[maryjane]

Thanks for your response – I will put this suggestion forward to strata committee for consideration.

[maryjane]

Thanks for your response however there is a misunderstanding regarding documentation of the increase in levies. The increase is noted in the minutes of the AGM.  It clearly states that a 3% increase was agreed to and a 5% increase was rejected.  The problem is the strata manager is saying that he didn’t have a copy of the minutes of the AGM and instead relied on information he received directly from the outgoing strata managers.

My point is that he should have at least ensured he read the minutes of the last AGM which took place in November 2019 and not relied on whatever the outgoing managers passed to him. He officially took office in December 2019 and I would have thought it prudent to obtain a copy of the most recent AGM when you are taking on a new strata business.

I still do not understand why the mistake cannot be easily rectified and the correct levy notices issued with a credit to those owners who have paid the 5% instead of 3%.

 

 

[maryjane]

Thank you for your comments – appreciated.  We will consider all replies before responding to the resident and may well make an exception for the storage of the frame in the public area whilst there are Covid 19 restrictions in place to facilitate exercise requirements.

[maryjane]

Thank you for your reply.

The strata committee have elected not to have a meeting for the next 4 months and therefore it is not possible to create and vote a new by-law until that time.

With regard to your comment concerning empathy there is a history of this particular owner complaining to and about other residents over various perceived issues.

I take it from your reply that unless we have a by-law in place then it is a ‘free for all’ with regard to leaving items in the foyer.  A pity we will have to wait to rectify this situation.

[maryjane]

Hi, Thanks your reply.  There are plenty of funds available – they just don’t want to spend it!

Regards

Maryjane

[maryjane]

Thank you both for the comments – much appreciated.

Mary Jane

[maryjane]

@scotlandx said:
It depends on what the resolution said, the resolution should usually state when the levy is to be due and payable.

Can you provide us with the contents of the resolution?

The strata manager shouldn’t be telling you when the levy should be raised, if the work needs to be done, it needs to be done.  Is the strata manager close to the dissenting owner? (not beyond the realms of possibility if he is the former Chairman)

Perhaps you need to make it clear to the strata manager that the wishes of one owner don’t govern how things are to be progressed. 

Thanks for your comments. The resolution is still to be formulated – have not yet seen the minutes of the meeting due to illness of the strata manager!!

[maryjane]

@Whale said:
Maryjane – sorry to overload you with “Guru” questions, but I was wondering about on what basis the dissenting “family member” is voting; do they hold the Owner’s proxy on each occasion?

And lastly….. did your O/C at least consider borrowing the money for the repairs as I suggested, because it appears to me that may be the solution to getting the works done now, and collecting the special levy to repay that over time; unless of course the 5 Owners can each stump-up around $16K in one hit.

Yes they hold the owner’s proxy. Borrowing the money was considered however no-one wanted to pay the high interest rate. We are trying to get it across in one hit.

[maryjane]

@kiwipaul said:
MJ you have got to decide which is more important getting the repairs done or trying to please all the owners. As was said the motion to raise a special levy should have included the detail about how it was going to be raised and I would say if it didn’t it defaults to all in one hit.

BEWARE

If you let this drag on the owners might realize they could call an EGM (only requires 7 days notice) to overturn the original motion to raise the levy. Even if you raise it by a levy of $1,000 / month you need to get the first levy statement out to all the owners ASAP with an early pay by date such that those that don’t pay are then non financial and unable to obstruct your plans (until they pay).

Thanks again for the advice. The meeting was a litany of errors and there was no mention of how the levy was to be raised. Strata managers have now been asked to issue it in one hit.

[maryjane]

Thanks for replies – have got the ball rolling now with the strata manager.  He wants to stagger the levies over 8 months. We would like to get the process moving a lot earlier.  Can we insist on the levies being issued for full payment to be received by at least December 2014?

[maryjane]

Thanks for your reply which is helpful. They are making contributions however will not agree to a special levy.  The special levy was agreed to by 3 owners. One of the owners does not live there and the family member that does will do anything to avoid paying repairs (the owner is in a nursing home). Out of the 3 that have agreed, one owner is now saying we should wait longer (this has been going on for 2 years) until he can get agreement from the dissenting owner.  This agreement will never happen. As you can probably ascertain the situation is now becoming hostile.  The townhouses are a high value (in the low $1 m’s) and we do not like living in a pig sty. We do have a strata manager and they have initiated the quotes etc to get the building up to scratch. There have been so many quotations carried out that by the time anything is done they will all be invalid. This has happened before and is a deliberate stalling process from the dissenting owner. All the strata manager needs to move forward is an agreement from the owners to raise a special levy and this is where everything has stalled.

[maryjane]

Repairs include re-painting of exterior; replacing rotting boards; broken fences; water damage from external wall; removal of concrete cancer. The dissenting owner does not have a majority entitlement – There are 5 townhouses with 5 owners. His position is he will look after his own place and therefore will not contribute to common costs. He has been in residence the longest (over 10 years) and by co-incidence his place is ‘pristine’.  He was previously the chairman before being de-throned and it would appear during this time he made sure that his place was kept in a good state of repair.

[Author]

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