[Jimmy-T]

@Mr Wong said:

 

Jimmy T perhaps? I’ve heard you talk at SCA and you have a good turn of phrase.  

I don’t know about that but I do know that I have just spent half an hour sorting out all your posts and quotes of your own posts and repetitions of posts and moving them to new topics.

PLEASE if you have a different strand of question that requires pages of text, start a new topic.  We started talking about the new by-laws and the pet and smoking options and suddenly we have screeds about renovations.

ALSO, please don’t click the ‘QUOTE’ button when all you have is an additional point to make.

The quote button is there for you to identify a specific line in a previous post (if you need to).  So, if you use the quoted material, edit it down to the line you are responding to (like I did above).

I just deleted pages and pages of quoted material that was long to begin with. The previous posts are still there – you don’t have to quote it.  No one is going to read your questions if they have to wade through the same material, in its entirety, time and time again.

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[Jimmy-T]

Get in touch with the Owners Corporation Network which is basically an organisation for the committee members of strata schemes.  There may be someone there who can provide a template into which you can plug your buildings requirements.

I believe Stratabox and (other strata management software programs) have a maintenance plan module in their software too.

But if anyone has a spreadsheet they don’t mind sharing, please post it here.

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[Jimmy-T]

@peaceandquiet said:
I was wondering if moving into a strata place with a strict body corp might protect us from noisy / malicious neighbours?  

In the great (and rather tiresome) debate over whether living in a house is better than living in an apartment, I often cite exactly this issue as support for the latter.

It may be that you are more likely to be disturbed by noisy neighbours – due to more people living in close proximity – but it’s also the case that you are less likely to be the only one who suffers.

And if you are not alone, you are less likely to be singles out for retribution if you complain.

In reality, it’s not the laws and by-laws that matter as much as the diligence with which they are enforced, and that changes from building to building.

I would not buy or rent in an apartment block without making sure of how many complaints about noise they’d had and how they had been dealt with.

No evidence of noise complaints could mean two things – either everyone is well-behaved or the committee, building manager or strata manager don’t take complaints seriously (especially if they are frequent).

The only way you will get an true answer is by asking a question in the block you are interested in.  But if you find a block where antisocial behaviour is jumped on and dealt with effectively, grab it. 

Other buildings will tolerate disturbance because it suits the majority of residents’ lifestyles.  Others won’t and that’s where you want to be.

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[Jimmy-T]

@Lady Penelope said:
A common water meter is not unusual in older buildings in NSW.

They’re not unknown in newer buildings either, if the developer decides to save money by putting in one meter for the building rather that one for each unit. We’ve even heard of one block where the owner decided to install only one water meter and one gas meter for the whole building.

If the building has a centralised hot water system, there might be additional charges based on your unit entitlements.

The only way to establish this is to ask your strata manager on what basis bills are calculated. By far the most efficient way is for each unit to have its own meters – because that way energy conscious residents aren’t subsidising the flatmates and airbnb backpackers downstairs who spend hours in the showers.

But they are notoriously expensive to retrofit so there will be resistance to any moves to upgrade.  However, if you can get a majority to agree, the minority will fall into line when they discovered that fewer people are sharing the bills blown out by over-use.

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[Jimmy-T]

@Lady Penelope said:
City of Sydney Council appears pretty keen to change the status quo, not only for itself but for the whole of NSW.

City of Sydney have been very disappointing in their attitude to short-term lets in apartments – especially since they have more apartment blocks than any other council in Australia. I characterised their submission to the Coure inquiry (which said pretty much what you have here) as a betrayal of apartment residents.

However, their media person said this in a recent email to me on their official position on short-term letting: “The City believes that owners’ corporations should have improved powers to manage the impacts of short-term letting.”

Does that mean additional fines after the event? Or the ability to reject short-stay letting?  If it’s the latter, the prospects may not be as bleak as we fear.

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[Jimmy-T]

@Lady Penelope said:
Approvals usually don’t restrict short term use, but that can vary from building to building. 

It sure can.  Around here, City of Sydney is very specific in not only saying that buildings are residential only but in defining what that means (three months or more).

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[Jimmy-T]

@dwmyhome said:
Question.  Once the damage is fixed who’s responsibility is to paint the ceilings and internal walls to restore them to the original condition.  

This is an interesting one and it is an ssue I have had a lot of arguments over the years with the powers that be:

Basically, if the ceiling and paintwork are damaged during the fixing of the problem then the Owners Corp has to pay for the repair and repaint.

However, if the paintwork is damaged by the original problem (and not by the repair) then the OC is not liable – unless you can show that the original problem was caused by their negligence.

So, for instance, if a gutter pipe broke and wasn’t repaired and that caused damage to your internal paintwork, they would be liable.

But if the guttering was merely unable to cope with flooding rain, then they would not and you would claim the paintwork on your home and contents insurance.

In your case, it’s a grey area – if they tried to fix the problem but it didn’t work. Were they negligent?  Hard to argue.  But if they didn’t even try then yes, they would be.

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[Jimmy-T]

@dwmyhome said:
no one is listening to us.  

Apply to Fair Trading for mediation with the Owners Corporation.  If you don’t then get a written and binding undertaking to fix the problem, tell them that you will be taking the Owners Corporation to NCAT for orders forcing them to fix the problem under their responsibilities to maintain and repair common property.

It’s not easy but it does work.  You don’t even have to hire a lawyer.  There is lots of information on this website about how to do this, if you look around. 

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[Jimmy-T]

I’m not sure why you don’t want them to try a flood test – wouldn’t that confirm your belief that there is a leak?

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[Jimmy-T]

There is a bit of confusion here becasue the Secretary in the Act sometimes refers to the secretary of Fair Trading.

Anyway, this is what my person from the Ministry told me:

They would prefer owners to sort these things out amicably and internally.  If you want to use a mediator (maybe the chair of another building) that’s fine, as long as everyone agrees on the outcome.

However, if there is a serious prospect of this requiring adjudication at NCAT you should contact Fair Trading about getting approval for mediation which could be through them, the Community Justice Centre or a professional service.

Once you have approval, you can proceed in the knowledge that the mediation or attempted mediation will be accepted as the mandatory precursor of  an application to NCAT.

Don’t forget that mediation only has to be attempted – if the respondent to a complaint refuses to participate an approved effort to mediate still counts.

And there are some issues that don’t require mediation.  Also, the mediation form says that if you want to have a pet in a building whose by-laws clearly say “no pets” they will not accept an application for mediation.

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[Jimmy-T]

@tharra said:
Why isn’t the solution to this mess sheeted back to the purveyors of short term lets like AirBNB? Currently they put the onus on hosts to comply with all legislation.

Right at the start, a couple of years ago, I remember an Airbnb flack telling me that they “made sure” their hosts complied with local laws.

When I pressed them on this, it turned out “making sure” was asking them to tick a box saying they were allowed to let their apartment.

“So,” said I.  “What if the owners corporation sends you a copy of their by-laws and a copy of their zoning to show the host does not have permission?  What do you do then?”

That’s between the host and their owners corporation and council, said the Airbnb person, adding that if anyone had a complaint about an illegal airbnb let, they would pass it on to the host – and that’s all.

It is this carefully cultivated and religiously maintained grey area that has allowed airbnb to spread and flourish around the world.  Individual greed and lack of corporate responsibility matched with a robustly nurtured mythology of “helping ordinary people to share their homes” have created a monster.

But it’s interesting what happens when an even bigger monster enters the arena.  Last year the City of London told airbnb that they didn’t care about the letting agency’s “privacy policies”.  

If airbnb couldn’t control holiday letting of homes that were supposed to be residential, then the council would.

Guess what happened.  Airbnb in London, unlike anywhere else in the world, agreed to de-list properties that breached the council’s limits on holiday lets.

It’s a shame that our councils and politicians here in Sydney can’t wait to roll over and let Airbnb tickle their tummies. 

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[Jimmy-T]

As a first option, I would try to resolve this with a phone call.

If that didn’t work, I would be sending them a letter asking them to:

a) explain why they called the EGM in the first place

b) why they did not consult with the committee beforehand

c) why they thought it appropriate to charge for a meeting that was not required and not held.

It may be that they technically have the authority to do any or all of these things but that doesn’t mean they should, just because they can

If your committee agrees, I would also say that the committee considers this a serious breach of trust and reserves the right to take this matter further if a satisfactory resolution is not reached.

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[Jimmy-T]

@Ali said:
Two owners recently sold and their units are now tenanted. I asked the SM for the new owners contact details but he said he could not give them to me for privacy reasons.  

This old chestnut … your strata manager is WRONG!

As a member of the Owners Corporation – i.e. an owner – you are entitled to view all of its official documents. This includes the strata roll which must, according to Section 98 (below) contain the name and address of owners for the service of documents.

FYI: Section 119 referred to (also below) explains how owners can be fined $550 for not informing the Owners Corporation of the details of new leases.

This is basic strata management stuff. You might want to check when your strata manager last had any update in their professional training.

98   What must be recorded in the strata roll?

(1)  There must be recorded in the strata roll in relation to a particular lot:

(a)  the owner’s name and an Australian address for service of notices or the name of the owner’s agent appointed in accordance with Part 3 of Chapter 4 and the agent’s Australian address for service of notices, and

(b)  information provided under section 118 or obtained from the Register in connection with the lot, and

(c)  information provided under section 119.

 

119   Notice to be given to owners corporation of leases or subleases

(1)  If a lot is leased, the lessor must give notice of the lease, in accordance with this section, to the owners corporation within 14 days after the commencement of the lease.

Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.

(2)  If a lot is subleased, the sublessor must give notice of the sublease, in accordance with this section, to the owners corporation within 14 days after the commencement of the sublease.

Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.

(3)  If a lease or sublease of a lot is assigned, the assignor must give notice of the assignment, in accordance with this section, to the owners corporation within 14 days after the execution of the assignment.

Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.

(4)  The notice must specify:

(a)  the name of the lessee, sublessee or assignee, and

(b)  the date of commencement or assignment of the lease or sublease, as the case requires, and

(c)  the name of any agent acting for the owner in respect of the lease or sublease.

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[Jimmy-T]

@gwotam said:
Until the question is judicially considered by a Court, Fair Trading’s ‘advice’ is merely its opinion.

Even if Fair Trading is correct in that that owners can only pursue illegal short-term lets through council, Councils hesitate to get involved and are under no legal obligation to act. Leaving impacted strata owners without any legal or practical remedy.  

And there lies the problem – if your by-law is challenged, you have to go to court. This is now pretty much inevitable.  

It’s a shame Airbnb doesn’t support legal challenges by owners corporations the way they do renters who want to climb aboard the holiday letting gravy train. Ha! 

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[Jimmy-T]

@apickles said:
Yet again more misinformation from the Ministerial spokespeople on this topic. It is completely incorrect to say that only local councils can enforce planning laws that restrict short term letting. 

For the record, I asked the Ministry twice to check if this was true.  I told them what I was going to write and that I really didn’t want to get it wrong.  I asked them what the point was of getting independent advice if the ruling was that you couldn’t have a by-law. What they wrote back was what I published.

Could they have got it so spectacularly wrong? Wouldn’t be the first time.

By the way the Attorney-General’s office (who look after NCAT) refused to confirm or deny as they will not offer legal advice.

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