[Jimmy-T]

An individual can basically film anything they want (video only, not sound) provided they aren’t breaking any other laws – and bear in mind that there is no “right” to privacy under Australian law.

To put it another way, if I stand on the street and film the inside of your home, I am not breaking any law (provided I’m not doing it for some salacious, Peeping Tom purposes).  But if I stand in your garden and do it, I’m trespassing.

Likewise, if I stand on my balcony and film my car – or yours, for that matter – I am breaking no laws.

A camera on your window sill filming your car might be in breach of common property by-laws (the window is probably common property) and a dummy camera fixed to, say, a balcony ceiling would be potentially illegal for the same reason – not because they are cameras (fake or otherwise) but because they have been attached to common property without permission.

But if you put a camera on a tripod and trained it on your car, no one could have any complaints (apart from Mr Jenkins in the ground floor unit who likes to sunbathe naked).

And be careful of fake cameras.  If someone thought they were safe because there was a camera trained on them (in a lift, say) but it turned out to be a dummy and an assailant knew that, the person who installed the fake camera could be partially liable for damages.

Also, different rules apply to corporations but I think of your strata scheme has a turnover of less than $3 million a year (someone please correct me if I’m wrong)  then privacy restrictions don’t apply. 

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[Jimmy-T]

@Flame Tree said:

I’ve heard a whisper that Queensland might be falling towards having professional managers oversee all the committee decision making and job executions. I can certainly see the value in that for quality, and taking the stress out of being on a committee in the first place.  

It’s a good idea … but isn’t that kind of what strata managers are supposed to do?

And who would choose the manager?  If it’s the committee, then some managers will toe the party line rather than risk losing their jobs.

And you would want rock-solid certification.  Not one single strata manager in NSW has ever been deregistered for incompetence.  Not one!

Strata in all the Eastern states should be its own government department with its own tribunal system – then we will sort the wheat from the chaff. 

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[Jimmy-T]

@goldy11 said:
Question? Should the generic by-law be added to the owner’s title?  

All by-laws are part of your title anyway.  The generic by-law, used for a specific lot, would ascribe repair and maintenance of affected common property to that lot.  You wouldn’t need to link the by-law to the title as that is assumed.

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[Jimmy-T]

This is a tactic often used to discourage owners from having too many swipes floating around – each of them being another chink in your overall security.  But surely these charges can only be for replacement swipes. If a new swipe is needed for reasons other than loss or damage by the lot owner then the OC should replace it free of charge.

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[Jimmy-T]

@Austman said:

If the “outgoing” manager is still under a valid contract and has not broken any of their requirements under the OC Act, it’s unlikely they can be removed.  

Good point.  There is a contractual obligation on both sides and the owners corp is heading for potentially costly murky waters if it decides to rescind a contract without good and legally enforceable reason.

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[Jimmy-T]

It makes a lot of sense for your OC to create a one size fits all by-law for renovations like yours.  If they decline, tell them that you will make damned sure each of them pays full fare whenever they want to do work on their flats.  It’s time we stopped this rort (at worst) or laziness (at best) of demanding individual by-laws for identical work.

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[Jimmy-T]

Firstly. you can assume that you are not the only owner being disadvantaged by this obvious “gaming” of your strata schemes finances.

So get in touch with other owners and discuss the possibility of hiring a specialist strata lawyer to help you sort this out. 

Initial consultation should be free at which you should be given a reasonable idea of probable expenses and the likelihood of success or otherwise.

The State Administration Tribunal has the capacity to sort out a lot of the problems that you have reported – not least the complete disregard for strata law and fair dealing.

If you haven’t already done so, you will find their guide to strata living available for download here.

If your internal dispute processes (as outlined in your by-laws, if at all) have failed to achieve a satisfactory resolution, the SAT can rule on any or all of the following:

Some of the orders which SAT may make include:

• to settle disputes or complaints in relation to a scheme.
• varying the amount of strata levies or the manner in which these are to be paid.
• various orders in relation to by-laws made by the strata company, or where the strata company has refused to make certain by-laws.
• that strata levies are to be apportioned on the basis of unit entitlement or on some other basis.
• to change the schedule of unit entitlement on the strata or survey-strata plan.

Talk to your neighbours, have a look at THIS FACT SHEET and consult a specialist strata lawyer (it will have to be a specialist – your family solicitor or general conveyancing lawyer is unlikely to have the knowledge or experience).

And yes, you will have to get some sort of surveyor in but if the people who are rorting the system put up too much resistance, they could end up footing the bill.

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[Jimmy-T]

Just getting back to basics – this is the fault of the next door neighbour, regardless of whose insurance covers what. They are the ones who should be running around trying to find out what THEIR insurance covers.

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[Jimmy-T]

I think and unfixed floating floor is exactly what it saya it is – it sits on top of the floor and hadn’t been drilled, screwed, glued ot otherwise attached.

The difference a by-law would make would be that it would ascribe responsibility for repair and maintenance of the floor to either the lot owner or the OC. The insurer would base their response on that.

If it turns out that the floor is not common property and your insurer refuses to cover the damage, you need to make a claim against the neighbour through your local court, if need be.  

By the way, I notice Strata Community Australia no longer carries the “Who’s Responsible …” document on their website. 

Along with the demise of their excellent online training program for strata committee members, it’s another reason you might want to rethink your membership of the strata manager body’s Owners section and move to the independent Owners Corporation Network.

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[Jimmy-T]

@williamwa said:
It seems impossible to have unit entitlements changed it needs a surveyor or valuer to price every unit and in large villages like ours it will never happen.  

Can you confirm which state you are in?

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[Jimmy-T]

I think the “floating” floor would be considered common property and it is up to the Owners Corp to fix it and then claim any excess payments from the bareless neighbour who caused the damage.

I’ve never heard of a floor being considered “contents” and even if it wasn’t strictly common property, it would be covered by OC insurance as a permanent fixture (unless there was a by-law in place to say otherwise).

Claim against the OC and then they can claim against the neighbour, if need be.

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[Jimmy-T]

One anomaly of the 1985 WA strata laws is that the Owners Corp can pass a by-law to set a special levy that is paid equally by all owners and not on the basis of unit entitlements.

It’s an invitation to the larger property owners (who have the greatest voting power) to underestimate their levies then heap the shortfall on to everybody else equally.

There is a review of strata laws in WA underway – can’t come too soon IMHO.

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[Jimmy-T]

Assuming you are in NSW, the Act here says this:

83   Levying of contributions

(2)  Contributions levied by an owners corporation must be levied in respect of each lot and are payable (subject to this section and section 82) by the owners in shares proportional to the unit entitlements of their respective lots.

Then, you can apply for orders under this section:

87   Orders varying contributions or payment methods

(1)  The Tribunal may, on application, make either or both of the following orders if the Tribunal considers that any amount levied or proposed to be levied by way of contributions is inadequate or excessive or that the manner of payment of contributions is unreasonable:

(a)  an order for payment of contributions of a different amount,

(b)  an order for payment of contributions in a different manner.

(2)  An application for an order may be made by the lessor of a leasehold strata scheme, an owners corporation, an owner or a mortgagee in possession.

And you can ask for the excess money back under this provision

 

88   Effect of order varying contributions where payments have been made

If a contribution that is the subject of an order by the Tribunal under this Division has been wholly or partly paid:

(a)  an order to pay more has effect as if the owners corporation had decided to levy a contribution equal to the difference, and

(b)  an order to pay less imposes a duty on the owners corporation to refund the difference.

And finally, you can seek a reallocation of the unit entitlements under this section (click here).

However, if you are in WA as your name suggests, a completely different set of laws apply but they may have the same effect.

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[Jimmy-T]

We have had similar lengthy discussions on a similar matter HERE. when an owner and her non-owner lawyer sister would both attend meetings and both speak in an effort to harangue the committee

Agreeing on standing orders that limited speakers to one voice per vote worked, up to a point – that point being when the owner became so distressed she was offered the opportunity to step outside and compose herself, which she did … then complained she had been excluded from the meeting! People! What can you do?

But it’s worth looking at the whole standing orders thing if this is an issue for your scheme.  Just search “standing orders” (use the magnifying glass symbol at the top of your screen) and you’ll get pages of valuable insights.

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[Jimmy-T]

@Nettie said:
Jimmy suggested not to go to Fair Trading for mediation. Is community justice a better option from your point of view?

I’ve gone to a mediation at Fair Trading in the past and found it very frustrating.  The mediator got very annoyed with me when I corrected her on a couple of points of strata law.  And then her whole approach to the mediation was a joke.

She thought compromise was a desirable solution when it was quite clear the other party was in the wrong and he even said so himself.  All I wanted was a commitment that he wouldn’t play music at rock concert volumes at 3am and he said he wouldn’t guarantee it.  The mediator said I had to decide whether it was the volume of the music or the time it was played.

OK, that was one mediator in one case  and I could have told FT that I was coming in and I would have got the gold standard treatment, I’m sure.  But that’s hardly the point, is it?

Anyway, I would rather have a mediation by someone who doesn’t pretend to know strata law when they don’t.  And right now both Fair Trading and NCAT are seriously underfunded and understaffed.  

Meeting the strata manager and chair on your own is not a mediation – it’s a potential confrontation (regardless of how well-intentioned the other party is). You need a referee and a “second” too if you can find one.

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