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OK, proxy votes can be used to elect members of a strata committee, and anyone can be on a committee – even non-owners – provided they are nominated by a “financial” owner who is not standing for election.
So the question is really, who nominated this guy. Under section 31 of the Act, if it was his wife, that’s a no-no. If it was another member of the committee, that’s wrong two. If it was the elderly neighbour, you are entitled to see the paperwork – i.e. a letter nomination this guy for election to the committee. You could technically ask him to stand down until such times as hi nomination has been verified.
By the way, assuming you voted on the numbers you want on the committee at your AGM, the committee is required to fill the vacancies as soon as reasonably possible, so new members may be where your relief lies.
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I recently had the same problem with the bullying boss of a big strata firm that was refusing to hand over the strata roll to the company secretary because, basically, it wasn’t their policy and there were issues of “privacy”.
We got the strata roll and the email addresses.
Ok, these are all the bits of info you need:
- The owners corporation must maintain a strata roll (Section 178) and it must have the email addresses of owners in it.
- Any owner is entitled to view the records of the strata scheme which specifically includes the strata roll under the provisions of Section 182. Failure to allow that to happen can incur a fine of $550 in the first instance.
- The privacy act does not apply to owners corporations.
- The tribunal can order the strata manager or secretary to make documents available for inspection under section 188 .
That should be all the ammunition you require.
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Ask them if they have considered getting a strata loan. That’s easier for everyone (except those who have that kind of spare cash lying around).
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To be honest, the amount of detail you have spelled out, including demands to know all the materials that will be involved and the warning that costs for strata manager time will be transferred to the applicant, reads like an attempt to deter the installation.
The owners corporation is entitled to know the impact the installation will have on common property (and possibly the electricity supply), to have a binding undertaking that the lot owner will maintain and repair affected common property, and know any visual impact it may have on the scheme.
You are also entitled to ask that a professional installer be used and for the lot owner understand that any noise issue could result in the unit being limited in the times that it is used (e.g. not at night) or removed completely.
But you can’t project a worst-case scenario on to the regulations that you want to impose. You have to give people the opportunity to act in good faith but with a clear understanding that there will be consequences if they install a noisy or otherwise intrusive unit.
The question of the power load is more important than most people realise, but for that you need to know what the power capacity currently is and what the limits for additional air-con units might be. That is something your OC probably needs to address separately from this individual application, in case this leads to a number of similar requests.
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(g) Are you aware the matter will require a special resolution?;
If it’s a reverse cycle air-con in may only need a sustainability by-law which only requires a simple majority.
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This would be why the NSW government now insists that all strata records are digitized and stored securely.
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Don’t believe that engaging a lawyer leads to court.
Agreed and, to be clear, I wasn’t suggesting court action. When you’re dealing with the sub-contractor of a developer who is only interested in getting a job done as quickly and cheaply as possible, who probably doesn’t understand their legal obligations and who has no idea about the extent of your knowledge of the law, then a lawyer’s letter can clarify issues to the point where sensible negotiations can begin.
At least then the builder can’t go ahead and do as they please and then turn around and say no one told them they couldn’t.
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Any pointers in applying to VCAT?
I believe Victoria has just recently reactivated its Dispute Settlement Service . That would be a good place to start. And Julie’s advice to gather as much practical information as possible can only help, whichever way you go.
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I doubt very much if the SCA will provide you with her details but they might pass on your details to her, if they know where she is, and invite her to contact you.
Otherwise scour your emails for any from her that contain her mobile number (possibly inadvertently). Mobile numbers tend to go with the person, rather than the company.
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I have to say I’m a bit disappointed when the answer is always “see a lawyer”.
But it isn’t “always”. You’ve had your rights explained and the original question was about replacing the wall with a different barrier. Compared to the substantial and unnecessary charges you seem to be contemplating, a lawyer’s letter is a minimal impost and a sensible approach.
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If they are demolishing the wall, they have to pay for all of it. Talk to a strata lawyer and have a letter sent, as advised before.
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You certainly could speak to a lawyer but the threat of doing so may be enough initially. I don’t know your committee and how they respond to legitimate requests and implied threats but if it was my block, I would do it with an email initially. Something like:
I believe you have been wrongly advised about the status of my parking space and the owners corporation’s continued and unapproved use of it to store garbage bins. The strata plan clearly shows that this is my lot so, to bring this dispute to an amicable conclusion, I have two simple requests:
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- Immediately find somewhere else on common property to store the bins on a permanent basis.
- Have the boundary lines of the parking space repainted to reflect the correct dimensions on the strata plan.
Failure to fulfil either or both of these reasonable requests will leave me no option but to consult a strata lawyer with a view to seeking orders from NCAT and compensation for the use of my space, backdated to when the scheme first started leaving its bins there.
Needless to say, should the strata scheme choose to engage in unnecessary legal dispute, I will seek all costs as part of any judgement.
Please advise as soon as possible how you intend to proceed.
If they ignored it or refused, that’s when I would get a strata lawyer involved. I hasten to add, the committee in my block would never allow this to happen – if nothing else, they are sticklers for the rules.
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FACT: No NSW strata manager has ever lost their licence just for being really, really bad at their job. No SCA member has ever been bumped from that self-serving organisation for the same reason. It’s an body created and maintained to protect strata managers and their service providers, regardless of what other services it may provide.
And that’s fine, until they start telling people (usually via naive journalists) that they represent owners. If that’s the case, how can they justify 20 per cent commissions on mandatory insurance premiums? The SCA-NSW could end that with the stroke of a pen.
And how about embedded networks – a way of transferring the cost of infrastructure from the developers to the off-the-plan purchasers? What do some (but not all) strata managers do? The SCA-NSW’s hierachy issues statements saying they support reviews of the system, at the same time as the companies they own are loading up agendas for the initial AGMs with contracts that the majority of purchasers – especially first-timers – can’t read and wouldn’t understand if they could.
It’s utterly shameful and if you want to test if the SCA-NSW represents owners, take a complaint against a strata manager to them and see whose side they are on.
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I did read somewhere that the current owner has to accept liabilities of previous ownership and thrash it out themselves.
This is true – that’s why these agreements are enshrined in by-laws, so that they survive transfer of ownership. However, there are avenues available to the new purchaser to pursue the vendor for non-disclosure that a liability existed that they knew about or should have known about.
You could even turn this back on the OC and threaten to take it to NCAT for failure to fulfil its responsibilities – i.e. pursue debts incurred by the previous owners. That’s a long shot but it might get them to back down if there is no evidence that they previously sought the payments from the owner.
Either way, you should at least chat to an experienced strata lawyer to discover what your options are and find out if the cost of putting things right would be more than just paying the bill.
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I have been reading up on by laws and understand they CAN be amended retrospectively by the OC.
Yes, but with common property by-laws (which this appears to be) usually this is only with the written consent of all parties – including the lot owner to whom it applies – or by an order from NCAT to correct a clear anomaly.
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