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It depends who installed the leaf guard.
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@Digby said:
Guide dogs and cold fish are about the only allowable pet in most strata schemes in nsw. Most strata schemes will not allow pets such as dogs, chickens, snakes,spiders.This is just not true. There are thousands of cats and dogs in strata schemes across NSW and there will be even more in new buildings or existing schemes that adopt one of the new by-laws which default in favour of pets.
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Sadly, a lot of agents will do this – especially with overseas students who may have to leave the country before they collect their bond or don’t have the nous to challenge this effectively.
Tell them that not only will you challenge them through Fair Trading but you’ll report them and, if there have been enough complaints, they’ll end up on the Fair trading blacklist (where they belong!)
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In a scheme of fewer than 20, each proxy holder can only hold one proxy. So if Tom, Dick and Harry want to give their proxies, they have to go to Bob, Ted and Carole.
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zerotwoalpha said1
Is putting multiple lots onto a single proxy form legal in the case of multiple units/ single unit and single utility lot or does this invalidate the proxy form? i.e. I put my residential lot and parking space on a single proxy form, despite them having separate unit entitlements.
- Would a single proxy form listing multiple lots count as one proxy under the legislation (i.e. schemes under 20 only have one allowable proxy per person)? i.e. Proxy box filled out as: Lots 12 and 16 counting as combined unit entitlement for a vote.
Each lot with voting rights needs to have its own proxy form. You can download the official proxy form here. Your parking space may not have voting rights attached but will count towards the total unit entitlement of your lot.
2. Can my mate hold one proxy, and his wife another?
Yes. Just make sure the owners giving the proxies are “financial” – i.e. their levies are up to date.
3. What should the actions be if the SM/EC member doesn’t play by the new rules?
“Doesn’t play by the new rules” is a pretty wide scope. But if you mean they don’t follow the new laws on proxies, just quote the law at them.
If they persist tell them that you will be challenging the decision at NCAT under Section 25 and Schedule 1, Division 2, Section 26 (both below).
25 Order where voting rights denied or due notice of item of business not given
(1) The Tribunal may, on application by a person entitled to vote on a motion for a resolution of an owners corporation at a general meeting, order that a resolution passed at the general meeting be treated as a nullity on and from the date of the order.
(2) The Tribunal must not make the order unless the Tribunal is satisfied that the resolution would not have been passed but for the fact that the applicant for the order:
(a) was improperly denied a vote on the motion for the resolution, or
(b) was not given due notice of the item of business in relation to which the resolution was passed.
(3) An application for an order may not be made unless:
(a) an application for mediation of the dispute was made not later than 28 days after the date of the meeting at which the resolution was passed, or
(b) if an application for mediation was not made, the application for the order was made not later than 28 days after the date of the meeting at which the resolution was passed.SCHEDULE 1, Division 2, 26 Appointment of proxies
(1) Duly appointed proxy
A person is a duly appointed proxy for the purposes of this Part if the person is appointed as a proxy by an instrument in the form prescribed by the regulations and the form is signed by the person appointing the proxy or executed in any other manner permitted by the regulations.
(2) Form of proxy
The prescribed form is to make provision for the giving of instructions on:
(a) whether the person appointing the proxy intends the proxy to be able to vote on all matters and, if not, the matters on which the proxy will be able to vote, and
(b) how the person appointing the proxy wants the proxy’s vote to be exercised on a motion for the appointment or continuation in office of a strata managing agent.
(3) Proxy to be given to secretary of owners corporation
The instrument is ineffective unless it contains the date on which it was made and it is given to the secretary of the owners corporation at least 24 hours before the first meeting in relation to which the instrument is to operate (in the case of a large corporation) or at or before the first meeting in relation to which the instrument is to operate (in any other case).
(4) Period for which proxy effective
An instrument appointing a proxy has effect for the period commencing with the day on which it takes effect and ending with the later of the first anniversary of that day and the conclusion of the second annual general meeting held after that day, unless it is sooner revoked or a shorter period is provided by the instrument.
(5) Proxy cannot vote if person appointing proxy votes
A proxy cannot exercise a vote in relation to a matter if the person who appointed the proxy is exercising personally a power to vote on that matter.
(6) Effect of subsequent proxy
An instrument made by a person appointing a proxy has no effect if the person makes a later instrument appointing a proxy and delivers it to the secretary of the owners corporation in accordance with subclause (3).
(7) Limit on number of proxies that may be held
The total number of proxies that may be held by a person (other than proxies held by the person as the co-owner of a lot) voting on a resolution are as follows:
(a) if the strata scheme has 20 lots or less, one,
(b) if the strata scheme has more than 20 lots, a number that is equal to not more than 5% of the total number of lots.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.
You are responding to very old posts.
The Supreme Court overturned these decisions and apartments in Victoria are now wide open for exploitation by short-stay renters.
However, a Bill to consolidate that position was rejected by the Victorian Parliament’s upper house and they are awaiting a report from the Planning committee due on March 7th.
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The owners corp can seek orders forcing the owner to repair lot property or, if they fail to do so, arrange the repairs themselves and then bill the owner.
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It’s a common property issue regardless of the label you put on it. Health and safety, perhaps?
The committee should investigate economical and efficient ways of reducing the heat. Natural flow of air that doesn’t require leaving the building wide open would seem to be a potential answer. In other words, vents!
Put a motion to the committee and if they are reluctant to spend money, wave section 232 at them.
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When I said you can’t just plug into an ordinary socket I was thinking about the cars I see “stealing” electricity from the common property sockets in our car park. Admittedly, they are just boosting their regular batteries but those sockets are really there for the building’s cleaners etc.
However, point taken. But as someone who drives my car into the petrol station as the last cough of fuel runs out, and lives in a building with two floors of parking, the friendly neighbour scenario isn’t going to work for me or others like me.
Even if you go down the trickle charge route, as PeterC recommends, in a large apartment building you are still going to have to install a dedicated power supply on your own meter. I wonder how much more expensive it would then be to install a fast charging unit on three-phase power.
By the way, apparently some councils in Queensland are insisting new apartment blocks and townhouse developments install electric scooter charging stations. It can only be a matter of time before car charging spots are mandatory too.
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It sounds like you are saying that you just want the committee to have a bit of a chat on the phone or via email and come to a decision and move on.
If that’s the case, that strata manager is mostly right.
Critical issues like appointing insurers and spending sums like $10,000 should at least be on an agenda and minutes and leave a paper trail.
According to this factsheet you can vote in writing provided notice of the items being discussed has been given. You can also elect to have meetings and votes electronically.
Obviously there is more leeway in emergencies but how many issues are so urgent that you can’t send all your owners an agenda a few days in advance?
Also, your strata managers should be allowed a certain level of delegated powers to avoid unnecessary delays or meetings being called.
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The new proxy form – which must be used for appointing proxies – offers an alternative nomination should your first choice’s allocation be exhausted.
Also, it’s worth noting that the co-owner of a unit who is not the person named first on the strata roll needs the permission of the other owner to act as the proxy for the joint ownership. By my reading (and I may be wrong) that would use up one of their permitted allocations of proxy votes.
It’s going to be interesting in some AGMs as some people who thought they had a stack proxies turn out to have at least one fewer.
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The key to all this is that the chairmanship of a strata committee is not a permanent position and can’t be “delegated” by the incumbent.
The committee chooses the chair and can elect a replacement when the chair isn’t there.
They can even replace the chair at any point during the year provided the election is an item on the agenda.
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Who says they do?
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It’s funny you should ask that … about a year ago I wrote a document for Audi that married the needs of electric car owners and owners corporations. As this is an area that’s bound to be growing, it’s something all large buildings should be looking at.
In very simple terms, unless you have a dedicated power source connected to your unit’s electricity supply, you need:
- a way to connect your high voltage charger to the building’s mains,
- a meter so the building’s management knows how much to charge you for using its power,
- by-laws that ensure the installation is done safely and professionally and that ensures the installation and ongoing maintenance of the supply is the responsibility of the owner.
It would benefit all strata schemes to have a policy worked out, with attendant by-laws ready to roll, as the popularity of electric cars spread.
As this article by a commercial installer explains, the high voltage wall-mounted kit supplied with most electric cars is a “dumb” unit that doesn’t measure the amount of electricity used. However, you can add your own meter which can be monitored remotely.
So it is worth approaching your committee now and asking them how they plan to respond to future requests for installation and, at the same time, provide them with information and options that may be open to them.
One thing you can’t do is just hook your car up to a mains socket like it was a trickle battery charger. You need a professionally installed three-phase supply that is connected to the buildings power supply. For that you will need:
- Permission from the Owners Corp
- A special resolution by-law allowing you to change common property (and take responsibility for the installation)
- Safe and secure cabling from the building’s power board to your parking spot
- A secure wall-mounted supply with a sealed meter of some description. All of this will have to be installed so that you can’t fiddle the meter and your neighbours can’t steal your power.
Good luck.
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Both your balcony and the ground below are common property. You will probably need a special resolution by-law which should include a clause saying that you and subsequent owners of the unit will pay for repair and maintenance. You will also need council planning permission.
If your neighbours don’t agree, you could go to the Tribunal seeking an order compelling the owners corporation to approve it.
It’s theoretically possible but I wouldn’t bet my house on it. A better option might be to offer the owners corp money for the use of the common property so they have an incentive to agree.
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