec. a short time later and then one to the Chair.

What would you suggest I do?

I must add that this SM polarises as they see fit!

[Felix]

When Jimmy says one would have to go to another court first to gain a favourable status, what does he mean?

There is a situation in our strata where an occupant has been an occupier for 40 years with their spouse,  and has served on the EC for more than half that time, and an officer of the EC for most of that time.

The ownership of the apartment is in the spouse’s name.

The occupant would like to make an application to the CTTT for a compulsory strata manager without other Owners being involved, including the spouse.

The occupant is having difficulty trying to understand how a tenant can make an application to the CTTT, who may have been a tenant for a very short time, while it doesn’t appear that the occupant , with their long history of the Strata, cannot.

Can some one please advise on this and can the occupant do it another way?

[Felix]

The Strata in question is only slightly larger than yours and while the record keeping agreement is interesting it doesn’t overcome the dysfunctional EC making decisions that are contrary to the Strata Act.

Jimmy suggests that a small independent operator may be the best bet and maybe that’s the way to go.  We have gone that way in the past and we’ve found that the service from the small operator suited us better than a large firm.

If the application is made to the CTTT by one owner and the CTTT makes their decision, is that decision final or does it have to be approved by the OC ?

[Felix]

Good on you Struggler and Scotlandx in regard to Basil’s question about cleaning the front door to their unit.

 

In our building you can tell almost immediately how the door will be maintained.

If black marks are on it, it is usually the result of a resident pushing the door open with their foot.

Other problems on scratching the door can occur from a large set of keys.

It is not the cleaners responsibility to clean the doors unless it’s part of his contract and if he was asked nicely, he might just clean it!.

What ever happens to Common Sense!

I

[Felix]

Thanks Jimmy:

What about the EC using a plan as the basis for decision making & allocation?

[Felix]

Thanks Jimmy

What do you do if they want to be part of the meetings through Skype

[Felix]

Thanks Whale.  They are my thoughts exactly!

Which leads to another issue regarding the Who’s Responsibility booklet.

As we note it states that smoke detectors are the responsibility of the Owner. I would like to point out that in my experience in the case of renters most of them do not report faults for fear that their rent might go up.  I’m not having a go at renters as some Owners do the same thing.

 

What i’m trying to get across here is that the smoke detector can be inoperative for a year and not doing what it’s supposed to do for the safety of residents and the fault won’t be picked up until the next fire inspection.

If the problem was reported to the Managing Agent or EC when the fault happened, then it could be repaired promptly.  

The EC and OC cannot have a problem fixed if they don’t know about the problem!  Therefor I feel that more security and safety would be maintained if the responsibility became the onus of the OC.  Should it be proven that the cause of the problem was caused by the resident, then perhaps they can be billed for the repair.  We’re not talking about very much money.

We know about a few recent apartment fires, most notably Bankstown and we don’t want that happening to us.

[Felix]

I appreciate your comments FlatChatFan but wanted to point out that this issue is with the strata managing agent.

As we well know the service  we receive comes from the individual manager looking after our scheme and many times the principals of the firm do not know what’s going on with this service.  Even if they have been told of some issues I believe that they hope they will just go away but they would never admit this.

Then , of course, there are some OWNERS who just think that that manager is fantastic.  i have to say that most of those Owners don’t seem to know very much about Strata in my opinion.

So what are you going to do?

[Felix]

Felix is referring to the strata managing agent and could provide a list of 6-8 issues involving the strata managing agent even as we speak.

I don’t understand why you are assuming there is a personality clash with another EC member when the topic is with the strata managing agent.  

[Felix]

@FlatChatFan said:
Felix, your post is very much like someone else who complains of similar problems.

My suggestion is to write a formal letter to the Executive Committee and send to the Secretary of the Executive Committee with a copy to the Strata Manager.

You could do it the other way around, but make sure your letters lists in dot points the information you want to give, or the questions you want to ask the Executive Committee. 

It is important it is a proper letter, not an email or a verbal request.

It is not much use approaching one EC member, seeing as the whole EC needs to consider any proposals.  It appears there are some personality problems between you and at least one EC member.

The EC should set a time to meet and discuss the requests in your letter, and also might circulate a request to all the Owners to find out if there are any other Agenda items at the same meeting.  You could attend the meeting but you are not allowed to speak to your Agenda item/question unless asked. 

Any ‘victimisation’ or abuse should also be raised in your letter and request all the members of the EC to ensure it is stopped.  I think it is very important you stay calm, and do not retaliate.

@That Crazy Swede said:
I assume we are assuming that when Felix says managing agent he means Strata Manager. That right FlatChatFan?

[Author]

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