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@david2708 said:
If you have a building that looks like the dregs, then that is the people you attract to it.And if you have a building that looks like an institution …?
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A survey like this has no standing in law and it sounds as if it was just used to either gauge the opinions of residents or get the conversation going or both.
Tenants may not have a vote but their opinions are important – or they should be. For most schemes, a survey like this would be the only time ALL residents’ views were heard.
Your only problem is if someone on the committee says the majority of people are in favour and therefore the proposal had been accepted (which could be very easily knocked over at the tribunal).
The proposals still have to go to a proper vote at a properly constituted meeting at which tenants will not even be able to speak, let alone vote.
Surely it’s better to have a straw poll to get a sense of the residents’ feeling than it is to just present them with a proposal conjured out of thin air. I would applaud the committee for making the effort to find out what people think.
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I’m going to take a wild guess here and say the developer had planned for this to be a parking space but the council limited the number of parking spaces (as they do) or realised they were smaller than the standard size and so rejected them, so the developers were left with designated areas that they couldn’t call parking spaces.
I really wouldn’t worry until someone tells you you can’t park your car there. When they do, as Sir Humphrey suggests, tell them you aren’t parking, you’re storing your car.
Or put up a notice asking if anyone with a spare car space would like to swap it on a semi permanent basis for a secure storage area.
Given the shortage of storage in most strata blocks, I’m betting you will get offers.
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Two things:
Firstly, under section 232 (1, e) and (2) (below) you can take the owners corp to NCAT for failure to fulfill its statutory duties once you have asked them to do so.
Secondly, click on the ad for our sponsors Lannock and find out how much it would cost to get a strata loan to complete the works without everyone in the building being hit with a crippling special levy.
There really is no excuse for not pushing ahead with this – your committee needs a rocket under it and Section 232 is the one that lights the blue touch paper.
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:
(e) an exercise of, or failure to exercise, a function conferred or imposed by or under this Act or the by-laws of a strata scheme,(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.If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
Well, for a start, they have altered common property without a by-law assigning future repair and maintenance to the lot owners.
I wouldn’t be seeking confidentiality. I’d be telling them they need to fix this, apply for retrospective permission and pay the bills or you will be standing up at the next AGM and giving the other owners chapter and verse about how strata law has been breached and they have been ripped off.
Give them the chance to put things right first – if they refuse, release the hounds!
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Just one more point, if you are in dispute with the owner over who is responsible for the damage, you don’t have to repair the common property until the dispute is resolved. (See below)
106 Duty of owners corporation to maintain and repair property
(1) An owners corporation for a strata scheme must properly maintain and keep in a state of good and serviceable repair the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation.
(2) An owners corporation must renew or replace any fixtures or fittings comprised in the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation.(4) If an owners corporation has taken action against an owner or other person in respect of damage to the common property, it may defer compliance with subsection (1) or (2) in relation to the damage to the property until the completion of the action if the failure to comply will not affect the safety of any building, structure or common property in the strata scheme.
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The act allows a tremendous amount of leeway for strata committee members who act “in good faith”.
However, you can puncture that protective balloon by writing to them and telling them that they are running the building improperly, maintenance can only be decided by the owners corporation (or the strata committee acting on their behalf) and that in future – now that they know there are procedures that have to be followed – committee members who make arbitrary decisions without holding meetings with proper agendas and votes could be held personally responsible for the costs of the work or any complaints against them.
That should get their attention. If it doesn’t point out the following clauses in the Act.
9 Owners corporation responsible for management of strata scheme
(1) The owners corporation for a strata scheme has the principal responsibility for the management of the scheme.
(2) The owners corporation has, for the benefit of the owners of lots in the strata scheme:
(a) the management and control of the use of the common property of the strata scheme, and
(b) the administration of the strata scheme.
(3) The owners corporation has responsibility for the following:
(a) managing the finances of the strata scheme (see Part 5),
(b) keeping accounts and records for the strata scheme (see Parts 5 and 10),
(c) maintaining and repairing the common property of the strata scheme (see Part 6),
(d) taking out insurance for the strata scheme (see Part 9).10 Functions of owners corporation generally
(1) An owners corporation has such other functions as may be conferred or imposed on it by or under this or any other Act.
(2) An owners corporation must not delegate any of its functions to a person unless the delegation is specifically authorised by this Act.Re section 10 (2), I can’t find anything that specifically allow the owners corp of committee to delegate decisions on maintenance to one person.
37 Duty of members of strata committee
It is the duty of each member of a strata committee of an owners corporation to carry out his or her functions for the benefit, so far as practicable, of the owners corporation and with due care and diligenceIf you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
In most jurisdictions this would be considered a change of use by the local council so it is to them that you should complain.
Regarding the smoking, do you have your “non-smoking agreement” enshrined in a by-law. If not you can still look at state health regulations regarding smoking at or near a business.
Under section 21 of the standard Qld tenancy agreement (below) the tenant need special permission from the owner to use the property as anything else than a residence. If the owner hasn’t given that permission, then they have grounds for eviction
You also have to ask if this business is using separately metered water and if its presence affects your insurance.
Sir Humphrey is right to say that plenty of people use their homes or garages for small business – I am doing it right now – but one of the key questions is if that business has any impact on residents and, especially, if there in increased foot traffic through the scheme because of it.
That said, there can be compromises. Free hair-dos for the residents, perhaps? I have heard of a townhouse where one owner illegally kept a race horse in his yard – but repaid the flexibility of his neighbours with hot betting tips.
21 Tenant’s use of premises – ss 10 and 184
(1) The tenant may use the premises only as a place of residence or mainly as a place of residence or for another use allowed under a special term.
(2) The tenant must not –
(a) use the premises for an illegal purpose; or
(b) cause a nuisance by the use of the premises; or Examples of things that may constitute a nuisance –
• using paints or chemicals on the premises that go onto or cause odours on adjoining land
• causing loud noises
• allowing large amounts of water to escape onto adjoining land
(c) interfere with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of a neighbour of the tenant; or
(d) allow another person on the premises to interfere with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of a neighbour of the tenant.If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
All of Sir Humphrey’s advice but I would also think about proposing a motion to the SC about inappropriate behaviour and/or a request that
a) the SC establishes acceptable protocols for its members when dealing with issues (see below) and
b) it consider issuing a Notice to Comply to the self-appointed StrataKop for unacceptable behaviour while on common property.Now a) is worth pursuing as it would establish clear boundaries for the future and it could be something like:
In the event of a suspected by-law breach any owner or resident may:
1. Approach the alleged miscreant and politely ask them to cease.
2. Report the by-law breach to the committee, in writing.
3. Provide evidence of or witness statements related to the by-law breach.
4. Propose a motion to the committee calling for further action including mediation and/or the issuing of a Notice To Comply.
NB: When acting alone, committee members have no additional authority or responsibility beyond that which applies to ordinary lot owners or residents in the building.
Now, although b) is unlikely to fly, it sends a clear message to your StrataKop that they are in the wrong and have crossed a line as far as their general behaviour is concerned and would certainly bring their control freak tendencies out in the open for general discussion.
You might also request a personal apology from the resident concerned to your son – just to show him that adults can be idiots but it’s rarely the end of the world.
Don’t forget that the strata Act empowers owners corps to arrange their own internal mediation and this would be an appropriate forum for a personal apology.
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I would take a very slightly different tack. Send the owner a letter demanding that the common property walls etc be repaired and let them try to prove that it’s a building defect. There must be adjoining lots that don’t have these problems.
If they don’t respond, take action at NCAT including orders to access the property to undertake the repairs at the lot owner’s expense.
Be sure to keep ever scrap of paper and diarise every phone call that refers to damage from windows being left open.
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@Frank said:
Beside the point though, interested in what our options are now that we’ve established the source of the damage. Surely lot owners can’t just wash their hands and pass the buck to whichever Joe/Jane they decide to rent their property to?Not sure what you mean by that. If the tenants did the damage then the landlords should get compensation from them. If they can’t, that’s their tough luck. Unless its genuine failure of common property rather than damage by tenants or other occupants, this should not be paid by the owners corp.
In fact they should be insisting the lot owner pays. Owners corps are not a charity for the benefit of landlords who are too slack to manage their investments properly.
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Sadly we don’t have that here in NSW. There is no code of conduct per se but Section 37 says “It is the duty of each member of a strata committee of an owners corporation to carry out his or her functions for the benefit, so far as practicable, of the owners corporation and with due care and diligence.”
In terms of removing the chair, there are three options.
The first is to put a motion to the executive committee that the position of chair be declared vacant and the strata committee should elect a new member.
Unless the majority of members of the committee feel the same as you do and there is someone prepared to take her place, the best you can hope for is that this would bring matters to a head and she might be shamed into moderating her behaviour once you have spoken to the motion at the SC meeting.
And bear in mind that even if replaced, the member would still be on the committee, just no longer as chair.
The second option is to seek a general meeting at which you get 75 percent of the votes to remove her from the committee completely. Since people keep electing her, this is unlikely to fly, regardless of how many other people she has upset.
The third option is to seek orders at NCAT under section 238(a) to remove the person from the committee or 238(c) to remove a person from office (see below).
However, to do so you would have to prove that they had failed to comply with the Act or the regulations or the by-laws of the strata scheme, or failed to exercise due care and diligence, or engaged in serious misconduct while holding the office.
That is a very tough call if you are the only person speaking against her. I would suggest talking to a couple of other members of the committee, telling them that you are at the end of your tether and that you want her brought into line before you are forced to pursue one of the above options which, regardless of the outcome, would be disruptive to the community and distressing for all involved.
238 Orders relating to strata committee and officers
(1) The Tribunal may, on its own motion or on application by an interested person, make any of the following orders:
(a) an order removing a person from a strata committee,
(c) an order removing one or more of the officers of an owners corporation from office and from the strata committee.(2) Without limiting the grounds on which the Tribunal may order the removal from office of a person, the Tribunal may remove a person if it is satisfied that the person has:
(a) failed to comply with this Act or the regulations or the by-laws of the strata scheme, or
(b) failed to exercise due care and diligence, or engaged in serious misconduct, while holding the office.If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
@Kendle said:
My rates levy will be $178 whilst I am currently paying $133 via my various insurances. $50 increase…but better than I’d fearedSeems high
Are you calcualting by the lower land value as instructed here: https://fesl.nsw.gov.au/rates_and_calculator#130412 ?
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I’m going to disagree with Lady P on this one. Care of the common property in a lot is the responsibility of the lot owner, as is the behaviour of their tenants. If the lot owner didn’t spot the damage in their inspections between tenants, then the fact that they have missed the chance to claim against the bond is down to them and their agent. It doesn’t mean they are not responsible.
It’s similar to someone saying “my insurance won’t pay for the damage I caused there fore I am not responsible.” Is the owners corp liable becasue some other owners saw the damage being caused? I don’t think so.
In this specific instance, I would tell the lot owner that they can either repair it themselves or let the Owners Corp repair it and charge them accordingly. And, unless it was dangerous, I wouldn’t be rushing to repair anything until the lot owner accepted responsibility.
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