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As JT said, you have to pick your battles.
Picking a fight just to prove you are right wastes energy and just makes the other side more against you.
On the other hand, if the battle is worth fighting, then there is only one person who will lead the charge. Look in a mirror for the answer.
It’s surprising how the threat of mediation will suddenly focus the committee that one is serious. If that fails there is always NCAT.
Also remember, it’s not what one believes is right that the law supports.
Strata living is governed by the act and bylaws. Read these carefully and then decide, is there evidence of a contravention of the act or a bylaw. If the answer is maybe, then the whole process of a hearing will be protracted as each side argues its more right than the other.
I’ve had a couple of instances recently where owners decided to take the OC through the process. In all instances they folded because the law was not on their side.
The first issue is whether they have permission to instal cameras. A by lawpreventi g changes to common property would cover this.
Se only, if they have permission, they are only allowed to record common property. Common property is a public area, so as long as the camera does not record inside a lot its legal.
I would also be bringing up with the committee, the relevance of cameras. If the lot owner claims its for their security, they should only record what’s relevant. ie their front doo, their garage, but not areas not associated with them.
As an owner you have a n “interest” in the common property, which allows you to make a claim without the approval of the OC.
The details for the insurance policy will be in the notice of the AGM, or you just ask the strata manager or secretary for the details. They cant hold it back.
They probably dont want to lodge a claim because the OC will have to pay the excess.
Its usual for strata insurance policies to have a loss of rent clause.
KatherineB
you should not be concerned
Let me explain. You have identified that there is a loan to be repaid: you have identified that the Capital Works Fund is probably underfunded. You have identified that there is a risk that a future capital works bill may need extra funding.
You need to decide. If there is a big bill for repairs that comes in, am I in a position to be able to pay it?
It would be worse if you knew nothing of the above an walked in blind.
I believe that in all states of Australia there is a definition of restricted work
Thats work that MUST be carried out by a licenced tradesman.
Electrical and plumbing spring to mind.
So no need for a bylaw, as using anyone other than a licenced tradesman to do plumbing work is against the state laws. (which override strata laws)
I’d look at the plans again. They are hard sometimes to interpret.
As others have said, an easement is a burden by others on “your ” property.
But the owner of the burdened property must maintain it.
From your question its not clear, so Ill give two scenarios.
If the easement runs through common property (that is any land not assigned to an owner) its the responsibility of the OC to maintain. That means its up to the OC to request and cut down the tree.
If the easement runs through your lot (say a rear courtyard) then its the lot owner responsibility – up to a point!.
Most strata plans state that the cubic space of the courtyards is limited to some height (around 3 metres is common). So any part of the tree above 3 metres is common property and therefore the responsibility of the OC.
{So you can cut down the first 3 meteres of a tree, but you must leave the upper section above 3 metres standing unless you get the permission of the OC}
If the old and new strata managers worked together correctly, then your levy history would have been transferred to the new strata manager.
Your levy history is kept of a levy ledger. You can ask to see it at any time. Id ask to see it to make sure that all payments you have made are credited to your sccount.
Its an unfortunate situation that you are in. As JT suggested you can ask to be put on a payment plan. But a payment plan is not a way to defer your levy payments. At some time you will need to show that you can catch up and manage your levy payments as they become due.
Perhaps a financial counselling service offered by some charitable organisations would be of use to you to plan a way ahead.
So lets do some subtraction.
Start with the premiss that everything at the property is common property.
Then look at the strata plan. It shows the boundaries of lots and each encloses a cubic space. Subtract this from the previously defined common property and you are left with the ‘real” common property.
Just to emphasize. An owner is a strata owns only the cubic space , not the building elements (except is some cases like floors between levels in a townhouse)
Now dont confuse the building classification with the definition of strata lots. They are different.
The building classification pertains to the building in its entirety. And in fact a building can be classed by a number of different classes (for example residential occupancy area and car park areas)
And a third point. Its assumed that when the property was built it was compliant with the fire regulations at the time. There is no regulation to say that as new fire measures come up, that they need to be retrofitted. So unless someone can say otherwise, your building is fire compliant.
There may come a time when either the local council or the fire brigade will issue an order to update some or all of the fire measures. Until then, sit tight.
Additionally, you don’t have to renew for three years.
There is no legislated mi imum period of the contract.
In your case I would defer signing a new contract.
The committee can resolve to extend the current contract for 3 months.
By then the new legislation will be in and the strata manager will need to submit a new contract in accordance with the new legislation.
There are new strata laws coming into effect soon. ( they have been passed by parliament and just waiting to be gazetted)
One change is that standard form contracts now have to have specific clauses in them. It balances the power of the OC with the strata manager. So future strata management contracts should be a lot fairer.
There is nothing to stop you changing clauses in any type of contract prior to signing it.
However I wanted to change some clauses in a strata contract we signed recently.I got some concessions, but the strata manager told me that they did not want to stray too far from the original contract because then every management contract is different and it becomes difficult for them to administer.
That’s perfectly understandable especially as OCs are driving the price of strata management down.
But I expect to see any new contracts signed later this year to be a bit fairer, but probably still non negotiable
I guess hindsight is a wonderful thing.
But I keep any approvals by the OC or the committee in my personal records.
It then never becomes an issue of memory as the documents are at hand.
I doubt that NCAT will be sympathetic to the argument that it’s been there a long time, though they may direct that the owner makes a new application to the OC.
Arranging your own insurance is not particularly difficult for old style apatrement blocks.
It gets trickier for the multi story blocks now prevalent.
I’d suggest using a broker. They are remunerated ( of course) by either a fee for service or by commission from the insurer ( but not both).
You can negotiate a deal with the broker.
Brokers often have access to insurers not available to Joe average ( because some insurance companies don’t want to deal with Joe average.)
There will be an agreement between you, the landlord and the agent which you both signed.
There may be a clause which permits the agent to act on your behalf in certain circumstances.
If not, then the agent must seek instructions from you and act on what you said.
Ziggy
your question is short of detail, but I’ll try to give an answer.
You need to get a report , unfortunately paid by you , as to the cause and then the remedy for the pooling water. Whilst lots of us think we know the problem and solution, the only evidence that stands scrutiny is that of an expert in the field.
Present this to the committee and ask them to repair the common property as required in the act.
if after two months nothing has happened, initiate firstly mediation and then go to NCAT.
i think the section is 232 in the act . Essentially it’s the OC not carrying out its duties.
Whether ist falls under DBPA is the problem of the OC . They may need to engage a consultant.
Strata managers do not like small blocks
1) Because of the small number of people, issues usually become personal battles that strata managers can’t resolve.
2) Some of the base load work is the same whether it’s for a small complex or a large complex. Hence to cover their costs, the per unit charge is relatively high compared to larger complexes.I had to find a new strata manager about 5 years ago. I found an online service ( whose name I can’t remember , and I’m not allowed to promote business names on this forum)
who came up with the names of strata managers matched to my requirements.
Try googling, as I found the strata manager I wanted through them ( and it was for a small 4 unit complex)