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Information is power. Let the minority of people who take an interest know what’s going on.
Start issuing a newsletter that canvasses the issues that will be coming up at the the AGM and explain why not taking certain action will cost the owners in the value of their properties. In a show of fair comment, invite the bullies to put their point of view in the newsletter.
Add into the minutes of your meetings a record of who voted for and against specific proposals. In other words, expose the bullies not in what they say but in how they vote. And trust your owners to know right from wrong and what’s good and bad for the building.
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Andy wrote:
First step is to go through your by-laws as both your and the OCs obligations should be explained. Second step is to check legislation. Third step is to ask the strata manager or SC…which you seem to have done as permission has been granted.
I’m afraid this advice is a bit too general and non-specific to be of much help. What if the by-laws don’t mentions air-con units? And which part of the legislation do you suggest be checked?
In this case, if there is a by-law permitting the previous owner to install the air-con, then it should have a clause stating who is responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the air-con. If the by-law doesn’t state anyone is responsible, then it defaults back to the owners corp. If it says it is the lot owner’s responsibility, then you would pay for the removal and replacement.
If there is no by-law or if there is one and it passed responsibility to the owners corp, then they can decide whether or not they want to replece the units.
In that case, I think the best you could hope for would be that the owners corp wanted rid of the responsibility and so paid for the removal. More likely they will tell you you can do it at your own expense or they will agree to split the cost with you.
Realistically, I would think that’s your best hope. Negotiation and compromise are your best bet.
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Have a listen to this. An insurance industry expert explains everything!
By the way, you don’t have to do anything special to hear our podcasts – just click on the link in the post and it should play on yur computer, phone or tablet.
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Any correspondence between anyone and the owners corp is able to be viewed by owners . To give an extreme example, a couple of years ago the strata committee of my building got into a nasty dispute with a former employee which ended up in a court-ordered settlement with the judgement “sealed” by the court – i.e. it wasn’t to be made available to the public.
Even so, a couple of owners were able to go to the strata manager’s office and view the document, albeit under tight supervision. The thing is, as members of the owners corp, they were parties to the dispute and therefor permitted to read the judgement. Thers is privacy in owners corpp correspondence, as far as owners are concerned.
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It certainly does vary and you wouldn’t get that level of generosity in NSW. But then NCAT can’t even enforce their own orders with fines, so it’s no surprise, really.
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The only people who can answer that authoritatively are the bods in the Qld Body Corporate and Community Management Commissioner’s office. You can call them on this free number: 1800 060 119.
That said, I don’t fancy your chances. In my original response, I oerroneously said most states expect the litigants in a strata dispute to pay their own costs, win or lose, unless there’s clear evidence that the plaintiff is a “nuisance litigator”, i.e. taking actions just because they can, with little or no hope of success.
It now seems from other replies that I was completely off the mark in this, except maybe with regard to NCAT and NSW.
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This sounds very like a unit I used to own where the building’s former handyman had done an “upgrade” of the block with all sorts of inventive ways of siphoning off water.
If a tap dripping into your bath causes water to drip from a pipe downstairs, you have much bigger problems than an inflated plumber’s bill.
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I would call your local council who must have approved the work (surely???). But generally speaking, if the work upstairs is affecting your property negatively, you might be able to get an interim order at NCAT to force them to stop.
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I’m with Scottie. Please try to make sure your posts make sense before you hit the “submit” button.
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You’d have to look at the terms of the insurance policy. Apart from that, it’s hard to be specific sicne you have provided so few details, such as, is the claim related to the unapproved work done? Was it the work that caused the damage or exposed common property in a way that it might be damaged?
Too many unknowns in your question to give a helpful answer.
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I wondered that too. If the flaw was the taps (and only the taps) the issue is the lot owners. But if there’s a fault in the drain, then it’s common property. What happens downstairs when you empty the bath or shower in it?
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Costa wrote:
I remember in the old days under the old NSW Strata Titles Act, if I recall correctly, problems arising from this would become the responsibility of the Owners Corporation after a period, as far as things going wrong, damage created and repairs etc. Is this the case now?
You’re going back a way with that. Current (and recent) strata law says that where there’s a special resolution by-law with regard to changes to common property, ongoing responsibility must be ascribed to someone, and if it isn’t the lot owner, then it fall to the owners corporation.
However, the intent isn’t to pass the buck to the owners corp, but to make them think before they pass by-laws that might mean they are responsible for shoddy work and wear and tear on additions to common property.
On the other hand, where people have made changes without proper by-laws, the owners corp can refuse to repair them if and when things go wrong.
But if there’s a by-law permitting the change and ongoing responsibility hasn’t been ascribed to the lot owner, then the owners corp can find themselves having to repair something that is effectively a single lot owner’s property.
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Larry lives in Sydney (I removed the suburb because it too closely identified the building – my bad!).
The dog owner would only be in breach if there was a by-law covering the canine urination (rather than there not being a by-law or clause allowing it). And it may well be that their pet by-laws cover the animal’s behaviour.
That said, the balcony is common property so the strata committee should be able to find something on the books for which he could be pinged.
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