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You may want to check your strata managers agency agreement. I would be very surprised if they have the authority to spend such sums of money with out a committee resolution.
Also, speak with your other committee members and demand regular meetings. OC’s elect EC’s at the AGM to make decisions on their behalf. The Chairmen is not able to make decisions without agreement of the committee despite the fact that he/she may be the designated point of contact between the committee and the strata manager.
You should always make sure you are financial prior to a general meeting if you want your opinion to count.
If you can not manage to pay outstanding levies prior to the meeting and you wish to nominate for the EC you should ask another owner who is financial to nominate you. Be aware though that you will be “representing” their lot and should they subsequently sell, your position on the EC will become vacant.
I don’t think asking for clarity on invoices is unreasonable.
You do need to look however at what you are paying per annum for strata management. If it is not in the higher price bracket then you shouldn’t be expecting your agent to add extra work to their already extremely busy day. A strata manager with a large portfolio may get up to 100 invoices a day to approve so they will not be wanting to add extra time to this process.
Pay more for your strata manager and they will be able to manage less buildings and give better customer service.
Pay budget rates and they will give budget service.
If you pay premium rates and get low service – look for a new strata manager.
This depends on how pro active your committee wishes to be (the more the better for you and your strata scheme).
The SSMA states that the chairperson of the committee has to chair the meetings. In practice plenty of chairpersons request the managing agent to carry out this delegated function but it is first and foremost the right of the chairperson.
Many EC’s will regularly meet without the strata manager present (which can significantly cut costs if they meet often).
In practice a secretary should regularly check/clear the owners corporations mail box and reply to or forward any necessary correspondence as well as posting any notices & minutes on the notice board. If your agent is not attending meetings the secretary should take the minutes and distribute them.
The treasurer will not have hands on access to funds if they are held in a trust account managed by your agent however in many circumstances they would be checking and approving invoices prior to the agent paying, giving investment instructions for any term deposits required and should be regularly seeking out and checking through financial statements provided by the strata manager. It is also helpful for an active treasurer to be involved in the preparation of a proposed budget prior to your AGM.
Hope this is helpful.
@Whale said:
JGOWI – It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Strata Management Agency Agreement (and I’m not likely to any time soon), but I’m almost certain that it’s customary for Strata Mangers (S/M) to be delegated to issue Notices to Comply (NTC) and to attend the CTTT.The standard SCA agreement sets out different levels of authority for the owners corporation & agents to agree on for a variety of matters. Representing the owners corporation at the CTTT is one of these matters. Some agents wish to have “no authority” listed on the agreement as the “official” line would be that they are not lawyers. In practice and regardless of this most agents will represent the OC and charge an hourly rate.
FWIW – the standard NTC form includes the following instructions:
“The executive committee, or owners corporation if it has decided not to let the executive committee issue this notice, must convene and hold a meeting to decide to issue the Notice and record its decision in the minutes. Alternatively a managing agent that has been delegated the function may decide to issue a Notice.”
kiwipaul said
I know an NTC is not the same as conciliation and then adjudication, but I asked our SM a few years ago what they charge to obtain a ruling and they told me the average charge is $2,000 (just the SM fee) but it depends on the complexity of the case and how long it takes to prepare the documents.
All agents will charge hourly rates for all stages of the by-law compliance process. CTTT says to allow up to 5 hours for a mediation sessions and I have seen them last this long. When you add preparation & travel time you could be looking at up to 8 hours of SM fees. Then add adjudication on top of this and your $2000 has well and truly been used up. All this when the CTTT is meant to be a cost effective way for owners to settle disputes…
There is nothing to stop you from taking photos of common property. You can’t help it if an illegally parked car gets in the way of your photo.
(yes, I think this is a variation of Jimmy’s old comments regarding placing notices and stickers on cars)
The cook top is not common property so the owners corporation have no obligation (or right to) carry out the repair. The lot owner is responsible for this. They will need to engage the tradesperson direct and pay the invoice. The lot owner may choose to then lodge a claim against the OC’s insurers and once settlement is received (less the excess) the lot owner should be reimbursed the full amount of the settlement – no more no less. The only cost to the OC will be if the strata manager claims disbursements for lodging and managing claims (choose an agent with a transparent all inclusive fee!).
If too many lot owners start to take advantage of this then you may see an increase in premiums. The simple solution to this is to request that the insurers keep the premium down significantly increasing the excess payable on claims against “lot owners fixtures & fittings”.
Whale’s advice is (as usual) sound however be aware that the Strata Manager will likely require an Executive Committee direction (and resolution) to issue a notice to comply.
The Strata Manager will undoubtedly NOT be empowered under their agency agreement to represent an individual owner at the CTTT and quite possible not be empowered to represent the Owners Corporation at the CTTT either.
@JimmyT said:
what if, say, the glass door was broken as a result of some contributory act by the resident?Herein lies the problem – there are so many shades of grey that sometimes you just need to cut to the chase and get on with it.
I have no idea how one could possibly prove that a broken glass door was caused by a rugby tackle demonstration as I am sure the resident would be unlikely to own up…
If the “at fault” party really was culpable, the insurers would be within their rights to chase compensation themselves and would do so if it was commercially viable.
All standard strata insurance policies should cover fixtures and fittings as long as damaged by an insurable event (accidental damage and/or impact damage to glass would be included). This would not cover carpets and curtains but may (in some cases) include floating timber floors. The bottom line is – check the policy wording. It helps if you have a reputable insurance broker who specialises in strata.
The incident in question is clearly accidental and was not in any way malicious so why would the OC not believe they should be responsible for the repair? Is there a difference between a branch accidentally blowing into a window and someone accidentally running into the window?
The way I have normally seen this be dealt with is;
- if the damaged property is insured by the OC then claim it on the OC’s insurance (the lot owners insurance would ONLY cover items not covered by the OC’s policy and will require a letter of denial before they will pay)
- if it is common property (such as an external door or window) then the OC is responsible for the excess.
- if it is lot owners property such as internal cabinets, doors, sinks etc then the lot owner should be responsible for the excess.
Is this not the fairest way to deal with it?
I don’t think you can recoup money transferred from the sinking fund in accordance with s71(2) via a levy to the Admin Fund. This would not be addressing the sinking fund deficit.
IMO s76 allows the OC to determine levies to both admin and/or sinking fund so long as a budget estimate is agreed to at the same meeting. There is nothing to say that this can not be a resolution to amend the budget (previously passed at the AGM) mid year and subsequently levy an additional sinking fund contribution (or increase the current contributions) to pay back the money transferred.
This gets us around the messy business of transferring a “surplus” from the admin fund to the sinking fund. BTW – s72 deals with how to distribute surplus funds. They should be paid back to the owners in proportion according to unit entitlement and via passing a unanimous resolution.
I believe it follows that transferring a “surplus” from the admin fund to the sinking fund should be by way of budgeting a future deficit in the admin fund and increase the sinking fund by that same amount.
Scotlandx is correct. The OC must agree to the replacement EC member. The EC can make this decision as a decision of the EC is deemed to be a decision of the OC (unless the matter is restricted by the Act or a general meeting resolution under s21(2) of the Act).
The fact that the agenda and minutes refers to approval of garden design tells me that this would be considered making a change to common property. This would require a Special Resolution at a general meeting, not an ordinary resolution as suggested by you excerpt of agenda & minutes.
Accordingly this resolution would be out of order. Once designs and quotes are confirmed, the owners must go back to a general meeting and SPECIALLY RESOLVE to approve the works.
@ccbaxter – I think the core of your problems with getting support from other owners will be if your entire purpose is to “throw a spanner in the works”. Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. If the strata manager won’t help, speak with your executive committee direct. I am sure they will have more information and will willing to share if approached in a reasonable non-confrontional manner.
@Whale – the strata manager/secretary is obliged to put any motion on the AGM agenda that has been requested in writing by an owner with a right to vote at that meeting – whether or not the motion will be out of order. It will then fall to the chair of the meeting to call a motion out of order at the meeting itself.To me it sounds as if the motion on the agenda outlines the intentions of what decisions are being made. There is nothing wrong with tabling quotes at the meeting however it does make it difficult for owners supplying proxies to give voting instructions on these motions.
@ccbaxter – Go to the meeting. Listen to the information provided. Clearly state the reasons for your support or disagreement. Once a decision has been made and agreed to by the majority of the owners accept it and just get on with it.I think we all know why the EC will not send a copy of the relevant by-law. There is none.
@Kangaroo – Yes the leasing agent must provide a copy of the by-laws to the leasee and often these are attached to the back of the lease. This will be a moot point though if, as I suspect, there is no by-law covering this issue. If there is a relevant by-law, any letter sent to the tenant should be explain in what way they have breached this by-law…
@plasteck – good on you for only using your car once or twice a week and not adding to the ever increasing traffic and pollution problems.