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The Strata Committee is holding a properly constituted meeting this week re the issuing of NTCs AND they have also got Bannermans, the lawyers, involved.
Another example of why it is important to be firm and resolute from the first signs of trouble. An advisory note or phone call after the first breach is fine. After that, go in hard and save yourself weeks and months of grief faffing around with warnings. A Notice to Comply IS a warning, with a potential $1100 sting in its tail.
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There is a difference between damage to lot property that has occurred due to normal wear and tear and damage that has been caused by an event or failure in common property. I would say termite infestation is a failure in common property and therefore the insurers should pay up. If they don’t do following a direct approach, apply to Fair Trading for mediation with a view to taking action against the committee under section 232 – failure to fulfil responsibilities.
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You can ask all the questions you want ( of the committee) and get all the warm and fuzzy answers.
The vendor could ask the committee, get binding approvals in principle, and some guarantee that the fences would be allowed. It depends how keen they are to sell and you are to buy. Give them the material – drawings, specs, by-law text etc – and ask them to test the water on your behalf. If the committee says no, then you know for sure.
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There is a set fee for access to owners corp records – about $35 plus photocopying. Can’t see where they get $200 from, even if it is in their Schedule B charges.
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By the way, you have continued this conversation in another thread which, as was pointed out, is not allowed in this forum. If you want to tap into the collective knowledge here, please follow the rules. If you want to ask your question about powers of attorney, then do so again here. Your posts in the other thread have been deleted.
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Would you happen to know if the EC can remove the chairman and strata manager despite having less voices than the Chairman?
The committee can remove the chair from their office (but not the committee) with a simple majority vote at the committee. Remember, the chair may not use proxies or powers of attorney at the committee (although they may have cronies on the committee). It’s one committee member one vote.
Currently, you need a special resolution (75 per cent vote in favour) at a general meeting to remove a member from the committee but the upcoming law changes will reduce that to a simple majority. Also, the new regs will prevent a sacked committee member for returning to the committee for a year.
Again, under the new laws a committee can be re-elected at any general meeting and, as mentioned before, PoAs will be limited in the same way as proxies.
On that note, how many lots are in your block?
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Correction, in Victoria only schemes of over 100 units must appoint a strata managing agent. The state’s other recent tweaks to strata law include a couple of innovations that other states would do well to copy, including a limit of three years for all contracts. Contrary to what the money-grubbing management rights lobby in Queensland might tell you, the whole system doesn’t fall apart due to the absence of 25-year contracts.
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Better expressed that “if the item isn’t on the agenda then no decisions should be made about it”. It is fine to discuss it, just don’t go making decisions.
I should have said that items not on the agenda shouldn’t be discussed during the formal part of the meeting. A smart chair will delay discussion until after the agenda has been attended to and the formal meeting has ended, if only to make sure there is no confusion about whether or not a decision has been made.
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In Victoria, larger strata schemes (over 50 units?) must have strata managers. A similar regulation is in the pipeline for NSW blocks of over 100 units.
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… we are pretty sure that we would not be able to add height to this existing fence as it would then be inconsistent with the rest of the building, and there would most likely be rules against it (HOA / Body Corp etc).
You are making a lot of assumptions about what you won’t be allowed to do, and you are asking the question of the wrong people. You should be asking the strata committee what their position on this would be. There may be rules on the appearance of the block but they are not set in concrete. Things can change if the right approach is made and correct procedures are followed.
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So what’s stopping you from communicating with other owners? You are entitled to see the addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of other owners in the block. Privacy (the usual excuse) is not applicable here.
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Ordinary people with no idea running the show is what the plan was and it has been well executed because that is where we often are at with strata living.
Your dripping sarcasm is clogging up my computer.
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The first year of a new scheme is critical in this regard. This is when you see exactly how a strata manager operates. But then you need a couple of nitpickers on the committee to pull all the extraneous expenses apart. After that, you have a three-year cycle in which to decide if you are getting value for money.
The Strata Community Association (SCA), basically the strata managers’ trade union, is getting way too big for its boots, with strata managers now telling committees to ditch the Owners Corporation Network (OCN), because the SCA can provide owners training for free. I wonder if that training includes a section on how to spot a strata management rort.
Any scheme that dumps independent advice from other experienced owners in favour of free, pro-strata manager “training” deserves the dubious service they are almost certain to get.
Oh, and for the record, I am not and never have been a member of the OCN.
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The strata law changes currently going through parliament with see powers of attorney treated exactly the same as proxies – i.e. they will be limited to one PoA per 20 lots. Will that help?
Also, it doesn’t matter how many PoAs the chair has – they only have one vote on the committee (unless they take decisions to a general meeting).
Sounds like the sooner you can get rid of this despot, the better.
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