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Can an AGM decide that there will no longer be allowed parking on common property?
The key phrase is “except with the consent in writing” – which suggests the Board, as instructed by the owners at your AGM, could rescind the permission, unless that permission has previously been granted in perpetuity or as a permanent part of the management contracts.
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Should the specific details (eg, commissions, agent discounts etc) form part of the strata records and therefore be available for inspection during a records search?
That’s actually two questions;
- All documents relating to the business of your strata scheme should be made available for inspection on request by an owner. There is a process for that set down in the Act but it often requires a visit to the strata manager’s office and the payment of a set fee.
- Should the details of contracts etc be presented as part of the annual report? Yes, but only if the majority of owners want that. Every scheme has its own idea of how much information they want to be made available – it could be a line item in your financials, a summary or a copy of any new contracts.
The way to get more information presented as part of the AGM agenda is to present a motion at your next strata committee or general meeting, specifying what information you want to have provided.
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Are they in fact saying that if THEY pay YOUR bills with their credit card, they get the points?
Which is fine, unless they are paying higher transaction fees (as with Amex) which means your scheme is paying more than it should to fill their frequent flyer coffers.
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You could present an invoice to your “committee”, politely explain why and see if they pay it. If they refuse, put a motion to your next meeting and if they still refuse, seek mediation at Fair Trading.
Section 9 (3)(c) of the Act says the owners corporation has responsibility for “maintaining and repairing the common property of the strata scheme.” That might be your initial grounds for mediation.
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As I thought, the law changed earlier this year to narrow the window in which a strata manager can terminate thir existing contract and offer a new one. This Government website on the most recent changes to the law in NSW says:
- Managing agents are required to give notice of the expiry of their contract within three to six months before contract expiry.
To me that means not before six months and no later that three before the contract runs out. That should put a stop to any “rolling renewal” scam.
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Why not have a motion every three years to enter a new contract, either with the current manager or a different manager if the committee recommends either staying or changing.
As we discuss on this week’s podcast, this is a sneaky way for the strata manager to ensure they always have a three-year contract rolling over and renewed every year but I think the new rules in NSW may have put paid to that by limiting the time before a contract ends that the strata manager can give notice of termination or renewal. I will check.
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If the three people named were the only nominees for the committee, then there would have been no need for an election and so they would form the committee. This could be challenged if someone want to nominate at the meeting but couldn’t do so because there was no meeting. Alternatively, if paper nominations in excess of the number of seats were permitted and a “paper” vote was allowed, that could and should be challenged, because you can’t have a strata committee election using pre-meeting ballots.
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This post ignores our rules on double dipping by starting a new thread on an existing topic. I have had to faff around trying to find the topic to which it should be related – and I got it wrong! Hence the word “Split” at the begining of the title.
The original discussion is here: Paper AGM agenda only allows re-election of current committee – FLAT CHATFLAT CHAT
Please continue the discussion here. I will pull it all together when I can find the time.
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Are they in fact saying that if THEY pay YOUR bills with their credit card, they get the points? Sounds more likely than them snaffling your points if you pay by card.
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While it is reasonable to allow a period for the building to “settle” and allow major defects to make themselves apparent, minor, non structural defects such as those you have described only have a two-year window for claims so you really need to get on to them by the end of the first year following completion.
As for the major or structural defects, yours would not be the first building to have discovered hidden defects when the more obvious ones were being repaired.
Right now there is a building at Wentworth Point, nearing the end of its defects window, where the removal of flammable cladding has revealed previously unseen major defects. They have been lucky that it has all been caught in time.
I worry about committee members who want to delay defects inspections. I understand that the first year of a building’s life can be overwhelming, without even considering defects. However, the average turnover period for “flipping” apartments is seven years and you’d have to hope your neighbours aren’t wanting to sell before defects are identified and dealt with.
The longer you leave it, the harder it will be to get resolved. Your developer could be out of business in five years. What are you going to do about defects then? If you haven’t appointed s defects inspector by the second year of a building’s life, IMHO then you are already on a slippery slope that could lead to heartbreak and expensive litigation.
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The leak has finally been resolved, and the upstairs owner has said he will repair the damage to our apartment. I have not seen anything in writing from him directly, but his real estate agent (it was rented out) has said in writing that he has agreed to the repairs.
I would send them a bill for the repairs with a fairly short “pay by” date. If they don’t pay, you could consider starting proceedings at a small claims court.
That said, when owners are trying to sell, they don’t want any loose ends lying around that may affect the sale, so they are likely to clear the debt rather than have awkward questions being asked.
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I would wait until the general meeting and then propose an amendment that the actual expenditure be recognised as $33,000. And I’d be checking the strata committee records to see if the discussions and votes followed the rules on conflicts of interest, whereby the beneficiary could not be present during discussions or vote on the matter.
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I think the key words here are “proposed expenditure” rather than “amount on the quote”. The figure including the GST is the proposed expenditure.
However, it strikes me that if a scheme is looking to avoid getting two quotes by going right up to and not beyond the prescribed limit, then you have bigger problems than GST.
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There’s a general principle that Strata Law is inferior to all other legislations and regulations (although that may be a little broad in its sweep). For instance, you can create a by-law that people must not leave their vehicles on common property but other laws say you can’t move offending vehicles and the police won’t do anything even though they can if a car is blocking a private driveway. We are at the very bottom of the legislative totem pole.
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