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Also, a more serious concern might be that the renovating owner, by not seeking permission, has deftly passed responsibility for their changes to common property (such as waterproofing in bathrooms) on to the owners corp. I would be asking the strata manager about that before I even raised the issue of levies. If you are lucky, it may not be too late for the OC to put a caveat on the sale.
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How can I persuade my Strata Manager to lower my levies in the light of this? We have an AGM some time soon.
The simple answer is that the strata manager doesn’t have the power to alter unit entitlements (UEs). This can only be done by a unanimous (virtually impossible to achieve) agreement by all the owners, endorsed by NCAT, or by orders from NCAT in favour of a compelling case presented by owners.
My first step in your case would be to present a motion at the AGM asking the OC to investigate the current level of levies and whether they are fair and equitable.
By the way, the renovated sale value of a property bears no relation to its unit entitlements. Relative size and location in the building are the determining factors.
Also, stories abound of owners who have set out to challenge blatantly unfair UEs only to discover that the cost of doing so – including surveyor and legal fees – far outweigh any financial gain that they might make through lower levies.
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We can’t know what conversations the Strata Manager had, or didn’t have, with committee members. It’s quite possible that they could have told them that the renovator really needed by-laws or just committee approval for the work and was ignored.
Given that the miscreant is a member of the committee, what does the strata manager do then? They are not strata cops and to advise the committee (if that happened) and have their advice ignored puts them in an invidious position.
Yes, there are circumstances under which strata managers can issue Notices To Comply but in these circumstances that would effectively be declaring war on their employers.
The problem here is the renovating commitee member. Maybe at Mediation you can find out what was and wasn’t said to the strata committee.
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The strata manager generally acts on the instruction of the strata committee and/or othe owners corporation. Given that the committee will recommend whether or not their contract will be renewed and they will have to work with the committee until such times as it does, a strata manager is unlikely to go “rogue” and strata prosecuting committee members off their own bat.
You should write a letter to the strata committee asking it to take action to protect the interests of all owners by:
a) ensuring the the work done is compliant with building codes
b) getting the owner of the apartment to agree to by-laws passing responsibility for any changes made to common property from the OC to them (the lot owners).
If the committee refuses to do so, or fails to do so withing two months of being requested to do so, you can go NCAT and seek orders under section 232 (2) regarding the committee’s failure to fulfil its duties.
You will have to seek mediation at Fair Trading first, in which case the committee might put its house in order before being dragged to NCAT.
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I had an answer already for this … then I realised it was in Tassie. Honestly, I think the only way you are going to speed this up is for the objector to withdraw her objections or to call for a general meeting of all owners and have her outvoted.
Right now, I would be contacting an experienced strata lawyer if you can find one or you could start with the government’s free legal advice service.
You should also have a look a the Guide to Strata Living in Tasmania but I don’t have a lot of faith in an organsiation that can’t work out how to insert a new page in a PDF documant.
But perhaps the easiest way is to take a deposit from the buyer, repayable if the permission for the air-con doesn’t go through. You can only hope that having a a little Hitler on the committee doesn’t put them off buying.
Finally, you could get a lawyer to write to the backslider to warn her that you will seek full restitution if the a/c is allowed but the sale falls through, or you incur any substantial costs due to her recalcitrance.
Worth a try.
By the way, if this was NSW, you could push the air-con through as a minor renovation provided it was reverse cycle as (as found out recently) is considered environmantally beneficial.
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The previous two posters did not mention that a reassessment of the strata will be required… It’s all at the cost of the owner … it adds no value because you will pay the OC the increase in value.
The calculation for payment to the owners corporation, as established by the High Court (I think) is:
New value – (original value+cost of renovation, including legals).
The cost of reassessing the unit entitlements may possibly be offset against the money paid to the owners corp. And you certainly don’t have to pay the whole of the value of the improvement to the OC, just the net benefit.
Also, the recalcualtion of the levies will only occur if an owner challenges this. There are plenty of schemes where the levies are skewed out of shape to benefit some owners, but the cost (both financially and emotionally) of rectifying it means they are never challenged.
Maintaining good relations with your neighbours and letting them see the benefits rather than just the drawbacks can work wonders.
Leave it a couple of years and it will pay for itself.
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May I suggest instead you approach NSW Fair Trading and ask for a Mediation session …
You seem to be implying that the owner can choose between Fair Trading and NCAT. This is not an either-or choice. Except for in a small number of exceptions, you MUST seek mediation at Fair Trading before you can expect NCAT to be involved.
The normal process in a situation like this would be:
- Approach the neighbour and politely ask them to do something about the noise.
- Failing the approach in 1, start gathering evidence such as:
- a diary of when the noise occurs and what form it takes,
- signed statements from visitors and neighbours confirming the noise nuisance
- audio recordings of the noise (you can make them on most smartphones)
3. Apply to Fair Trading for mediation.
4. If that doesn’t work, apply to NCAT for orders.
But, as I said above, first have a chat with Marrickville Legal Centre and they will give you free advice on how to proceed and may represent you at a hearing if approriate. NB: You don’t have to live in Marrickville – they cover the whole of NSW.
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Strata Manager doesn’t want a ‘media outbreak’ so minimal action.
Lack of action doesn’t guarantee lack of media interest. It’s a pathetic excuse and they need to do their job.
i’m 75 years old, a vulnerable person and had a hospital visit 6 weeks ago related to the continual stress. I’ve been told to go to Tribunal, but also warned that if a child’s involved it will favour the tenant.
I strongly recommend that you talk to someone at Marrickville Legal Centre whose lawyers will explain your options and the best way to move forward, and may support you (for free) at Fair Trading or the Tribunal, if need be. Click on this link, fill in the form and take it from there.
MLC may be based in Marrickville but it is charged with looking after vulnerable strata residents, usually free of charge, across the state.
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This is a classic case of of competing individual rights bashing up against each other. However, while owners corporations can’t ban children, you do have a right to the peaceful enjoyment of your home.
It’s up to the parents to moderate the behaviour of their kids. If they can’t or won’t do that, then they have to face the consequences.
Perhaps a sympathetic letter asking them to tell the kids not to run around at home, to keep their vocalising to a reasonable level and to be quiet when they are on the balcony might get better results than shouting off yours.
There’s a 50-50 chance that you will get a negative reaction on the basis of “you can’t tell me how to raise my kids regardless of how badly I’m doing it”.
But at least you will have an answer to the first question you will be asked when you ask the strata manager or committee to step in: “Have you approached your neighbours with your issues?”
There are no such creatures as StrataCops, so you are going to have to take this on yourself, at least initially. If the strata manager and committee refuse to get involved (they quite possibly will) you can make a complaint yourself to Fair Trading, where you will be invited to take part in mediation, and then to NCAT.
But you have a legal right to a reasonable level of peace and quiet; no one has the right to allow their kids to make excessive noise.
Right now in NSW, parents can still take their kids to the park (not so much in Melbourne). That’s the appropriate place for running around and screaming.
One word of caution – don’t get drawn into a war of attrition with these neighbours. Tit-for-tat “informal” actions – like playing loud music at a time when they want peace and quite – can only lead down a very dark road.
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You could threaten them with reporting them to the privacy commissioner as they are using private information (addresses and emails) for spamming owners.
I’m pretty sure the Privacy Act doesn’t cover this kind of communication, for a variety of reasons, not least the provisions that we cite when demanding that strata managers turn over owners’ email addresses when they clearly have them in their possession. This document is quite enlightening in this regard.
Your last point is probably the best tactic. Respond to every unofficial email with a standard email that says something like:
“The email sent out on [insert date] entitled [insert subject line] was not an official communication from your committee. This was from one isolated member of the committee and does not necessarily reflect the views of your elected committee. Please feel free to disregard this message and any others that don’t come from the committee’s secretary, even though they purport to come from the committee.”
If the miscreant continues, threaten to have them removed from the committee either via a special resolution at a General Meeting or through action at NCAT. Often the prospect of the public humiliation of even initiating such a move would make them pull their head in
Of course, this kind of bullying may make it hard for the committee to each agreement on this, at least in open session.
Perhaps you might point out to other members, initially individually and in private, that anything they walk past is something they endorse and they could be held liable for negative consequences if they don’t assert some control over communications coming out of the committee.
Then present the response emails option at your next committee meeting and get the votes you need.
If the person concerned IS the secretary, they can be removed from that role (but not the committee) by a simple committee vote. Again the prospect of that humiliation may be enough to get them to behave.
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Here’s a thought. Send the strata manager the email you want to send the other owners. If it’s saying “let’s change strata managers” and they don’t send it out, then it’s a conflict of interest (morally if not legally).
If it’s “let’s elect a new committee”, as long as you don’t make your reasons personal, they have no reason not to send it out and you have blown their grubby allegations out of the water.
Just a simple email saying : “I think we should do such and such, please contact me.” That would give you the moral high ground.
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Your company title is a company, which means its rules are set by it specific “articles” and by company law.
There’s nothing to stop anyone proposing anything at an AGM, but then there’s nothing to stop you or anyone else from proposing amendments.
The first one that springs to mind would be that the Board sets an hourly rate for the work and the directors who wish to be paid have to claim the money and the time for specific tasks.
I would also propose that those chargeable tasks be identified and established. Reading emails, no; writing emails, perhaps. Board meetings, yes, travel time, no – that kind of thing.
I would also propose that the directors who want to be paid go away and and come back with a proper business model for this at the next AGM (otherwise they’re just raiding the biscuit tin).
In other words, if they want to run the building like a business, they’d better put some business-like protocols in place.
Oh, and what are the managing agent’s duties while they are doing all this work? That also needs to be addressed.
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This thing the agent is saying about the contract being voided at every AGM sounds like BS to me. Never heard of that before. If it’s true, I’d just wait until the next AGM and not offer them a new one.
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This revamp came about because a Flatchatter found most if not of the links in the original were out of date. If you find any similar errs, please let me know on mail@flatchat.com.au.
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