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It seems it was a miscommunication – the concierges were told they didn’t need to tell owners to put masks on and that was misconstrued as telling them we don’t need to wear masks.
But the fact remains, in NSW residents, visitors, delivery people and tradies should be wearing masks in the common areas of strata buildings, until such times as the Public Heath Orders say otherwise.
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Something very strange is going on. Our concierges are telling residents they no longer need to wear masks on common property but the Public Health Orders say the opposite.
I suspect a strata manager somewhere – maybe not even in this block – has gone off half-cocked and sent out bad info and it’s spreading fast (because we all want it to be true).
And there are suggestions that mask wearing in offices will no longer be compulsory (just advised) when we get to 80 percent double vaxxed but no word on strata schemes as yet.
Watch this space.
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Yes, provided you have the bank details and Bpay codes if need be. And then move straight on to a “please explain” letter to your strata manager.
Actually, perhaps that should be the other way round. It would be terrible to be getting your owners to pay into the strata manager’s illicit holiday fund.
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According to the World Atlas, Australia has the 30th most urbanised population in the world, with 89 per cent of our population living in urban areas. The UK has the 50th most urbanised population with 83 per cent of Brits living in towns and cities.
It’s not just a question of population density over the whole land mass. For the purposes of covid comparisons, it must be how many of us live closely together.
It would seem we have the potential to be much more up close and personal than our UK cousins.
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I assume in the end all costs were also paid by the owner.
The reasonable costs in pursuing a strata debt can be added to the debt. However, according to the Bannermans article cited above, the costs in pursuing bankruptcy can’t be.
Strata law needs to close that loophole so that after a year of unpaid levies, the OC can sequestrate the rent from the unit or, if it’s a friend or family member who doesn’t pay rent, then they should be charged rent based on market values.
If the property is unoccupied, then the strata scheme should be able to take it over and rent it out until such times as the levies have been paid off.
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I think the BC takes precedence only in areas of common interest in a shared building. For instance, the roof and the car park of the building but not the windows, doors and lift lobbies of the residential sector.
I have a feeling this may be spelled out in your strata management statement and, not being a lawyer, I may have got this completely wrong.
Anyone else?
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Past a certain amount, the debtor can be made bankrupt. In that case the court will order the sale of any assets, ie their unit, in order to repay the debt .
It’s worth having a look at this post by Bannermans Lawyers which explains how seeking bankruptcy could end up costing the owners corp more than they get in return.
However, in this case, my question would be whether or not you could declare a foreign entity bankrupt. I know the law changed on overseas investors recently but I can’t recall what it was.
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As an owner you are entitled to see all documents relating to the owners corporation and unless this was agreed in advance to be a secret ballot, you can see the votes.
I would immediately seek mediation at Fair Trading, as a precursor to action at NCAT against the strata manager.
As far as the committee dragging their heels, Section 232 (2) of the Act sets a limit of two months after which non-response will be taken to be a refusal by the committee to fulfill their duties. That, or a straight rejection, can then be challenged at the Tribunal.
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… from the facts you stated it’s unlikely thst the resolution was legally passed.
I’m afraid I disagree. A motion to seek council approval for work is not the same as a motion to commence the work. The council’s approval doesn’t mean that the work will be done, just that it can be done. There’s a big difference.
Obviously the majority of owners intend for the work to go ahead but they still require a special resolution and they simply don’t have the votes to achieve that.
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In a word, yes. The latest Public Health Order states:
Masks must be worn in indoor areas (other than places of residence), indoor common property on residential premises, public transport waiting areas/vehicles/vessels, while working in hospitality and dealing directly with members of the public, and on domestic commercial aircraft. Teachers and staff must wear masks at schools. Certain exceptions apply.
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I believe the other owners only needed a simple majority to approve the application to council but, as you rightly say, they will require a unanimous vote (effectively) to pass a special resolution.
Obviously they’ll be hoping that council approval with strengthen their case if this ever goes to NCAT for orders either to allow the change or to block it.
It’s a tactical move rather than an illegal act.
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The fact that the committee got to a situation where the OC was fined could also expose them to having to compensate the OC.
Just to expand on that point, strata law indemnifies committee members for bad decisions made in good faith – i.e. they didn’t know they were making an error. Failure to abide by council orders is hardly acting in good faith and they should possibly carry the can for that decision rather than passing the costs on to the other owners who were not party to that decision.
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The Owners Corp can do anything it wants with common property, subject to planning approvals and restrictions on changes that might affect the amenity of individual lots. I would propose this to your committee, having spoken to council and assessed the cost of installing hard standing and a roof.
You might also consider whether you want the parking to remain common property or sell the spaces to individual lot owners (with each given first refusal for one space) to pay for the work.
If your admin fund is cashed up, this would be a way of owners “drawing down” its excess funds. If you have a healthy sinking fund, owners might prefer you to use that, although it would have to be presented as a maintenance project, rather than an additional construction.
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I think you may have a case for having the election declared invalid and the status quo of the committee retained until such times as there is a valid election.
The Fair Trading website on strata meetings says: “An election cannot involve a pre-meeting electronic vote.”
There are other conditions attached to elections, including that the names of the candidates for whom each owner is voting must be written on a blank sheet of paper. The reason for that is to avoid incumbents giving themselves prominence on a voting paper.
The logistics of applying election rules about nominations and voting processes to an electronic meeting are mind-boggling, which probably explains why you can’t have an election online, by mail or by email.
It would seem to me that the active members of the committee have falsely created a situation where an election was required (by persuading owners to reduce the number of seats) then conducted an unnecessary and possibly invalid election to achieve their aims.
The strata manager may have gone along with this as they will often go with the power group in a strata scheme because that secures their contracts for the future.
I think you might well get a result at Fair Trading, although you may have to push this to the Tribunal to have the election rescinded.
One other thought, with the power group on the committee having persuaded everyone to reduce the size of the committee on an invalid vote, what are the chances that if you eventually get to have a proper election, they won’t just do the same. Or did this require a blind-side to be effective?
FYI: You would probably raise the issue with Fair Trading under Section 24 of the Act which says:
24 Order invalidating resolution of owners corporation(1) The Tribunal may, on application by an owner or first mortgagee of a lot in a strata scheme, make an order invalidating any resolution of, or election held by, the persons present at a meeting of the owners corporation if the Tribunal considers that the provisions of this Act or the regulations have not been complied with in relation to the meeting.
Good luck.
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I think JMM might mean a bogus admin fee that some schemes think they can add to the the cost of enforcing by-laws.
This would be highly dubious even if the OC won their case. If they lost, it would be ridiculous to still impose it. These admin fees are often intended to deter owners from fighting notices to comply at NCAT. I have a feeling they may be illegal as even NCAT will not award costs except in special circumstances.
JMM should ask for a formal letter withdrawing the charge, and propose a motion at the next committee meeting that they investigate the legality or otherwise of such charges.
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