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Considering that every member of the owners corporation is entitled to know everything that’s going on and all decisions made in their collective names, secrecy is a no-no in just about every circumstance. Non SC members are allowed to attend meetings, after all.
The issue is whether any tradies are being put off or are gaining a commercial advantage from knowing what the discussions entail. In which case, the owners concerned should be told, as politely as possible, to keep their mouths shut.
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I’d just like to point out the difference between “assessment” the word used in the original post and “settlement” the word used on the Fair Trading website.
A Fair Trading mediation doesn’t offer an assessment. It offers the opportunity for both parties to reach some sort of mutual agreement. If they don’t agree, the Fair Trading mediator is not a referee, judge or adjudicator. There is no objective ruling made. Hope that makes sense.
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100 percent behind Scottie on this one. I would bet anything it’s an extension that’s been added on a nod and a wink. Find the paper trail of special resolutions and approvals, and follow it. If it doesn’t exist, be very,very wary. At the very least make sure your mystery room can’t disappear in a puff of belated compliance.
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@Pamster said:
I would check first to ascertain if these residents are tenants or owners. It might be easier for the Strata Manager to send a letter to advise a tenant to toe the line rather than an owner.It really shouldn’t make any difference whether or not they are owners. Yes, it’s theoretically easier to pressure renters to behave (because breaches could lead to them being evicted) but the same by-laws and laws apply to everyone and should be imposed as such.
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@Felix said:
Also is there any particular law firm who specializes in this sort of practice ?I can’t really let this pass without mentioning our sponsors Sachs Gerace Broome who have, collectively, about a hundred years of experience in both company and, especially, strata law.
The key considerations would be going from Copmany Title a system where the company owns everything and you are permitted to live in part of it, to Strata Title, where you own the inside of your flat and share ownership of the other bits of the building.
The key to the latter is the Unit Entitlements which not only determine how much you pay in levies but how much of a vote you get at general meetings. And to get accurate UEs you will need accurate professional surveys. That is your starting point and everything follows from that.
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The following is a extract from a press release from Greg Nash, chairman and CEO of the PICA Group:
In some cases the owners corporation can allow short-term stays. For example, if the zoning and the local environment plan (LEP) don’t prohibit it, then offering short-term stays can be possible with development consent, depending on the by-laws.
Owners corporations can allow short-term stays and can include specific requirements within the by-laws to minimise the potential risk. For example, they may demand a tenancy notice for each and every new guest, along with how long they will be staying. If owners don’t comply then the owners corporation can refuse to issue security keys, prevent guests from using the facilities and more.
Greg Nash said, “The bottom line is that an owners corporation cannot have something like Airbnb forced upon them. The person wanting to run the Airbnb must satisfy any number of legal requirements first and, even then, the owners corporation has a right to put a stop to it through the by-laws.
“If a person in a building is running an Airbnb illegally, many councils are happy to prosecute as they are empowered to enforce zoning and local environmental plan (LEP) requirements. Additionally, if the person is in breach of a by-law limiting occupancy, they can be subject to fines of $5,500 for the first offence and up to $11,000 for a second offence with the money going to the owners corporation, not the state.”
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The simple answer is yes.
If, say, common property was damaged by an owner, you would expect them to pay for repairs. if they wouldn’t or couldn’t, you would expect the insurers to step in. The same applies to tenants, although you could take action against their landlords.
I don’t know where you get the idea that all landlords, including airbnb hosts, have landlord insurance. Or were you being sarcastic?
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I think I may have a partial answer for you. Under Section 18 (below) any member of the committee can declare that a member has a conflict of interest in discussing and voting on anything that may impact on a business in which they have a direct or indirect interest.
Those members of the committee then have to absent themselves while the remaining members discuss whether or not they should be allowed to be part of the discussion and vote on the item. if the numbers fall the right way, they would not be allowed to be part of the discussion
I don’t know how the numbers stack up on your committee but it sounds like you have the opportunity to remove the rental agents from any discussions about issues that affect tenants – which is just about everything.
Have a look at the clause and see how that adds up for you
18 Disclosure of pecuniary interests
(1) If:
(a) a member of a strata committee has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a matter being considered or about to be considered at a meeting, and
(b) the interest appears to raise a conflict with the proper performance of the member’s duties in relation to the consideration of the matter, the member must, as soon as possible after the relevant facts have come to the member’s knowledge, disclose the nature of the interest at a meeting of the strata committee.
Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.
(2) A disclosure by a member at a meeting of the strata committee that the member:
(a) is a member, or is in the employment, of a specified corporation or other body, or
(b) is a partner, or is in the employment, of a specified person, or
(c) has some other specified interest relating to a specified corporation or other body or to a specified person,
is a sufficient disclosure of the nature of the interest in any matter relating to that corporation or other body or to that person which may arise after the date of the disclosure and which is required to be disclosed under subclause (1).
(3) Particulars of any disclosure made under this clause must be recorded by the strata committee in a book kept for the purpose and that book must be open at all reasonable hours to inspection by any person on payment of the fee determined by the strata committee.
(4) After a member has disclosed the nature of an interest in any matter, the member must not, unless the strata committee otherwise determines:
(a) be present during any deliberation of the strata committee with respect to the matter, or
(b) take part in any decision of the strata committee with respect to the matter.
(5) For the purposes of the making of a determination by the strata committee under subclause (4), a member who has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a matter to which the disclosure relates must not:
(a) be present during any deliberation of the strata committee for the purpose of making the determination, or
(b) take part in the making by the strata committee of the determination.
(6) A contravention of this clause does not invalidate any decision of the strata
committee.
(7) Without limiting subclause (1), a person has an indirect pecuniary interest in a matter if a person connected with the person has a direct interest in the matter.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.
It is OK for the owners to delegate the roles of chairman and secretary to the strata manager (for which he and she will be paid) and under the new laws building managers and letting agents can’t be on the committee unless they are also owners.
However, I have to confess to having made an error in my “21 changes …” article. Strata managers CAN be elected to committees, it’s building managers and rental agents who can’t unless they are owners. Apologies all round.
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What kind of meeting are you referring to – committee or general?
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Let’s get back to the issues and leave the personal stuff be.
There are legal restrictions on the use of power tools, basically from to 7am to 8pm on weekdays and before 8 am on Sundays (see below). However, these can be supplemented by by-laws restricting noise even further.
In any case, you will probably have a catch-all by-law in place that prevents residents from disrupting the peaceful enjoyment of other owners’ lots.
Also, if the garage is designated as such on the strata plan for which the development approval was based, it should not primarily be used for any other purpose other than parking a car.
Any or all of these issues could be the basis for action against the owners either through NCAT or the courts.
However, a better approach might be to invite these residents to identify a space on common property that they could convert into a shed (with secure lockers) where they and other residents can share equipment and do their male bonding without disturbing other owners.
Protection of the Environment Operations (Noise Control) Regulation 2008
50 Power tools and equipment
(1) A person must not cause or permit a power tool or swimming pool pump to be used on residential premises in such a manner that it emits noise that can be heard within a habitable room in any other residential premises (regardless of whether any door or window to that room is open):
(a) before 8 am or after 8 pm on any Sunday or public holiday, or
(b) before 7 am or after 8 pm on any other day.
Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units in the case of a corporation, 50 penalty units in the case of an individual.
(2) A person is not guilty of an offence under this clause unless:
(a) the person has, within 7 days after causing or permitting a power tool or swimming pool pump to be used in such a manner, been warned by an authorised officer or enforcement officer not to cause or permit the tool or pump to be used in that manner, and
(b) the person causes or permits the tool or pump to be used in that manner within 28 days after the warning has been given.
(3) In this clause:
power tool means any of the following:
(a) a powered garden tool (that is, a tool powered by a petrol engine or an electric motor), including a lawn mower, a lawn trimmer, a blower or sweeper, a garden mulcher, an edge-cutter or a chipper or shredder,
(b) an electric power tool (including battery-operated power tools),
(c) a pneumatic power tool,
(d) a chainsaw,
(e) a circular saw,
(f) a gas or air compressor.
swimming pool pump includes a spa pump.
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