[Jimmy-T]

@BONNIE L said:
Does anyone have experience of a strata insurance firm acting like the Police with regular checks made to strata manager on what I regard as non-urgent maintenance matters in a building?   

If an insurer is aware of an issue that would substantially affect the risk in a building, and where continued coverage on the current rates may be dependent on the problem being fixed, they may check up.

However, it is much more likely that they will warn the strata scheme managers (or not) and then be prepared to not compensate the owners for any damages that occur as a result of the problem not having been addressed.

Insurers tend to be more reactive than proactive. If you breach the terms of your insurance, then they simply won’t pay. There are no StrataKops.

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[Jimmy-T]

Apartment owners don’t have to explain or justify their decisions to accept or reject a proposed by-law when they are voting.  However, they may have to do so if the renovating owner takes the matter to the Tribunal and seeks orders under section 126 (below), claiming the Owners Corp has “unreasonably refused” permission.

What is unreasonable? If the proposal is denied even when the owner has taken steps to show:

• the work will be done professionally with all insurances in place
• no by-laws will be breached
• disruption will be kept to a minimum
• other owners properties will not be affected
• they have undertaken ongoing responsibility for maintenance and repair of any common property affected 
• adequate compensation for use of common property has been offered

… then refusal may well be considered unreasonable 

The chair of any meeting where this is considered might point out that any personal feelings have to be set aside otherwise the OC could be facing the expensive, time consuming and disruptive process of having to defend in a Tribunal a decision they know to be wrong and unfair.

 

126 Orders relating to alterations and repairs to common property and other property
(1) Order requiring owners corporation to carry out work on common property
The Tribunal may, on application by a lessor of a leasehold strata scheme or an owner of a lot in a strata scheme, order the owners corporation to consent to work proposed to be carried out by an owner of a lot if the Tribunal considers that the owners corporation has unreasonably refused its consent and the work relates to any of the following:
(a) minor renovations or other alterations to common property directly affecting the owner’s lot,
(b) carrying out repairs to common property or any other property of the owners corporation directly affecting the owner’s lot.

(2) Order consenting to owner’s work on owners corporation property
The Tribunal may, on application by a lessor of a leasehold strata scheme or an owner of a lot in a strata scheme, make an order (a work approval order) approving of minor renovations or alterations or repairs already made by an owner to common property or any other property of the owners corporation directly affecting the owner’s lot if the Tribunal considers that the owners corporation unreasonably refused its consent to the minor renovations or alterations or repairs.

(3) A work approval order is taken to be the consent of the owners corporation to the renovations, alterations or repairs and may provide that it has effect from a day specified in the order that occurred before the order was made.

(4) In deciding whether to grant a work approval order or to provide for the order to have effect from a day that occurred before the date of the order, the Tribunal may take into account the conduct of the parties in the proceedings, for example, if an owner did not first seek the consent of the owners corporation before carrying out the renovations, alterations or repairs.

(5) Responsibility for ongoing repair and maintenance of affected property
The Tribunal may specify in an order under this section whether the owners
corporation or the owner of the lot has the ongoing responsibility for the repair and maintenance of any additional property arising out of a minor renovation or alteration or repair to common property approved under the order.

(6) If an order provides for the owner of a lot to have the ongoing responsibility for the repair and maintenance of any such additional property, the order also has effect in relation to any subsequent owner of the lot.

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[Jimmy-T]

@Lady Penelope said:
Playing “devils advocate” here I would be wary of this statement: ” “the rent abates if the premises are … partly uninhabitable”. The external balcony would not strictly be deemed to be a “habitable” space in the same way that a bedroom or a kitchen or a bathroom would be.   

Yes, but that is not the only basis on which rent might be reduced – it’s only stating this this as clear, unarguable grounds for a rent reduction.

If the property was advertised as having a balcony it’s the same as if a car parking space was offered, then withdrawn.  A parking space is not a habitable area but you’d be demanding a rent reduction if it was taken away from you.

The key to all this is how important the balcony is to Mateuidon’s enjoyment of his unit and its relative value as part of the apartment.

And really, barring agreement, the next best thing to do is to go to mediation at Fair Trading.

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[Jimmy-T]

I can’t believe this guy thinks he can get away with this.  Years ago I ran a campaign in the SMH that got the law changed and stopped the Rose Group from demanding proxies from their purchasers.  It was so bad the residents of a premium building were voted off their own committee and replaced with a Rose employee because of their strong objections to plans to convert their private marina into a commercial operation.  The Rose employee then sent a letter of strong support on their behalf.  Former planning minister Frank Sartor stepped in and changed the law.

Anyway, this is how the Act now reads;

27 Certain provisions unenforceable
A provision of a contract for the sale of a lot in a strata scheme, or of any ancillary or related contract or arrangement, is void and unenforceable to the extent that it:
(a) requires the purchaser of a lot, or any other person, to cast a vote at a meeting of the owners corporation at the direction of another person, or
(b) requires the purchaser to give a proxy at the direction of another person for the purpose of voting at a meeting of the owners corporation.

Regarding your AGM, I strongly suggest that you get a strata lawyer or competent strata manager to attend otherwise your developer will just blithely ignore the law and you will spend the next few years fighting him at the tribunal and in court to rectify his illegal decisions.

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[Jimmy-T]

Keep a note of the first time you approached them about this.  If it was by telephone, write them a letter to say something like “Further to our telephone conversation of (whatever date) … I am seeking a reduction in rent for the period during which my balcony will be inaccessible.” 

Keep it polite and to the point.  Suggest a figure if you want, probably based on the difference between apartments of a similar size in your area with and without balconies.

Then politely say that while you have no wish to cause any ill feeling, you are prepared to take this to Fair Trading for independent arbitration, should that be necessary.

If you are dealing with a rental agent, they are likely to go down the road that requires less hassle for them – and that could be just to recommend a rent reduction rather than have to deal with Fair Trading.

If you are dealing with a private landlord, it could go either way but surveys suggest that private landlords are more responsive to tenants than agents are.

If you do go to Fair Trading, be prepared to justify how important the balcony is to your lifestyle.

However, bear in mind that there is a “no grounds” option for the landlord to terminate your lease when it comes up for renewal.

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[Jimmy-T]

Technically you could have the election overturned but I’d say the chances are slim unless the Tribunal decided to make an example of the ruling group in your building.

The Act (extract below) says the Tribunal can invalidate a meeting where a vote doesn’t comply with the law but may choose not to do so if the outcome would not be any different if the law had been complied with.

You may actually have a slightly stronger case in asking for the compulsory appointment of a strata manager on the grounds that the committee is incompetent.  

But you would probably need more evidence that this has resulted in the building and its owners being negatively impacted and, in case, compulsory appointments can be tough on everyone, you included, as you lose control of your building. 

I would ask Fair Trading to send you a letter explaining the misuse of proxies and have that minutes at your next strata committee meeting in a motion demanding an apology.  That will be ammo for your next tilt at the committee. You could also report the strata manager for professional incompetence.

 

24 Order invalidating resolution of owners corporation
(1) The Tribunal may, on application by an owner or first mortgagee of a lot in a strata scheme, make an order invalidating any resolution of, or election held by, 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.
(2) The Tribunal may, on application by an owner or first mortgagee of a lot in a strata scheme, make an order invalidating any resolution of, or election held by, the persons present at a meeting of the owners corporation if the Tribunal considers that the provisions of Part 10 (other than Division 6 or 7) of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 have not been complied with in relation to the meeting.
(3) The Tribunal may refuse to make an order under this section only if it considers:
(a) that the failure to comply with the provisions of this Act or the regulations, or of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015, did not adversely affect any
person, and
(b) that compliance with the provisions would not have resulted in a failure to pass the resolution or affected the result of the election.

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[Jimmy-T]

I hear your frustration but this neighbour has three weeks left in your building and there is nothing that can be done that will happen with regard to the smoking in that time – and by that I mean NCAT orders and fines.

Nobody is going to come round and tell them to stop smoking. However, if they threaten or abuse you personally, then you can get the police involved.

What you need to focus on is the NEXT tenant.  Send the rental agent a letter telling them that, because of the design of the building, it may be inappropriate for them to house a heavy smoker there and they should consider that when advertising the unit for rent in the future.

They may choose to ignore that but if they place another smoker in the unit, they have to accept some liability if there’s a problem.  One of the issues with smokers who cause a nuisance is that rental agents don’t tell them that there has been problemin the past.  A good verbal nudge in the ribs could remedy that in your case.

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[Jimmy-T]

It sounds to me like they have an incomplete set of records and that can only strengthen your case at the tribunal.  But this is not our area of expertise so we asked our friends at the Tenants Union  who sent us this response:

“As a general rule, if a landlord wants to rely on a rent ledger as evidence of a claim for arrears, the tenant should be given the opportunity to consider it. On the other hand, if the landlord does not have access to this evidence in the first place, then it will be difficult for them to establish the truth of their claim…

 

“Assuming this question relates to renting in New South Wales, have a look at section 37 of our Residential Tenancies Act 2010.”

 

37   Rent records

(1)  A landlord or landlord’s agent must keep a record of rent received under a residential tenancy agreement (a rent record).

(2)  A rent record may be kept in any form, and must contain any particulars, prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this section.(3)  A landlord or landlord’s agent must, within 7 days of a written request by the tenant, provide a written statement setting out the particulars of the rent record for a specified period.
(4)  This section does not require a landlord or landlord’s agent to provide a written statement for a period to a person if the landlord or agent has previously provided a written statement for the same period to the person.(5)  Subsections (3) and (4) are terms of every residential tenancy agreement.

Section 165 will also be of interest.

 

165   Notice to tenants of claims against tenants

(1)  A landlord, landlord’s agent or a person on behalf of a landlord who makes a claim for payment of a rental bond without the consent of the tenant must give the tenant:
(a)  a copy of a completed condition report about the residential premises at the end of the residential tenancy agreement, and
(b)  copies of any estimates, quotes, invoices or receipts for work for which the rental bond is claimed.

(2)  The documents must be provided within 7 days of the claim being made.

(3)  The documents must also be provided to the Secretary of the Department of Family and Community Services if the whole or part of the rental bond was paid by or on behalf of that Department.(4)  A person who, without reasonable excuse, contravenes this section is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units ($2200).

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[Jimmy-T]

Is it a fire trail or an Asset Protection Zone?

Have a look here.

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[Jimmy-T]

@Kendle said:
I will be delighted if the amount added to my rates annually is less than this but all the information available indicates that it will be more than this  

What information is this? Got a link?

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[Jimmy-T]

@Whoopi said:
But until you have lived in one of these Fiefdoms you cannot fathom the impact it has on one’s life.  My advice to anyone ever considering buying into Strata is DON”T. You place your money and your property in the hands of volunteers, untrained in any way for the job . No business acumen, no building experience and no people skills. Emotionally immature despots who are attracted to being on a committee due to a hunger for control, power and the access to the considerable money available to them.

Well, I have lived in one of those fiefdoms and, in fact, it was working through it that led to the Flat Chat column and this website. The developer, the strata manager and the chairman – a crook and a bully – were in cahoots. We were being ripped off, lied to and publicly humiliated; blamed for everything that went wrong by the same people who rushed to take credit when things started going right.

It can be hard, frustrating and heart-breaking . I made enemies and lost friends and sometimes felt like giving up.  

But if you can separate your emotions from what needs to be done, identify the problems that are the highest priority and the solutions that have the highest chance of success, and then just drive towards that simple first step, you will make progress.

At the end of the day, your investment of time, money and energy with either pay off or it won’t but, at the very least, you will have learned something about yourself and about other people.

And that’s worth something.

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[Jimmy-T]

Firstly, I have removed the link from the above post because of this website’s preference to keep things anonymous and that website identified the building concerned.

Which brings me to a little bit of housekeeping your webmasters should consider. By putting the website on the internet and available to all and sundry, the creators have punched a little hole in their defence from defamation complaints – namely that it was part of a vigorous internal discussion for the greater good of all owners in that building.

Another potential defence is absence of malice.  But if some committee member decided they had been accused of being “dictatorial” which was then put on the internet as an act of spite to show them up to a broader public, it might be time to start shifting ownership of all your assets to your cat.

My tactic would be to lock the website behind a password and then let owners – and only owners – know what the password was.  I certainly wouldn’t be posting the address on a website that’s read by several thousand people every week.

But I think the website itself is a good idea – as long as it encourages discussion rather than just being somewhere for people to go for a whinge.

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[Jimmy-T]

@LawoftheLand said:
I and another (who now appears to have gone rogue) managed to terminate our old Strata and a new one appointed – with the correct voting processes, mind you. But this appears to be a waste of time as the new Strata is gearing up to be the same same as the old one.

Strata what?  Strata manager?  Strata committee? Strata scheme?

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[Jimmy-T]

I have just chased this all the way to the department of finance and they confirm what Tharra has written above.

The levy will come off all the insurances that you currently hold (if they have the levy) and a charge will be redistributed to you on your rates bill, according to your Unit Entitlements.

The man from the Ministry says some people will pay less and some may pay more but the difference will be minimal. Here’s a link to the relevant NSW gov page. 

FYI:  The intention is to make sure that those people who don’t have home insurance still pay their share for fire services.

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[Jimmy-T]

The best solution is to claim everything you think you are entitled to and let Fair Trading sort it out if she doesn’t agree. Most if not all of the expenses you listed are related to the reasons you evicted her so they would have some basis as a legitimate claim.

Having said that, anything that smacks of “revenge” or over-reaching will probably work against you.

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