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I think you need to talk to a specialist strata lawyer as this guy is giving you flawed advice.
The fees quoted seem highly inflated for a process that basically requires you to fill in a form (application fee $78) and send the CTTT proof that the scheme is not being run according to the Act accompanied by a letter from a strata manager who is prepared to take on the gig.
When whoever loses the case appeals – as they will – you then go to a full tribunal.
Also, because the CTTT has been set up as a ‘low-cost’ dispute resolution body, they won’t award costs, so your lawyer friend is wrong on that count too.
This process is a lot easier and cheaper than you might think – but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to make an effort and spend a little cash. You will find the form HERE – go to page 5 and look at section 162.
This is one of the areas for adjudication that doesn’t require mediation at Fair Trading before you can proceed. Also you can apply to have any or all of the functions of the Owners Corporation or Executive Committee delegated to the strata manager.
In your case I would suggest that you ask for a limit on the time that that strata manager is appointed – two years or until the Owners Corporation is capable of running its own affairs properly, for instance. You could also apply to limit the strata manager’s duties to, for instance, repairs maintenance and management of common property.
Either way it sounds like you would have a strong case for a statutory appointment. You could do a lot worse than contact our sponsors StrataChoice (click on the ad) and ask their advice about compulsory appointment.
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You are allowed to SEE the strata roll at your Strata manager’s office. There is a set fee for this ($45). You may also be allowed to copy the strata roll minus any information that is deemed private such as email addresses that have been given to the strata manager on the basis that they would not be provided to anyone else. But the names and addresses of owners are NOT private.
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OK, your friend may benefit from the Fair Trading translated documents that you will find HERE (scroll down to the bottom) and HERE (although the only strata related document i can see is Strata Living in Chinese.
She really needs to cal 13 32 20 and ask about getting her levies sorted out – they should be able to provide an interpreter. If she wants to sort out the block properly, it would also help if she could find a strata manager who would be prepared to take her through the process of becoming a Statutory Manager appointed by the CTTT (although with a small block it’s sometimes hard to get one of the better SMs).
Meanwhile, if she has been overpaying for a while, she should be in credit rather than arrears. It may be worth working out what she should have paid compared to what she actually paid.
Then she could write a letter to the treasurer along the lines of:
Dear Treasurer
I note you have refused my valid payment of my levies and returned my cheque. I have to inform you that by asking for equal levies for all units, you are in breach of the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 which clearly states that levies are to be calculated based on Unit Entitlements.
78 Manner of levying contributions
(1) An owners corporation levies a contribution required to be paid to the administrative fund or sinking fund by an owner of a lot by serving on the owner a written notice of the contribution payable.
(2) Contributions levied by an owners corporation must be levied in respect of each lot and are payable (subject to this section and section 77) by the owners in shares proportional to the unit entitlements of their respective lots.
Not withstanding the current quarter’s levies, I am currently $XXXX in credit due to your overcharging of levies for my unit.
Please amend your record accordingly and adjust my levies notice to the correct figure. If this is not done with immediate effect, I will have no choice but to take action at the CTTT to have a Strata Manager appointed to take over the running of this block under Section 162 of the SSMA.
Your friend then has to decide whether or not she just wants to sort out the levies – phone call to Fair Trading and possible mediation, cost about $78 unless she’s on a pension. Or go for the appointment of an SM which is an applications straight to the CTTT and there’s information about the process HERE.
Good luck
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The owners corporation has the legal right to enter private property to maintain and repair common property. However, this right is normally exercised by virtue of a request which, if denied, leads to an application for a CTTT order against the resident to allow access.
Obviously they have skipped a stage or two, to get the job done, blithely forgetting the common courtesy of allowing you to at least try to accommodate their needs to get the job done at a certain time.
You could write to the secretary of the executive committee, with a copy to the agent, strata manager and landlord, reminding them that you have rights as a tenant, and as a resident of the building, and they have obligations under the Strata Schemes Management Act that they have failed to acknowledge or observe.
In the meantime you will be checking your personal property for damage and loss and you will be seeking compensation if there is anything missing or broken.
HOWEVER …
There’s a Chinese proverb: A man who goes seeking revenge should dig two graves.
I would first be asking myself where this is likely to lead. Do you know if you are allowed to store goods in your car space? Check your by-laws because many buildings expressly or indirectly forbid this. If that’s the case, an angry letter to the Owners Corp or strata manager might result in you being ordered to move your boxes. Is that what you really want?
My advice would be to check for loss or damage and if there is none, let it go. If there is loss or damage, will you be able to prove it?
You are probably the only person who could be harmed by taking this further. Your time and emotional energy are precious – don’t waste them on a fight you can only lose.
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This is a clear case of mismanagement of the strata scheme and would be absolutely ripe for a CTTT statutory appointment of a strata manager.
First, you need to find a strata manager who will take on the jkobe and they will guide you through the process of taking your case to the CTTT.
If they agree, the strata manager then takes over from the Executive Committee and the Owners Corporation, for at least as long as it takes to get everything back in order.
I reckon your majority owner may be deliberately running the building down so as to reduce the price he will pay when you and other owners get sick of the place and sell out.
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Local police from the crime prevention unit (or whatever it is called) will often come and give your building a free security audit, if requested. Placing movement sensors where the lights are (rather that where people enter) is the kind of basic error well-intentioned amateurs will make. And local cops are also more aware of the kinds of crime being perpetrated in your area as well as the modus operandi of the crims involved.
It’s a free service and if you listen to their advice it will add value to your properties. It’s a no-brainer, really.
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There are a couple of issues here and while I think there are mechanisms for splitting the payment – the affected owners could club together to buy the equipment and the OC as a whole could agree to install and maintain it – but I think any such move undercuts the whole principle of strata as a community.
I can understand people not wanting to pay for things that don’t seem to benefit them in any way but where do you draw the line? If the roof leaks, should only the people on the top floor pay for repairs. If there’s a flood, should it only be those on the ground that have to pay? Or maybe the people on the upper floors (but not the top) should have their contribution to the insurance premiums reduced accordingly.
I assume the increased levies affected the other owners too so this shouldn’t be about how much everyone is paying. Opportunists thieves will very quickly work out where the CCTV cameras are and find a workaround – hoodies are a favourite with the young folk. They may decide to move on to the next easiest place to rob cars undetected. Hey, inside a garage would be great!
Surveys have shown that security is one of the top three reasons people buy into or rent in strata. Spend a little money wisely and you increase the value of your homes.
Whale is right on the money with his suggestions of improving the security of the whole building and any “not our problem” attitude is going to come back and bite you because it will become your problem as soon as thieves realise it’s easier to break into your property than your neighbours’ cars.
If it were my complex, I’d be pushing for a by-law to prevent people from exiting and entering the building via security doors. And I would buy and install one camera to catch the culprits who do so. A “processing fee” on top of the CTTT fines would mean your security would not only be massively improved, the cameras would pay for themselves.
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This seems bizarre but I have a few questions.
1. Is the car space specific to your unit, or is residents’ parking ‘scramble’ parking on a first come, first served basis.
2. What does it say in your by-laws about parking and any rules or restrictions there may be?
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You are spot on. It’s all very well or us to dish out advice but support is another matter entirely. Por should call Fair Trading on 13 32 20 or make an online enquiry HERE. Alternative Por can contact the Tenants Union on tenants.org.au
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The landlord can’t end the tenancy before the lease runs out, regardless of having sold it. If they want you out early they will have to negotiate with you and that means you can request some compensation for the disruption caused in having to find a new home. If they dopn’t make it worth your while, don’t move
There is a bit more detail in THIS Tenants Union Fact cheet
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@andyj said:
As I understand it neither the OC, EC Strata Manager or CTTT can terminate a lease based on a breach of by laws of a tenant unless the landlord consents.
Can the landlord be fined by the CTTT for the behavour of their tenants?
You are right about the OC and all the others not being able to terminate a lease and while I’m not sure about the CTTT issuing fines against landlords (technically they probably can but whether they do or on is a bit of a lottery). That said, the strata Act does make owners responsible for the behaviour of the occupants of their property (see section of Act at end).
However the best answer probably lies outside the CTTT/Fair Trading/by-laws nexus.
Apartment owners and dwellers are still subject to the same noise laws as everyone else so by-laws are on top of rather than instead of State or local government regulations.
A couple of years ago a precedent was created when a Sydney man and his mother successfully had a Noise Abatement Order served by a local court on the landlords of a neighbouring apartment. The apartment was let out to a rolling cavalcade of backpacker types who basically slept all day and partied all night. Because the personnel was constantly changing Notices To Comply were worse than useless and CTTT Orders took too long to process.
However, a District Court Magistrate ruled that the landlords had responsibility because they had been told about the problem, they had the opportunity to resolve it (kick the tenants out) and had openly decided to do nothing about it.
Anyone who has a chronic noise problem with neighbours should consider this as an option. Any resident of in NSW can apply for a Noise Abatement Order against noisy tenants and/or the landlords and owner-residents, for that matter.
In your case, sine the tenants are staying, they would be the easiest and therefore the first target. But if things got tricky, there would be a lot of satisfaction gained from hauling the landlord before the beak too.
The cool thing about a Noise Abatement order is that a breach is a criminal offence – the miscreants can actually be arrested. And, at the very least, the cops WILL come if your report a breach of a court order rather than a noisy party (although they often come to that too).
You can find out more about Noise Abatement Orders HERE and download a pamphlet on noise HERE. And you can read more about the story quoted HERE and HERE.
And this is the relevant section of the Act if you go down the CTTT route:
117 Owners, occupiers and other persons not to create nuisance
(1) An owner, mortgagee or covenant chargee in possession (whether in person or not), lessee or occupier of a lot must not:
(a) use or enjoy the lot, or permit the lot to be used or enjoyed, in such a manner or for such a purpose as to cause a nuisance or hazard to the occupier of any other lot (whether that person is an owner or not), or
(b) use or enjoy the common property in such a manner or for such a purpose as to interfere unreasonably with the use or enjoyment of the common property by the occupier of any other lot (whether that person is an owner or not) or by any other person entitled to the use and enjoyment of the common property, or
(c) use or enjoy the common property in such a manner or for such a purpose as to interfere unreasonably with the use or enjoyment of any other lot by the occupier of the lot (whether that person is an owner or not) or by any other person entitled to the use and enjoyment of the lot.
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