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Can those owners who come to the working bee be compensated … or is it just too hard to organise?
The answer to both is probably yes. Better than pay, how about organising a sausage sizzle (don’t forget the veggo options) and give a bottle of wine to everyone who’s there for more than an hour. That way it’s a community building social event, rather than paid employment.
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This is what the Regulations say:
28 Minor renovations by ownersWork for the following purposes is prescribed as minor renovations for the purposes of section 110(3) of the Act—
(e) installing double or triple glazed windows,
Note—
The work prescribed by this clause is subject to the requirements set out in section 110(7) of the Act, including requirements that it does not involve structural changes, changes to the external appearance of a lot or waterproofing.Also you will find definitions of different types of double glazing HERE.It strikes me that you are not installing double glazing at all. You are just changing the glass which is a much less significant renovation that installing double or triple glazing, as defined by the act.IMHO your strata manager is being unnecessarily pedantic. Offer to give them a signed, witnessed and notarised document saying that you take responsibility for the ongoing maintenance and repairs to the windows and sliding doors. That’s more than they would get with double glazing.If they refuse, suggest that the current windows are not fit for purpose and you could take them to NCAT to force them to change them at the OC’s expense.OR
Ask them to include a retrospective approval item on the agenda of the next AGM.It really doesn’t need to be so hard and they should be following the spirit of the law rather that the letter which is vague in any case.If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
The original post was sent in 2014. I would hope the issue would have been resolved by now. Meanwhile, please check the dates on the posts, just in case you are wasting your keystrokes.
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As a general principle, I think the upstairs owners would have some liability and the easiest way to resolve this would be to send them a bill for the repairs, possibly accompanied by a lawyer’s letter.
They may have insurance which will cover their liability.
Failing that, you can pursue them through a small claims court action. Perhaps have a word with a strata debt recovery agency (even though this isn’t, strictly speaking, a strata issue).
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I really can’t see why the strata manager is saying this. The Act allows for by-laws just like this one, unless there is some other issue like structural changes or something to do with the electricity supply that would impact on the rest of the building in a way that goes beyond a minor renovation.
In any case, the Act allows the committee, with its delegated powers, to establish reasonable conditions on the installation.
Your strata manager should be asked to check with her superiors … unless she’s from one of theses companies that sets out to pump up their Schedule B charges wherever possible, in which case a general meeting would be a “nice little earner.”
Just ask why she’s not following the law. She must have some good reason or you can just go ahead and make the decision at committee.
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I would apply for mediation at Fair Trading with a view to taking action under section 232 (2) failure to fulfill their duties and responsibilities.
Or you could contact out new besties MLC for free legal advice.
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This may sound simplistic but how about you, quietly hold an electronic EGM with half a dozen minor issues and just bury the “no Airbnbs” by-law in the long grass, so to speak.
I’m thinking of procedural stuff like acknowledging the water saving procedures recommended by the council and deciding whether or not to declare your block a nuclear-free zone.
If the non-resident “host” doesn’t read the motions properly and you’ve hidden it in a welter of boring stuff, and in terms like “The owners corporation agrees to adopt, by special resolution, a by-law under the terms of Section 137A of the Strata Schemes Management Act, being mindful that Section 137A (2) permits short term holiday accommodation where the lot is the principal place of residence of the host,” it might sneak through
If the host owner doesn’t vote, or you have timed the EGM for the first week after levies are due so they are unfinancial and can’t vote, then you have your by-law and they will need a unanimous vote to change it or they will have to take you to NCAT to challenge it.
If they do vote against it, then everybody knows exactly where you all stand.
It would be an interesting one to take to NCAT, to argue that allowing owners to run holiday lets that directly upset two-thirds of the residents is unacceptable.
Failing that, there are myriad “informal” methods for keeping this particular brand of parasites out of our blocks, some of which are even legal.
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Any idea how it came to be that there aren’t enough letterboxes to go around?
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First of all, I would get the email addresses of every other owner and tenant. Your strata manager will possibly tell you that you aren’t entitled to see them as they are private. This is not true and the email addresses will filter out people who are not active on the internet.
Then you ask if anyone is interested in setting up a socially engaed web page for strata owners and tenants.
You may not need any assistance to do this – it’s incredibly easy – but it’s better to get other people involved from the start.
When you have enough people volunteering to help you set up a little management group completely separate from the strata committee and off you go. Set up a website or Facebook page with an access password for residents only but make sure it’s a collective enterprise and not just one person’s “thing”.
It doesn’t cost much to set up and run a WordPress or Facebook page but make it worth people reading, with reviews of local shops and restaurants (and maybe even discounts and special deals from them).
Let people comment but moderate their remarks, initially at least, or it will turn into a forum for complaints and allegations, with the potential for claims of defamation.
And once the Facebook page or website is up and running, you email all the owners and residents gain to invite them to join.
It really is as easy as that, but don’t let it become a solo project because it will fall over as soon as that person leaves.
Another option is to set up a Whatsapp group and you can hear the founder of a successful one talk about it on our podcast HERE.
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Are you in an apartment or a townhouse?
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I do not want to take legal action but if they wont mediate with me that may happen.
Yet another request for instructions on how to fight with one hand tied behind your back. Just joking, but don’t close off any options before you have even explored them. There are so many things wrong with what the strata managers are doing that having a lawyer wrap it up in one “fact bomb” may be your best and only option.
I cannot attend the AGM because the strata managers have declared me non financial.
Have they said this? If so, they are wrong. You can attend and speak but you can’t vote or propose motions.
I suspect that there is something a bit suspicious about all of this behaviour including the strata plumber, the Strata secretary and the Strata Directors.
You really don’t need to get into conspiracy theories here and it won’t help your case. Remember the first rule of Flat Chat – never ascribe to malice anything that can just as easily be explained by stupidity.
The strata manager has no right to remove funds from your account to pay for alleged damages before that has been established and either agreed or ruled by a tribunal.
The sewer pipes are, indeed, common property but you can be liable for damage caused to them. Again, the extent of your liability has to be established by agreement or by a tribunal before anyone takes any money out of anyone’s accounts.
The strata manager has no right to exclude you from the AGM, whether you are unfinancial or not.
If the strata manager and committee continue to refuse to engage with you, you need to get their attention and the best way to do that would be via a strongly worded legal letter.
For that, if you can afford it, go to a strata lawyer like our sponsors Sachs Gerace Lawyers. Otherwise you could approach out new besties, Marrickville Legal Centre which has a free NSW-wide strata law advice service.
If you do use them and they help, sling them a few bucks. They are a non profit and those of us who can afford it should help those who can’t. You’ll find their initial contact form HERE.
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You would be entitled to return of some rent if you could prove the landlord entered your property (needs to be better than just your word) and even then you would probably get resistance to such a claim, which would not be worth going to court for such a small amount.
Might be worth a claim to Consumer Advice Victoria (CAV) for a rent refund which will cost you $65. But the landlord’s action certainly undermaines any claim they may make against the rental bond.
Have a look at the CAV Website for more information.
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Just another thought, Section 15 and Section 17 of the Regulations lay out how electronic voting should be dealt with. That might be your starting point for next time.
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This isn’t really proxy farming – at worst it’s campaigning or caucussing. In proxy farming, owners were persuaded, tricked or bullied into handing over their proxy votes. In a block not a million miles from where I sit now, the chair used to ask owners who didn’t want to go to the AGM how they wanted to vote on the few issues that they cared about, then he’d diligently follow their wishes … but add their undirected votes to his tally.
One year he had more votes than everybody else at the meeting put together – and this was a huge building.
What has happened here is that the antis have gathered up enough support but these are real votes (unless they are filling in blank votes, which I think may be illegal).
Your best way forward is to persuade a majority of owners that there is a financial detriment in not painting these townhouses and that failure to do so is a false economy. That usually does the trick and you can then encourage them to vote on your side.
Calm and considered persuasion, with no talk of vote farming or conspiracies, will get you there.
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