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The same by-law that allows for the installation of the CCTV should establish who can view the footage and under what circumstances.
A sensible suggestion might be any strata committee officer, the strata manager/building manager, the police or any lot owner subject to the written approval of the strata committee and at their own expense.
Note I have excluded ordinary strata committee members – that would be a point for discussion.
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‘Bullying’ is becoming overused as a word and it has lost a lot of its potency as a result. It’s getting up there alongside ‘political correctness’ in terms of concepts that have their roots in good intentions but are too easy to be dismissed by the very people they are directed at.
If I were in your shoes, I would put a motion to the meeting that the Strata Committee investigate allegations of vandalism and intimidation of owners with dissenting views to establishing a protocol of acceptable behaviour by strata committee members.
I would put a second motion to the committee that the building invest in security cameras to monitor common property areas to protect owners from vandalism and intimidation.
Strictly speaking, the secretary should not interfere with these motions being presented but the chairman could rule them out of order at the meeting (if they are prepared to deal with the backlash). Even so, it would have served its purpose o0f getting these issues aired, especially if you were to add background information that should also go out with the agenda.
The background would itemise incidents in as unemotive a form as possible such as:
Jan 1, lot owner objects to plan proposed by SC. Jan 2, dissenting lot owner’s car vandalised.
Feb 1, lot owner asks for information re (whatever). SC member becomes threatening and abusive
Mar 1, poster appears on noticeboard saying (whatever) …
So what I am saying is that you don’t directly accuse the strata committee or its members of anything but you make them responsible for dealing with it.
Two things you need to bear in mind here are that you have a lot of leeway to point the finger without any comeback in terms of defamation, provided it is part of the discussions around the running of your building, it is kept within the confines of the building and there is no evidence that your comments were maliciously motivated.
Secondly, the new rules on proxy voting and nominations for the committee mean you could create havoc at the AGM just by turning up and demanding that they follow the rules. For instance, joint owners can’t nominate themselves and people who are not financial can’t nominate anyone. Also, nominations have to be in writing and signed by the proposer.
So you check every nomination in detail – a few will pop out, for sure.
Also, in your building each owner will be limited to two proxy votes so it would be very easy for a group of five people to take over the strata committee (unless the committee is very well organised).
As an alternative to the provocative motions, if I were you, I would quietly get your power block and its proxies sorted out, then just blitz the meeting, take over, deal with the inevitable backlash and move on.
So do your homework and be prepared to stand up and quote chapter and verse of the strata Act and Regulations. If you are ignored or silenced, at the very least you will have grounds for having the strata committee and strata manager sacked some time in the future.
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That is a very good point. I would advise any building that has a swimming pool to monitor its usage now before the shackles are taken off the short-stay letting global mega-corporations so that any costs related to additional use by holiday guests can be sheeted back to those who are profiting most.
And if they set a benchmark at which holiday lets go from complying to “change of use” then you want to make sure that the hosts are paying for every additional expense that causes.
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@hiprooster said:
is half price rent for the term of the project an acceptable offer from the landlord considering the garage/driveway was up usable during this time?Only you can decide that – but I’d take it
Is a lock up garage classified as an interior room to the rental property?
No
How do I go about seeking a fair compensation assessment for this inconvenience, as it took a number of hours to clear out garage and put stuff back, had to find alternative areas to store what was in the garage( couldn’t use the laundry during this time) and so on and so forth?
Calculate your costs based on actual storage fees (regardless of where or not you paid for storage) and add a figure for inconvenience.
Talk to your local Tenants Union for advice (tenants.org.au) and Consumer Affairs for action.
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The solicitor can attend and speak as a proxy for an owner – and should have a written authorisation to do so.
Presumably they will be fully briefed on why they are there and will have their own strategies for dealing with your developer.
But you have to be absolutely clear on what you want to achieve and you have to have all your numbers locked in to make sure you can achieve what you want with the minimum of fuss.
You have the potential to:
1. Elect a committee that doesn’t include the developer (which I would say was a given). You would do this by first setting the number of committee members at a level that only includes those who are on your team – or at least don’t include the owner – and are prepared to serve, then electing only them.
2. Rescind or reject any contracts that are presented that seem suspicious or inflated in any way.
3. Set the budget at a reasonable level and reject any payments that favour the developer.
4. Adopt only the Schedule 2 by-laws as contained in the Strata Scheme Regulations.
I can’t over-stress how critical this is for you and your neighbours. You need a united front and, I hate to say it, but while your heart would want you to be at a funeral, you will be living every day with the consequences if you don’t turn up at your AGM and your plan falls apart.
Get your neighbours informed and activated. Decide on a strategy and follow it through. The lawyer should only be there for if and when chummy starts breaking the rules, to tell him the grounds on which his decisions will be challenged – at his expense – at NCAT.
The answer to question 5 is to hire a solicitor who is prepared to take the fight to the developer, there and then, and explain the facts of life to him in a way that he can’t fail to understand.
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@RoyalN said:
Hello,I left my apartment two weeks before end of my lease. I notified my agent well in advance and requested him to issue me lease break receipt.
My rent was deducted till the end of lease period. But my agent did not issue me a lease break receipt. Instead, he provided me a rental ledger.
I’m not sure what the problem is here. What difference does it make?
NB: I changed the Screen Name for this user as they had used their real name – NOT a good idea when you are involved in an actual dispute.
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The standard lease break fee (below) is based on how much of the tenancy has run but is not obligatory.
41. The tenant agrees that, if the tenant ends the residential tenancy agreement before the end of the fixed term of the agreement, the tenant must pay a break fee of the following amount:
41.1 if the fixed term is for 3 years or less, 6 weeks rent if less than half of the term has expired or 4 weeks rent in any other case, or
41.2 if the fixed term is for more than 3 years, [specify amount]:If there is no break fee, the Tenants Union advises this in their Factsheet No 16: Ending Tenancy Early
Negotiate an agreed amount of compensation with the landlord/agent. (The landlord may agree not to be compensated.) Discuss whether the landlord will claim from your bond. Put any agreement in writing.
If you cannot come to an agreement, the landlord/agent may apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal for an order that you pay a certain amount in compensation. The landlord must:
provide the Tribunal with details of their losses (e.g. lost rent, advertising costs, an agent’s re-letting fee)
outline the steps they took to minimise their losses (e.g. advertising for a new tenant without delay).
In the meantime:
Keep negotiating. You may come to an agreement before the Tribunal hearing.
Claim your bond back. See Factsheet 03: Bond.
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The very handy “Who’s responsible ..?” (there’s a link here to the NSW SCA version) document says thisin explanatory note 25:
Tiles on a boundary wall or floor are the responsibility of the owners corporation. All other tiles are the owners responsibility. The two exceptions are:
1. The tiles on the 2nd floor of a townhouse that was built prior to 1st July 1974. The tiles on the floor in this case are the Owners responsibility.
2. The tiles were laid by the owner and are subject to a bylaw.
Couldn’t be much clearer. If your building isn’t pre-1974, or the tiles aren’t subject to a special resolution by-law, print it out, show it to the committee, tell them to stop working on how they want the Act to be and start operating on the basis of how things are.
Your committee needs to get a strata manager who knows what he or she is doing before you end up with serious costs because of their incompetence.
By the way, in your shoes I would be demanding compensation for the incorrect payments you made for repairing common property too.
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There is a professional body for strata managers in Victoria – the SCA – but they are more inclined to protect the interests of their members than their members’ clients.
Consumer Affairs Victoria has a page on Owners Corporation Managers but they tend to be very loosely regulated.
And regarding the “favouritism” you will find that most strata managers will give some sort of preference to the people they think are going to be deciding whether or not they get their contract renewed. This is not corruption – it’s human nature.
Get on the committee and be a force for positive change. Just because there’s a brick wall, it doesn’t mean you have to bang your head off it.
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@Faraway girl said:
At last the 5th Apartment in our 14 Lot Strata Scheme has been sold ( with, we have been told, a requirement in the contract that the developer holds the proxy).As has been explained elsewhere, the proxy demanded as part of the contract is invalid under section 27 of the Act. Your problem is getting someone to get it through the developer’s skull that he can’t ignore the law.
We bought into this Strata Scheme because we were told by the developer that it was for older residents or those residents who have disabilities.
Is there a difference in the development requirements for long term residential Strata units and short term.?
You need to check the development consent and under what terms it was authorised. It sounds to me as if your developer doesn’t have the appropriate consents for this and you can pass by-laws insisting that the council zoning be observed.
But first you need to get your strata manager on board.
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Check your building’s by-laws to see if they have the standard clause (or variation thereof) that says: “The owners corporation is responsible for cleaning regularly all exterior surfaces of glass in windows and doors that cannot be accessed by the owner or occupier of the lot safely or at all.”
If it’s there, write to the strata manager, building manager or committee and politely ask why the windows haven’t been cleaned.
You could also ask if the fly screens are original.
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Yes. it does seem a bit mad but I can’t see any other interpretation of Section 9 (4)[see above].
Cutting out the extraneous non-relevant bits you get: “A member of the strata committee is not entitled to vote … if the member … was nominated … by a member who was an unfinancial owner … at the date notice of the meeting was given and the amounts owed … were not paid before the meeting.
You can’t be nominated by an unfinancial owner in the first place – which might be another interpretation – but then your nomination would be invalid and you wouldn’t be on the committee.
Interestingly, this refers to members, not lot owners so maybe it only applies if you were nominated to the committee by a member of the committee who later on becomes unfinancial.
I will dig a little further
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None of our sponsors have gone “belly up” so I would be informing all your committee of this and asking the strata manager why they are providing false information on this? What’s in it for them?
You can certainly apply to NCAT to have orders put in place to halt the work, provided you can show that the decision was made in a way that didn’t comply with the Act or Regulations (see below).
The key question is, has the Act been breached or ignored and you could argue that the owners have been given false information and, had they not been misled, might have made an entirely different decision.
Meanwhile I would ask the strata manager to declare all commissions and payments that would be made to them if this work went ahead as they have outlined as they are required to do under sections 60 and 61 of tha Act (also below).
24 Order invalidating resolution of owners corporation
(1) The Tribunal may … make an order invalidating any resolution of … the persons present at a meeting of the owners corporation if the Tribunal considers that the provisions of this Act or the regulations have not been complied with in relation to the meeting.60 Disclosure of commissions and training services
(1) A strata managing agent for a strata scheme must report the following at the annual general meeting of the owners corporation for the scheme:
(a) whether any commissions or training services have been provided to or paid for the agent (other than by the owners corporation) in connection with the exercise by the agent of functions for the scheme during the preceding 12 months and particulars of any such commissions or training services,
(b) any such commissions or training services and the estimated amount or value of any such commissions or training services that the agent believes are likely to be provided to or paid for the agent in the following 12 months.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
Note. It will be an offence for an agent to receive commissions or training services that are not of a kind permitted by the agent’s terms of appointment or approved by the owners corporation (see section 57).
(2) A strata managing agent must, as soon as practicable after becoming aware that commissions or training services provided to or paid for the agent (other than by the owners corporation) differ from the commissions or training services or any estimate of them disclosed at the annual general meeting, disclose to the strata committee the variation and give an explanation for the variation.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
(3) The Tribunal may, on application by an owners corporation, order a strata managing agent to pay to the owners corporation:
(a) the whole or part of the amount or value of any commissions or training services provided to or paid for the agent and not disclosed in accordance with this section, or
(b) the whole or part of the amount or value of any commissions or training services provided to or paid for the agent that are not of a kind or an amount disclosed by the agent under this section, if the Tribunal is satisfied that the disclosure of those things at the previous annual general meeting was not made in good faith.
(4) In this section: training service means a training course or service (including attendance at industry events such as conferences).61 Procedure for requiring information from strata managing agent
(1) An owners corporation is to require information from a strata managing agent under this Division by written notice given to the strata managing agent.
(2) The notice must specify a member of the strata committee to whom the information is to be delivered.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.