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Assuming the person concerned is unable to write the resignation letter themselves, a simple resignation by the person holding power of attorney should suffice. Failing that, a special resolution at a general meeting is an option (but time-consuming).
Once the role is vacated, the committee can elect another eligible person to fill the seat until the next AGM.
It’s all laid out HERE, in Section 35 of the Act.
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NSW Strata Schemes Management Act (2015)
Schedule 2
Part 3 Meeting procedure
Section 9 Decisions at meetings(4) Voting rights cannot be exercised if contributions not paid
A member of the strata committee is not entitled to vote on any motion put or proposed to be put to the strata committee if the member was, or was nominated as a member by a member who was, an unfinancial owner of a lot in the strata scheme at the date notice of the meeting was given and the amounts owed by the unfinancial owner were not paid before the meeting.Don’t know why you got the “Page Not Found” but the fact that you replied to a completely different post makes me hesitant to assume it’s our error. However, if anyone else hit that problem, please let us know as I have been unable to replicate the fault at this end.
And if you still don’t believe us, have a look here: https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/act/2015/50/sch2
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From this article:
“Did you know your committee members can’t vote when they are behind with their levies? Or that they can’t vote when the person who nominated them for election is similarly unfinancial? All the details are HERE.”I did not know that and I find it hard to believe that once elected a committee member’s vote can be blocked if the person who nominated subsequently becomes unfinancial. I may have misunderstood the quote above but that’s how it reads to me.
I followed the link: “All the details are HERE” in the hope of finding a reference to the rule but frustratingly reached the “Page not found?” page. Could someone please provide the authority for this?
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Ah, the old “it’s a strata issue” excuse. First of all, your landlord needs to put a rocket up the strata manager for treating you (and there for the owner) like second-class citizens.
Secondly, sending miscreants feeble warnings then not following them up, simply encourages them to behave even worse.
So I would begin by telling the strata manager that you are reluctantly taking the owners corporation to NCAT because of their inaction, with a letter copied to the chair. In a situation where the chair is not resident, it should be expected that the strata manager would be reasonably didligent in protecting the interests of all residents. This would be under section 232.2 of the Act – failure to fulfil their (the owners corproation’s) duties (see below).
You will have to undertake mediation (which is free) before you can proceed to NCAT, but that might be enough of a scare in itself. If need be, you can pursue this to NCAT asking the Tribunal to compel the OC to take all reasonable steps to deal with an issue that they have conceded is a problem for you.
Another option would be to take action directly against the neighbours under section 153, but that puts you directly in the firing line with little or no support to be expected from the owners corp
Section 232: Orders to settle disputes or rectify complaints(1) Orders relating to complaints and disputes The Tribunal may, on application by an interested person, original owner or building manager, make an order to settle a complaint or dispute about any of the following—
(2) Failure to exercise a function For the purposes of this section, an owners corporation, strata committee or building management committee is taken not to have exercised a function if—
(a) it decides not to exercise the function, or
(b) application is made to it to exercise the function and it fails for 2 months after the making of the application to exercise the function in accordance with the application or to inform the applicant that it has decided not to exercise the function in accordance with the application.
By the way, as a tenant, you are legally an “interested person” and entitled to pursue this case.
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This is a massively complicated situation but much of it would be resolved, I reckon, with the removal of the strata management firm, something that can be done through orders at VCAT.
If you want to take this on yourself, then start HERE. But, I think your best bet would be to find a reliable ally within the ethnic community, get them to rally support by telling owners how they are being ripped off, then collectively hire a strata lawyer to sort this out and get costs from the culprits when you have done so.
Or just go and talk to a specialist strata lawyer.
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Doesn’t your local council have regulations on tree lopping?
Otherwise, you could certainly apply for conciliation and adjudication (click on this page for information and links) but it will cost you $83.80 for each stage and there is, of course, no guarantee of success.
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In NSW, you can’t vote on general meeting issues or in strata committee elections if you are not up to date with your levies by the start of the meeting. Also you can’t be nominated for election to the committee while unfinancial but, bizarrely, you can nominate other people for election (but not vote for them).
Also, committee members can’t vote in a strata committee meeting if they or the person who nominated them is unfinancial at the start of the meeting.
Clearly, the chair of the meeting is expected to ascertain, probably with the help of the strata manager or treasurer, who is and isn’t ‘financial’. The law says if you owe money on the date the meeting is announced and you haven’t cleared the debt by the start of the meeting you are unfinancial.
The question is unclear as to what the start of the meeting actually is. Is it the designated time for the meeting or when the meeting is called to order. Should the strata manager or treasurer accept cash before the start of the meeting? Sometimes the debts are just a few dollors from an accidental underpayment. Most schemes, for obvious reasons, won’t accept cheques.
I know one strata management firm that won’t accept any form of payment at the meeting. Their rule is if the money isn’t in the bank, literally, by the time the meeting starts, then the owner is unfinancial.
You could always challenge that later but you’d have to prove that your vote would have made a difference to the outcome of a decision before NCAT will even entertain a complaint.
OK, here are the relevant bits of the law.
Schedule 1 of the strata Act says this
Voting rights cannot be exercised if contributions not paid
A vote at a general meeting (other than a vote on a motion requiring a unanimous resolution) by an owner of a lot or a person with a priority vote in respect of the lot does not count if the owner of the lot was an unfinancial owner at the date notice of the meeting was given and did not pay the amounts owing before the meeting.
Section 32.2 of the NSW strata Act says this:
An owner of a lot in a strata scheme who was an unfinancial owner at the date notice was given of the meeting at which the election of a strata committee is to be held and who did not pay the amounts owing by the owner before the meeting is not eligible for appointment or election to the strata committee.
On the question of “who checks?” Schedule 1 says:
Chairperson to announce names of persons entitled to voteIf requested to do so by a person present and entitled to vote at a meeting, the chairperson must, before submitting a motion to the meeting or the holding of the election of members of the strata committee, announce the names of the persons who are entitled to vote on that motion or at that election.
With regard to voting at committees, Schedule 2 of tha Act says this:
Voting rights cannot be exercised if contributions not paid
A member of the strata committee is not entitled to vote on any motion put or proposed to be put to the strata committee if the member was, or was nominated as a member by a member who was, an unfinancial owner of a lot in the strata scheme at the date notice of the meeting was given and the amounts owed by the unfinancial owner were not paid before the meeting.
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I know what you mean, but just to get this technically correct, no strata committee can pass any by-laws. That can only be done by the owners corporation at a properly constituted general meeting. The Committee can, however, propose, promote, finagle, dupe and use other devious means to slip a by-law past unaware owners.
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The new laws when they come in (soon) will specifically exclude genuine home sharing – i.e. letting a room or rooms when the resident is present. You committee mayhave to propose a new by-law (which has to be approved by 75 per cent of owners voting at a general meeting) which reflects this or their current by-law could be tossed out for being in conflict with strata law.
If you were looking for a business opportunity right now, you might consider low-cost CCTV cameras which are going to become very popular as strata committees try to prove that Airbnb hosts who say they are in residence, aren’t.
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Not sure the motion needs a seconder, but it will obviously need support. And, yes, sounding out other owners and informing them of the owners corp’s legal responsibilities is a good idea.
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this is a very confused post attached to another topic when it should have been a separate issue.
I am going to start this in another topic elsewhere (when my plane lands). But in the meantime you are confusing the developer with the strata manager and the Owners Corporation. These are different entities, or should be. So please resubmit with your problem spelled out more simply and coherently.
This issue is now explained in more detail HERE.
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Cat deterrents? I think they’re called dogs.
But seriously the problem is the cat feeder. A well-written and precise by-law, with breaches pursued rigorously, and a well-positioned security camera, will eventually do the trick in a more humane way.
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