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I’m sure it’s all bs. If I visit the office and inspect the original copy, will these info, like email addresses be there? Or he still could hand me an incomplete copy just like he did? What can I do or show him to let him come to sense and send me a complete version?
Suspicions aren’t facts, as President Trump is currently discovering. There are a few assumptions there that are likely to trip you up. You can’t be sure that he hasn’t provided you with the full list of email addresses, regardless of your feelings.
One way to check would be to trawl through all the emailed material relating to the committee and AGMs. I haven’t met a strata manager yet who hasn’t at least once accidentally sent material out as “cc” rather than “bcc”, exposing everyone’s email addresses.
Failing that, you could threaten him that if you discover later that they have failed to provide email addresses then you will take action at Fair Trading (I wouldn’t recommend this, but it’s an option).
A better method may be to send everyone whose physical address you now have a letter or postcard that says something like “The value of our property is under threat. Please email or call me for more information, so we can stop this now.”
What happens next is up to you but I would just tell people that the building is not being managed according to strata law, no one outside a tight circle is allowed to check what is being done or, more to the point not done, and there need to be more checks and balances before the value of the property is seriously compromised.
However, if you go down that road, be very careful what you say. Wild accusations will make you look like the problem, rather than the solution, and could see you on the wrong end of a defamation suit.
Or you could have a lawyer’s letter drawn up and sent. That might rattle their cage, especially if they are reluctant to lie to an officer of the court.
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Your strata managers and committee are technically correct but they are being a bit cute in ignoring the realities of the situation.
The Court of Appeals is the highest court in NSW. Its verdicts create precedent for every court in the state (and to some extent, elsewhere in the country). They are as good as law at the NCAT level.
Your strata committee and strata managers are also being a bit naive in thinking they can cling onto a by-law of the type that has been shown to be fundamentally flawed when they should be trying to devise one that protects the amenity of the building in other ways.
One of the losing blocks in the recent highly publicised pets stoush (not the one named in the Court of Appeal) has already changed its by-laws accordingingly.
Your strata managers’ statement that they don’t have the authority to allow pets may be correct, but they neglect to say that their by-law is incompetent in preventing them and is wide open to be challenged.
This is what the strata Act says:
139 Restrictions on by-laws(1) By-law cannot be unjust
A by-law must not be harsh, unconscionable or oppressive.
Note— Any such by-law may be invalidated by the Tribunal (see section 150).Blanket by-laws banning pets have already been found to be “harsh, unconscionable or oppressive” by the highest court. No Tribunal Member in his or her right mind is going to go against that.
So how do you short-circuit the process? Simple. Get your wee dog and wait for the strata manager to issue a Notice To Comply with the by-laws. Turn up at NCAT and point the Member at the Court of Appeals Ruling.
Even better, tell the strata manager and committee in writing that both they and you know that their NTC is incompetent, the by-law is invalid and as a result, theirs is a vexatious case and you will be seeking all costs to be awarded against the owners corproation.
By the way, unless the solicitor who has offered to help you is prepared to seek costs from the OC, I wouldn’t bother with them. You’d be wasting your money. You don’t need a solicitor as this case could not be more clear cut.
And you don’t need to run this through Fair Trading either. You are not the one at fault.
But if you feel you need professional legal advice, click on this link to Marrickville Legal Centre and they will advise you properly and probably send a letter to the strata committee telling them to pull their heads in.
Oh, and if you do contact MLC and you get a result, you might want to put a few dollars in their Christmas funding appeal.
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Despite my request, you reposted in exactly the same format. I cleaned it up myself.
When you copy and paste (especially from Apple) the coding sometimes carries over. If this is happening please type your post directly on to the website or paste your document into a text-only format then copy it from there.
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… there are situations where it would likely become an argument of relative socio-economic status and the right to discriminate, which is always thorny.
I think this highly unlikely scenario, plus socio-economic considerations are taken care of by section 36 of the Regulations which says:
36 Occupancy limits–exception
1) For the purposes of section 137(3)(b) of the Act, a by-law that limits the number of adults who may reside in a lot has no effect if all of the adults who reside in the lot are related to each other.
(2) For the purposes of this clause, a person is related to another person who resides in a lot if–(a) the person is the parent, guardian, grandparent, son, daughter, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew or cousin of the other person, or
(b) the person is such a relative of the other person’s spouse or de facto partner or former spouse or de facto partner, or
(c) the person is the spouse or de facto partner of the other person, or
(d) the person is the carer of, or is cared for by, the other person.
(3) For the purposes of this clause, a person who is an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander is also related to another person if the person is, or has been, part of the extended family or kin of the person according to the indigenous kinship system of the person’s culture.
No more hypotheticals on this, please. Actual examples from real life are welcome, of course.
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Please clean up your coding and repost
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Hi, I’m wondering if there is a standard definition of what is included in “common areas”.
You may find this page on the Fair Trading website helpful
The question arises around such items as window frames. If the window frames are timber, we inspect the outside of the window frame as part of the common areas inspection. But what about the inside of the window frame?
If your scheme was registered after 1974, the whole window is probably common property. Pre-1974, the inside of the window may be considered lot property.
Why do strata managers ask us to undertake a Timber Pest Inspection of “common areas only” and not all accessible areas on the site?
Because the owners corproation is only responsible for common property. However, lot owners should be encouraged to have their own properties inspected (preferably at the same time to save money).
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When he said, “You cannot obtain a copy of the strata roll which contains private information”, so did he mean I cannot make a photocopy or take photos with my phone?It’s hard to tell what he meant. There is no obligation on the strata manager to send you a copy of the strata roll but they must let you see and copy all records. As usual with this strata manager, he is only half right. This is what Fair Trading’s website says:
An owner or mortgagee, or their authorised person, can make a written request to the owners corporation to inspect the records. The request must be accompanied by the prescribed fee which is currently $31 [plus GST] for the first hour of work.
The inspection time and place has to be agreed by both parties. If no agreement is reached within three days, the owners corporation can stipulate the time and date by written notice. The inspection date can be no later than 10 days from the date the owners corporation receives the notification.
Documents can be inspected in person, electronic access or any other ways agreed. You can make copies of the documents but must not, without the consent of the owners corporation, remove the originals from the custody of the owners corporation.
Obviously from that, you are allowed to make copies of the strata roll and take them with you.
As far as the hourly rate goes, start the clock when they present you with the files and you should be done within an hour. If they try to charge you excessively for photocopying, use your phone to photograph the files.
You are entitled to see all records, correspondence and accounts belonging to the Owners Corporation (of which you are a member). The one exception is correspondence between the OC and its lawyer regarding any case involving you (and even that could be challenged, although I’m not sure you would prevail).
It is very common for strata managers to refuse to let owners see other owner’s email addresses, citing “privacy”. They are wrong to do so. As discussed elsewhere on this website and at great length, privacy laws do not apply to strata rolls.
That means that addresses of other owners, including email addresses, have to be made available to you. A lot of strata owners aren’t happy with this and some are trying to get the law changed, but it’s a fact.
If the strata manager refuses to let you see the email addresses, show them a copy of this column which first appeared in the Australian Financial Review.
And remind them that they have legal responsibility to manage the scheme in accordance with the Act (as per your other posts here and here) – they can’t keep making things up as they go. If they do, you will be making sure Fair Trading is aware of their breaches.
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I am not sure what weight precedent carries in these things, but there are two other apartments in the same complex we are considering, one with a fixed canvas awning and the other with a retractable awning. I assume(?) this may increase the likelihood of something similar being approved?
It’s not so much precedent as previous practice. It’s hard for them to “reasonably” refuse permission if they’ve given it in the past, provided you give the usual guarantees about repairing any damage to common property caused via the installation and subsequently through wear and tear.
The only potential pitfall would be if the other awnings were installed without permission and the committee was in dispute with the lot owners – not likely but not impossible either.
I would not be seeking permission from the committee, per se, just an indication of whether or not they were dead set against awnings, with no guarantees sought.
But it sounds like you are on pretty safe ground, as it is.
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Aaaah, Queensland body corporate regs, confusing one day, bewildering the next.
Have a look at this fact sheet:
Basically the committee can agree to common property improvements costing up to $200 per lot, unless that limit has been raised by the body corporate at a general meeting, to a cap of $300 per lot.
Above those figures, anything up to $2000 per lot can be approved by a simple majority at a general meeting and anything above $2000 per lot requires a special resolution at a general meeting.
An owner who disagrees can apply for dispute resolution.
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It’s not a case of “most cases” – it depends very much on the individual apartments and how strictly they enforsce their by-laws (if they even have any related to shades). Older apartments that have over-exposure to sunlight may well have shades already. Newer apartment block may well have more shade built in.
You won’t be able to get prmission in advance, but you could get a good idea of your likelihood of success by contacting the building’s strata committee or strata manager.
As you will be attaching the shade to common property and it will affect the outward appearance of the block even if it is allowed there may be a restriction on the style and colour of the shade. All you can do is ask.
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I guess I will just repost it in the right section.
Done. It’s a very different set of answers if you are in strata rather than company title. And just one other thing – for the same reason – are you in NSW?
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Huge thanks to Sujenna for her thorough outline of the process of converting from company title to strata (below). That is the most comprehensive outline of the process that I have seen in the 15 years that I’ve been writing and editing Flat Chat.
I did reorganise the information a little to get the answer to the question – should they convert to strata so they can have a strata manager – up to the top. The rest, howver, shows how daunting that prospect can be and raises the question of whether or not the benefits are worth the money or the hassle.
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Can Committee install ‘speed bumps’ without Body Corporate approval?
Nope. Section 108 of the Act says “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 … only if a special resolution has first been passed by the owners corporation that specifically authorises the taking of the particular action proposed.”
A special resolution requires 75 percent of votes (by unit entitlement) cast in favour at a general meeting.
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First of all, this has been posted in the Company Title section. Is your apartment block company title?
Oh, and we changed your screen name as you used your real name and that’s against website policy.
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Hi, Strata’s response seems to sound more than reasonable if they have organised the plumber for the tenant in the first place, and at your request, and then followed up.
I’m afraid I have to disagree. If, as Mark180 said, the plumber identified an issue with the waterproofing, then trusting that fixing a leaking tap will fix the problem isn’t enough. Waterproofing is there in case things go wrong, such as an overflowing sink, blocked drain, burst pipe or, indeed, dripping tap. Fixing the thing that revealed the waterproofing had failed is not enough. The strata committee or the lot owner (if they have renovated) need to fix this before another accident occurs.
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