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I think you need the permission of the lot owner before responsibility for common property can be transferred to them via a special resolution by-law, so the proposed by-law may be unlawful anyway. On the other hand, paying $76 to run a case at the CTTT on your own might be more trouble than its worth. To complicate matters, if the flyscreens are common property, you are probably not allowed to change them yourself anyway. My suggestion would be to approach your nearest Community Justice Centre for their free mediation service.
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The fact is you need to do both. You need to raise money to fix the things that have been allowed to run down and you need to start raising your Sinking Fund inputs to avoid this happening again. However, you could raise a loan to fund the immediate repairs and that spreads the load for everyone.
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Enforcement of the by-laws is optional in NSW. However, an owner or even a tenant can apply through Fair Trading for mediation or for the issue of a Notice To Comply (the instrument by which by-laws are enforced) against another owner. After that they can go to the CTTT for adjudication. A tenant can even apply to Fair Trading to force their landlord to make an application for a Notice To Comply.
ECs have to vote on the issuing of a Notice To Comply but if Strata Managers have the required powers delegated to them by the owners corporation, they can issue NTCs if they think there is a valid complaint.
By the way, a Notice To Comply is just what it says on the tin – it's a warning to stop doing what you're doing or face the consequences … which may be a fine at the CTTT if they don't comply.
In other words, it's an official warning. The EC or strata manager doesn't have to issue any prior warnings (although that is one way of letting people know there's a problem they might not be aware of.)
If you feel your EC is being run for the benefit of individuals on it, and to the detriment of everyone else, you can apply to have a statutory manager imposed who will take over the running of the building in place of the whole Owners Corporation.
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THAT is a brilliant solution … wish I’d thought of it.
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Let me turn that question around. Why would they want to be on the Executive Committee if they don't want anyone to contact them (by the least intrusive and most anonymous means there is)? Put a motion up at your next AGM that all EC members will display their names and either email address or apartment number on the EC minutes and/or the notice board of the building.
If they don't want anyone to contact them then they are obviously on the EC for their own benefit and no one else's and they need to get off and let more community minded people on board.
Sending someone an email in their capacity as a fellow member of the Owners Corporation is not a breach of privacy. Sending their phone number to all and sundry would be. They need to ask themselves why they stood for election in the first place.
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These objections are spurious and betray a complete lack of understanding of strata law. None of them have any legal validity apart, possibly, from the last which would be impossible to prove. In any case, you can only challenge a 'denied' vote if that vote would have altered the outcome (which is clearly not the case here).
Even the CTTT at its most unpredictable and unreliable would toss this out. You have overwhelming support for this and you can let misguided objections, however legalistic they may sound, get in the way of important decisions.
Point your objector in the direction of Fair Trading (13 32 20) and let them initiate a challenge there, if they wish. Otherwise, full steam ahead.
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This is what the Strata Act says about two-lot plans:
69 Sinking fund to be established
(1) An owners corporation must establish a sinking fund.
(2) However, an owners corporation for a strata scheme comprising 2 lots need not establish a sinking fund if:
(a) the owners corporation so determines by unanimous resolution, and
(b) the buildings comprised in one of those lots are physically detached from the buildings comprised in the other lot, and
(c) no building or part of a building in the strata scheme is situated outside those lots.
So it sounds like you DO need a sinking fund. If that’s the case, then this applies:
75 Estimates to be prepared of contributions to administrative and sinking funds
(1) An owners corporation must, not later than 14 days after the constitution of the owners corporation and at each annual general meeting after that, estimate how much money it will need to credit to its administrative fund for actual and expected expenditure:
(a) to maintain in good condition on a day-to-day basis the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation, and
(b) to provide for insurance premiums, and
(c) to meet other recurrent expenses.
Note. Recurrent expenses would include such regular expenses as insurance, water charges, electricity charges, carpet cleaning, lawnmowing services and the like and minor expenses relating to maintenance of the common property.
(2) An owners corporation must, at each annual general meeting, estimate how much money it will need to credit to its sinking fund for actual and expected expenditure:
(a) for painting or repainting any part of the common property which is a building or other structure, and
(b) to acquire personal property, and
(c) to renew or replace personal property, and
(d) to renew or replace fixtures and fittings that are part of the common property, and
(e) to replace or repair the common property, and
(f) to meet other expenses of a capital nature.
Note. Expenses of a capital nature would include expenses in relation to major repairs or improvements to the common property or personal property of the owners corporation, such as painting of a building or replacement of roofing, guttering or fences and the like.
(3) When estimating amounts needed to be credited to the administrative fund or the sinking fund the owners corporation must have before it, and take into account, a statement of the existing financial situation of the strata scheme and an estimate of receipts and payments.
(4) In estimating amounts to be credited to the sinking fund, an owners corporation that is required to prepare a plan under section 75A is to take into account anticipated major expenditure identified in the plan for the 10-year period to which the plan relates.
Professional surveyors can make the sinking fund assessment for you but in a small strata you might be able to do so yourself with the assistance of local tradesmen who ill tell you when maintenance will be required and how much it will cost.
It would make sense for you to have a separate joint account, perhaps accessible only by signature of both parties, to show prospective purchasers that everything is in hand and above board and the required funds are in place. This shouldn’t cost any more than the time it takes to set it up
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I would put money on you being locked into a long-term lift maintenance contract with the lift’s manufacturer. If that’s the case, you need to put pressure on them to fulfil the terms of their contract before you go looking for anyone else.
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The answer to the first question is in your second question. If the garage door is common property (and chances are it is) then you will need a special resolution, preferably one that says anyone who attaches a door opener accepts responsibility for its repair and maintenance in perpetuity. That prevents subsequent owners demanding the OC repairs their door openers when they fail years later. If the garage door isn’t common property – and it would have to state that somewhere on the strata plan – you can go for your life.
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Unless there’s a by-law in place or it’s on the strata management statement that electricity for dryers will be provided then a simple resolution by the EC (assuming it will be supported at a later general meeting) is all you need. You can make it more effective by ‘hard-wiring” the washing machines to the the electricity supply and removing all other power points.
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In the short term, just to get their attention, send them a warning letter stating that they have damaged common property by putting a bolt on the laundry door. Then find out what the problem really is … perhaps they are worried about people scratching their car as they pass with baskets of laundry.
Your solutions may be to put a fence around the car space allow a clearly defined walkway to the laundry or even finding this person another space for their car and then creating a permanent right-of-way through the now-vacant space.Either way, it would be worth checking your strata plan to see who owns the space (is it private or common property) and whether or not the right to access the laundry has been established in the plan. Establish communication but make it clear you are prepared to compromise, if they are, but you have options if they refuse to discuss it.
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Sounds to me like you need a new Strata Manager – maybe someone from the same firm would be more empathic. Meanwhile, sit this one down and tell him you are going to handle all mail-outs – if there's any statutory obligations, he just needs to let you know what's required and you'll write it up and he can send it out.
You can't create good communication skills in people but this guy doesn't even seem to have the good sense to let you get on with it. Check his contract then have a serious chat.
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Given that the CTTT can only award costs in the case of mischievous or vexatious applications – and even then are reluctant to do so – I find it unlikely that such an event ever occurred. However, if a matter went to the CTTT and was then appealed at a proper court – like District or Supreme – costs may have been awarded.
I reckon you’ve got a bit of creative signage going on there. The idea is probably more to deter rogue parkers than inform them of what the real penalties might be. And hey, you can’t be fined for putting up an inaccurate sign.
My personal favourite is “Warning – cars parked illegally here have been vandalised” although ‘Polite Notice – No Parking’ is frequently misread, especially if the top bit of the t in polite is a bit indistinct.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.
I may be wrong, but reading the Act it seems to me that it's up to the owner to notify the Owners Corporation that they have an interest in the building. This is what the Act says:
Part 2: 118 Notice to be given to owners corporation of right to cast vote at meeting
(1) Person with right to vote at meetings must notify owners corporation
A person who has an interest in a lot that, subject to this Act, gives the person a right to cast a vote either personally or by nominee at meetings of the owners corporation must notify the owners corporation in writing of that interest.I would imagine that also applies to their entitlement to receive notices and minutes (although this IS strata law so I could be wrong).
The protocol on who can speak at EC meetings is quite clear. Any owner who is not a member of the EC can attend an EC meeting but if they wish to speak, they have to be given approval by the majority of the EC before they can do so.
Now, only one co-owner can be on the executive committee (unless they have been nominated by another owner) so they have to choose who that person is. The other person then needs to seek the approval of the EC before they can speak at any meeting. This is the section of the Act that spells that out:
Schedule 3: Part 2 – 14 Owners’ attendance at executive committee meetings
An owner … is entitled to attend a meeting of the executive committee but may not address the meeting unless authorised by resolution of the executive committee.
My advice would be to go through proper procedure the next time round and take a vote allowing the second person to speak, alerting them to the fact that this is a privilege, not a right. Make it clear if they misbehave again that the next time, they will not be permitted to address the meeting.
If the meetings are being held in a private home, you can ask them to leave. If it's a public space or common property, it depends how belligerent they are and how tough a stand you are prepared to take.
Really, your strata manager should have been across this. So why exactly are you paying for their services?
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