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The only circumstances I can imagine this happening would be if he was removed from the committee by order of the tribunal and they didn’t put an end date on the suspension.
An historic by-law breach isn’t going to prevent anyone from standing for the committee but, as Kaindub said, it might discourage people from voting for him, if it comes to a vote.
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I agree. There are some excellent building facilities management companies around and this is a terrific opportunity to get better service either from your current manager or a new one.
You should also consider joining the Owners Corporation Network (OCN.org.au). Existing members will give you good advice on which companies to go for and which to avoid (although you might well start with our sponsors Strata Choice).
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In my opinion, whilst it happens from time to time, the committee members should be setting the example, which means being compliant with the by laws.
I’m going to take a wild punt here and guess that the OP doesn’t think he has breached by-laws.
And one other thing, if you have been fined and haven’t paid it, you are unfinancial and can’t be elected to the committee.
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If the strata agent held 3 proxies i.e. a majority of lot owners, given there are 5, then he/she breached the Act. In small stratas a person can hold only 1 proxy. Not more than 1.
So the strata manager fills in the names of the secretary and the teaboy on the other two.
I’m more interested in Section 25 (7):
7) Limits on exercise of proxy by building manager, on-site residential property manager or strata managing agent
A vote by a proxy who is a building manager, an on-site residential property manager or a strata managing agent is invalid if it would obtain or assist in obtaining a pecuniary interest for, or confer or assist in conferring any other material benefit on, the proxy.
I wonder if the strata manager’s contract came up for consideration.
As has been noted already, Mr Mazed needs to get a hold of the agenda and voting record. The minutes should be distributed within 14 days of the meeting.
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By the STRATA, do you mean the strata managers? If so, they do what the owners tell them, rather than the other way round, and you could call a general meeting and ask them to revise the projects and related budgets.
Otherwise, knockdown rebuilds can be a terrific solution for ageing strata properties and the procedure is fairly simple but with a few safeguards in there.
This would depend very much on your location but if there are other developments going on nearby, there’s a chance there may be value in the land.
Firstly, you might informally approach a developer in Wollongong and ask if they are interested. If the finances stack up (you’d want at least 30-50 percent on top of the sales value of your property), then you hold a meeting to get a simple majority of the other owners’ permission to investigate the options in detail. This is when you would canvass any interested developers to see who offers the best deal.
Then you report back to the other owners with a plan, including an offer. Then they have three months to decide and if more than 75 percent of owners agree – both in unit entitlements and in a simple head count – you can proceed with selling the property with the proceeds going to the owners, relative to their unit entitlements.
If you’re interested, you can read more about it here
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I have two theories for this (apart from the clerical error).
One, the property has been so neglected for so long that the finances are basically playing catch-up. It’s a scenario that’s more common than you might think, especially when investors stop taking an interest in the property.
The other theory, which is definitely in the conspiracy realm, is that someone has realised that the land is more valuable than the properties on it. So, in cahoots with an owner, they drive up the levies and scare everyone into selling out.
Then you get an offer to buy, slightly over market value, you and the other owners sell out and three years from now there a 20-unit gleaming white, stainless steel and glass, luxury apartment block there.
Now, there are mechanisms for owners collectively to benefit from the sale of their strata scheme. But this way the instigator makes all the profit.
Should I put my al-foil hat back on?
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As the maximum size for a Strata Committee is 9 members, and this family own 6 lots, they will be in the majority even if the Strata Committee is enlarged.
True. I feel this scheme is lurching towards having a compulsory strata manager installed, which may be the best outcome for all concerned, even if they don’t know it.
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I googled “Victorian case law security camera VCAT” and navigated through to the following case:
Mote V Eydlish VCAT REFERENCE: OC172/2010That case is very interesting but it concerns an owner installing cameras on common property without permission. We are discussing whether or not an OC needs to pass a special resolution to install security or surveillance cameras. I wasn’t able to find any other relevant references to security cameras in the VCAT records.
I’m not sure that the various Surveillance Acts would apply here because the installation of the cameras would have the implicit approval of the owners. Provided it was properly minuted and signage was installed and it didn’t look into private property, I don’t think those Acts would apply.
Austman said:
I agree that s.52 of the Owners Corporations Act 2006 can always be challenged at VCAT. I disagree that installing a CCTV system would be a significant change to the use of common property.
Perhaps we can agree to disagree. Until such times as someone takes a strata scheme to VCAT to challenge them on not having passed a special resolution before installing cameras we will never know for sure.
As we often say on these pages, there are no StrataKops patrolling schemes looking for by-law breaches. And if nobody in a scheme is worried about the installation of cameras, it’s not a problem, regardless of whether or not it’s strictly legal.
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Is this a one-off special levy or locked in for the forseeable future? Ask to see a copy of last year’s financial statement and this year’s budget, and you’ll be able to see where the money is going.
Interestingly, if the proposal includes an increased fee for the strata manager, they shouldn’t have beeen using proxy votes for it.
Also, did this go through on the nod? If no one else was there, who was holding the proxies?
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In a strata property, the OC will be responsible for all pipework and isolation valves on common property. The lot owner is responsible for pipework and taps within their lot.
That’s what I thought – it’s not just the units at the back who have to pay, it’s all the units in the scheme, via the owners corp.
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What is/was the purpose of this generator? It would have been installed originally for some specific task. Would its non-operation or removal affect the safety or functionality of the building?
Good point. Is the generator there to provide power to the building in the event of, say, a fire, so that the water pumps can keep working? Sounds like a fire safety consultation might be in order.
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Installing security cameras would be a significant alteration because it would involve attaching cameras to the walls, plus the wiring, plus having an impact or the OC’s duty to inform tradespeople that they might be being filmed while working in the building, plus having a potential impact on residents’ sense of privacy.
I’m guessing that the schemes cited by Austman (above) that decided it wasn’t a significant alteration never had that proposition tested at VCAT. Like parking on common property because you can’t be bothered to open your garage door, just because nobody complains doesn’t make it right.
The Consumer Affairs Victoria web page on this says:
Your owners corporation (formerly body corporate) can only make significant alterations to the use or appearance of its common property if the alterations are:
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listed in the maintenance plan or
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approved by special resolution at a general meeting or
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composed of works for the upgrading, renovating or improving of the common property, and
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the estimated total cost is double annual total fees, or
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the works require a planning building permit, and
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a special resolution is passed.
Note it says “use or appearance” – CCTV cameras would tick both of those boxes.
As for Victoria, this web page has an interesting take on it.
But if your committee is planning to install CCTV without a special resolution, take the issue to CAV or VCAT and see what they say – that is how strata law is defined and distilled.
Legally, the term “significant alteration” appears in Victoria’s strata laws but not in NSW, which only refers to changes in and additions to common property in Section 108:
(1) Procedure for authorising changes to common property
An owners corporation or an owner of a lot in a strata scheme may add to the common property, alter the common property or erect a new structure on common property for the purpose of improving or enhancing the common property.
(2) Any such action may be taken by the owners corporation or owner only if a special resolution has first been passed by the owners corporation that specifically authorises the taking of the particular action proposed.
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The “Nuclear” option is to apply to have a strata manager appointed however, that is one of those “be careful what you wish for” situations. You would want to go in with a manager you trusted and who is willing to do the job. The nightmare scenario would be if the family turned up with a “neutral” manager who only did what they wanted anyway.
You could try to get orders that the owners increase the size of the committee and elect you to it but I have never heard of that happening.
My best thought is that you contact our sponsors Strata Answers who will, (for a fee) advise you on your best course of action and may even represent you to the other owners or at a tribunal, if appropriate.
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The response is a little ideal world and, yes, in an ideal world it is a great response.
What do you mean my response is “ideal world”? You are only now telling us that the strata committee will wilfully ignore NCAT orders.
If they are doing that and do so again, then by all means have them removed using a section 238.
But please don’t disparage responses when you have hitherto only provided a one-line question and kept the detailed background to the issue to yourself.
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Section 46 of the Owners Corporation Act says quite simply that the OC must maintain and repair common property. Section 5 says its members must act honestly and in good faith.
Armed with those pieces of information, you brother should ask them if they want to do this the easy way – fix the problem – or the hard way: spend thousands of dollars on legal fees fighting it, lose, pay his costs and then fix the problem.
If there’s rising damp in common property walls, they have to fix it. No if, or buts. The fact that they have literally tried to cover it up and lied about it will not stand them in good stead if they decide to fight this at VCAT or in court.
He should give them the option to come up with a guaranteed timeline for investigation and repairs or his next call will be to a strata lawyer.
NB: No work can be carried out in occupied apartment blocks under the current Victorian lockdown restrictions – but that wouldn’t stop them from making provisional appointments subject the the lockdown being lifted.
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