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I have to admit this is a new one on me – and that’s surprisinng when there are so many old apartment blocks with awnings underneath. Would it be easier just to forget the permanet awning and replace it with electrically operated canvas shades that roll up automatically when the wind gets up? Or has that already been considered and dismissed.
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It sound like you have tripped over either a rort or, just maybe, an accounting and invoice error.
I think in your position, I would submit a motion to the next strata committee meeting, asking why there are invoices that seem to suggest that the secretary has used OC funds on their own property and give the person concerned the opportunity to go on the record to say that this has never happened and explain the mistake.
If they fail to do so then you put the same motion to a general meeting (where it must be put on the agenda). This time I would add “give reason why these funds should not be remitted back to the OC.”
If that fails, it’s off to NCAT with whatever charge or claim you think is most likely to stick.
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I’m not 100 per cent sure what you are trying to do here but it sounds like you want the Tribunal to order the strata scheme not to charge you for repairs on your intercom. I’m looking at the standard Strata application form and the phrase “points of claim” are not on it.
Are you applying online? If so, can you send a screenshot of where the form asks for “points of claim”.
For what it’s worth, I think the section of the Act that you need to apply through is 232 for a resolution of a dispute. But I’m wondering if the cost of the application and all the stress isn’t more than the cost of the repair.
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But it’s unlikely you can get compensation, but it is worthwhile asking.
Really? Common property is being repaired for the benefit of all owners – why should one unfortunate owner have to bear the cost of relocation? I would run this all the way through NCAT and beyond if it happened to me.
Actually, most of the above response is factually incorrect and seriously misleading (to the point where I am tempted to bin it). But it has value in pointing out the real facts, by way of contrast.
For instance, you don’t have to prove that the OC has been negligent when common property needs to be repaired. It’s a legal requirement under strata law. Buildings get old and start to crumble. The OC still has to fix them.
The comparison with a free-standing home is irrelevant. There is no common property in a free-standing home. Floors and ceilings are common property because someone’s ceiling is someone else’s floor and, in this case, the slab is part of the structure of the building.
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But I understand the manager’s reluctance to provide the owner’s emails. If you do email to all the other owners, some of them will complain to the strata manager about their email address being made available.
The simple answer is for a strata scheme to have its own website or email hub. Kind of like a work email address, email addresses would be related to the unit number, then owners could choose whether or not to even look at the emails without giving too much information to all and sundry. You can set up an email host for less than $20 per user per year, depending on how much mail you are likely to be using (not a lot, would be the norm). If people are that bothered about online security the cost of three coffees a year won’t kill them.
BTW, NSW strata law says that if you have an email address you must provide it to the strata roll. Sadly, it doesn’t say whether or not that can be excluded from the strata roll when other owners ask to see it. Concerns about privacy are legitimate, but so are issues with only one voice – usually the strata chair or secretary – having access to other owners in a scheme.
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Making clear that (since 2014) a Committee member of a Strata Scheme can access all records of the owners corporation held by the strata managing agent at no cost. No exceptions, exemptions, or approvals apply.
Wish I’d known that when our former strata manager at Notstrata refused to provide the strata roll to the secretary because it was “private” and the then strata commissioner declined to say who was right and who was wrong.
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His so called fining of you is him doing as he is told by the strata committee
And it’s illegal.
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Yes, but the owners will be taxed on their share of any income or profit the strata scheme makes (apart from levies). Just saying.
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I have contacted Circle Green who advised they don’t provide assistance with owner vs strata management disputes.
You wrote in the initial post that you are a tenant. Which are you?
Also, have you paid the fines? And what does your friend, the owner, say?
Have a close read of this factsheet as it explains in detail how to resolve a strata dispute in WA.
Finally, you must have hit “send” three times because your last post ended up here three times. Patience! This is not a computerised bot service.
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I have heard of tribunals awarding residents permanent use of chunks of common property on the grounds that they have been using it for years anyway – I don’t know if that counts as adverse possession or not.
The problem is that, while this hasn’t been a problem so far, it doesn’t mean it won’t be in the future.
My thought would be to have a polite chat with the owner to ask them if they would like to lease the property and then impose a few conditions on the deal, such as right of entry in the event of work needing to be done on common property, or a commitment to its upkeep to an acceptable standard.
I think if this was approached from the point of view that nothing needs to change except that the ownership of the area needs to be stablished, that might get a positive response.
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They don’t have the strata roll to defend themselves to everyone.
They should go to the strata manager, pay their 30-odd dollars and make a copy of the strata roll. If the strata manager refuses, they should tell them that action will be taken at Fair Trading as they are in breach of their duties under the Act.
Strata managers are walking on eggshells at the moment, wondering where the next assault will come from. This is a shame for the good operators who really don’t need this crap in their lives but it is keeping the dodgy ones on their toes.
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Despite a long and chequered history of highly dodgy strata managers doing extremely dubious things, in NSW at least, no Strata Manager has ever been “struck off” for being really crap at their jobs.
This has obviously changed with this decision which is currently under appeal: https://www.flatchat.com.au/strata-trap-manager-first-to-be-banned-for-life/
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