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Is it legal NOT to hold an AGM every year? If it is not legal, what can I do to call for one?
The law demands an AGM every financial year which means you could go up to almost two years without having one if, for instance, the last one was held in July 2020 (FY 20-21) and the next one is delayed until June 2022 (FY 21-22).
What can I do to get a copy of the executed loan agreement so I can determine how long will I be paying the special levy for?
This is a bit confusing. Normally strata schemes chose between either having a special levy or getting a loan. If you are talking about an increased levy to cover repayments of the loan, then that will be revealed by the terms of the loan agreement and your share of the repayments, as determined by tour unit entitlements.
Call Fair Trading (13 32 20) on failure to hold AGMs and regarding the strata manager refusing to let you see the details of the loan. Or apply for mediation at Fair Trading, citing Section 232(2) of the Act – failure to fulfil a function
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If you’ve adopted the common property memorandum, it makes it quite clear paint is the responsibility of the owner. (The common property memorandum is available on the fair trading website)
The Memorandum no longer addresses the issue of damage to paintwork caused by repairs to common property. I have always understood that damage caused while effecting repairs were the responsibility of the owners corporation, and that includes paintwork.
It makes no sense to me that an individual owner should have to pay to repaint their ceiling when the damage was caused by other parties in circumstances beyond their control.
If the prior condition of the ceiling is an issue, then the payment should be proportionate. Just my personal view but I would take it to the strata insurer, and maybe Fair Trading, to see what they said.
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The only obligatory general meeting – assuming the committee doesn’t call one and owners can’t raise the requisite 25 per cent of votes demanding one – is the AGM, which must be held once every financial year.
But it must be said that if you can’t raise 25 percent of owners to support your call for an extraordinary general meeting then they can’t share your sense of urgency about the issues, which casts doubt about your ability to get sufficient support for your motions anyway.
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The Owners Corporation Network (ACT) has been around for about 13 years. Have a look at ocnact.org.au and see what advice they can offer and what support you can lend them in their efforts to get ACT strata laws updated.
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I’m with Kaindub on this. Strata schemes run on a wink and a nod are great … until they’re not. Then they’re a disaster. If you like the unit, get a thorough building inspection done before you buy in.
Then gradually nudge the other owners towards doing things properly. Telling them that their informal arrangement will put future buyers off, as it almost did you, as there will probably be no long-term maintenance plan (which is mandatory).
Small schemes often get by on one meeting a year (the AGM, which is also a committee meeting). Software like Stratabox will allow you to self-manage in a professional way so that future purchasers will not be deterred.
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Before you ask the neighbours to do anything, make sure what you request will help. You might need expert advice.
I think a simple request to ask them to stop slamming cupboard doors, in the first instance, wouldn’t require expert help. People don’t know how loud they sound in your apartment until you tell them. It’s when they respond negatively that you call in the cavalry.
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Well, they have clearly done something to common property walls and have either done it without permission or done it badly. You could ask them to do something about the cupboard doors to cut down the noise but if that fails, the wall belongs to the owners corp so they should be brought in to demand it be fixed.
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I was intitially asking myself what the problem was here, regarding the scheme paying for pest treatment for all the lots. Everybody gets their untit treated, so where’s the harm?
And the answer is that some people will be paying less than they should, subsidised by others paying more than they should, because the money that goes into the kitty is based on unit entitlements.
What the committee should be doing is paying for treating common areas and negotiating a reduced fee to be paid by the lot owners individually.
On the question of the strata manager’s “duty of care”, for want of a better phrase, I think you need to pinpoint areas where they have given bad advice or failed to warn owners that they are breaking the law and either ask them to lift their game, if it’s a big firm ask them to appoint a better manager or raise it at your next AGM as a sign that it may be time to get a new manager.
Also, there is a code of conduct for Queensland body corporate managers, which says, among other things:
- They must have a good working knowledge and understanding of the Act, including the code of conduct, relevant to their functions.
- They must act honestly, fairly and professionally .
- They must exercise reasonable skill, care and diligence.
- They must act in the best interests of the body corporate unless it is unlawful to do so.
- They must take reasonable steps to ensure an employee complies with the Act, including the code.
- They must not engage in unconscionable conduct including requiring the body corporate to comply with conditions that are unlawful or not reasonably necessary.
The Code of Conduct is supposed to be part of the BC Manager’s contract, so I would think a breach of the code might be considered a breach of contract. That could be something to get their attention, at the very least.
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I think your chances of having the general meeting declared null and void are somewhere less than zero.
It’s true that there are provisions in the Act for invalidating resolutions and elections if the meeting has not been held in accordance with strata law.
There is nothing there about invalidating a meeting and as far as the individual componente of the meeting, the Act says the Tribunal may refuse to invalidate resolutions or elections if the failure to comply with the letter of the law did not adversely affect any person, and that “compliance with the provisions would not have resulted in a failure to pass the resolution or affected the result of the election”.
In your shoes, I would find an appropriate motion on the agenda and, at the meeting, propose an amendment stating that another general meeting be held withing however many weeks to consider the motions that you were not allowed to present due to confusion over timings.
For instance, there is a compulsory motion on every AGM agenda to decide if any matter or type of matter is to be determined only by the owners corporation in general meeting.
You could ask the meeting to amend that motion to include that another general meeting be scheduled to consider some very serious matters that were left out of the current meeting due to confusion over timing.
You might even float what the issues are and how important it is that they be discussed as soon as possible, hence setting a new meeting date. Or you could just call for the support of 25 percent of owners (including yourself) to call for a other general meeting.
But be aware that there is no obligation on the part of the secretary or strata manager to invite owners to submit motions. That’s because there is an obligation for any motions that do come in to be included in the agenda of the next general meeting, whenever that might occur.
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I get the feeling we are whistling in the dark here as I suspect the OP hasn’t actually applied to the strata committee for permission to erect the fence (apologies if you have – but you haven’t said as much).
The simplest thing to do is to send a letter to the secretary and the starta manager saying you want to install fencing of a certain height along your boundary, stating the proposed material and its colour and asking if they have any problems with that and what they might be.
Point out (politely) that this land is part of your lot and the enclosure will be consistent with other owners’ yard fencing.
Their response is where you discussions begin. Don’t assume they’ll say no. If they do refuse, their grounds for doing so will give you an idea what your next step might be. It will also trigger the possibility further action to pursue the issue.
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I have a villa with a courtyard that has no fencing, so no privacy. My courtyard is open to every car coming in & out of the complex, and, of course, all the foot traffic. I am hoping to fence my lot, inside my lot boundary, using the same material that is used to screen all the other courtyards (colourbond). Can they have any grounds for refusing to permit this when a) I am within my lot, and b) it is the same fencing as is used for the other units. This could not possibly be in breach of the by-law referred to above, about being in keeping with the general appearance of the complex.
You are double-dipping here as you have raised this issue elsewhere in the Forum which is a bit naughty. Readers can follow that thread HERE. Flatchatters, please don’t respond to this specific point here as it gets very confusing for readers tryign to follow one thread.
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The larger lot size incurs an increased number of unit entitlements, and hence fees, but it seems that, while I am paying for it, I have no actual claim to it.
Has anyone told you you have no claim to the land? If so, is it in writing and on what basis do they say this? If you are paying levies for the land, then it must be yours.
Also, have you been told you can’t put up a fence or are you just assuming it will be rejected?
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I’m still gobsmacked that the dog’s owners are happy to listen to it bark hundreds of times a day…
There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.
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Unless Fair trading has changed the law (and I don’t think they have) it seems you can’t have a strata committee election electronically. Now, what this means is that the committee remains in place until such times as an election is properly conducted, which may not help your situation at all.
But unless I am reading this entirely wrongly (which is always possible) the committee/strata manager has exacerbated the fault by providing a pre-prepared list.
You could challenge this via mediation at Fair Trading if you think it’s worth it and then use the result of that process as evidence in a more concerted effort to remove the committee or some members at some point in the future.
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Good to know that the Notice to Comply bypasses the mediation requirement – I’m assuming this means if the dog owners were to ignore the NTC (ie continue breaching the bylaw) then it can go to NCAT, either myself or the Committee?
I’m not 100 per cent sure about this but if the committee or strata manager issues the NTC, they’d be the ones to pursue it at NCAT. If you took this on yourself, despite an NTC having been issued but not followed up, then you might well still have to go down the mediation route. Hopefully one of our better informed readers can advise.
And, yes, honey usually works better than vinegar, especially in the long run.
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