[optusJo]

We are in Victoria – we have an SCA contract from a large Body Corporate Management group.  Is terminating a contract by mutual agreement the same as “without having to specify the reason for termination”?

There is a clause in our SCA contract which states:
If no notice of its intention to revoke this Appointment is given by the Owners Corporation to the Manager
at least 28 days prior to the expiry date the Appointment will continue until the expiration of one year
after the expiry date (which date will then become the expiry date) but will not exceed the date of the
next Annual General Meeting at which time re-appointment must be confirmed.

I would also like to know if the termination process follow some sort of procedure.

In our case the contract will come to an end in October.  The AGM is usually in December.  The  Manager/Management have discovered after 9 months that the contract is unsigned.  The person meant to sign it was appointed at the AGM but then resigned.  All owners are part of the Body corporate.

It is almost not worth doing anything.

[optusJo]

Hi all (I am in Victoria)

has anything happened on this front?  5 months have passed:

We have an AGM in November, but we have a Management contract with MBCM for a year and this expires on the 30/9/2022.  However, according to the Management contract we need to give notice (? 28 days).  I am not a lawyer, the management contract is not on the owner portal. And at an AGM which lasts an hour there is not enough time to read the contract which consists of 23 pages of technical jargon (in my opinion) – should anyone turn up for the meeting.  There is very little on the owner portal.

Are there any other strata managers apart from SCA?  Is it worth moving to another company?

This also leads to the question – are there any other Strata Managers apart from the SCA?
Strata Community Association (VIC) | Collingwood

 

 

 

[optusJo]

Personally I am not offended by laundry on display.

I suppose Naples is not a good example of apartment living that allows drying on the balconies and extension poles.

We are in the situation where there is one clothesline of 5 strings (2 meters of line per string available) for a total of 4 units. This is on a balcony on common property.  Potentially 12 people per floor and wanting to use the clothesline as there are no private balconies.  I wonder how the residents manage.

 

 

 

[optusJo]

As an owner/investor of an apartment in a complex of 8 apartments, but only 2 owners living on site – I would welcome tenant representation.  It is only when the complex has gotten run-down that you realise that Body Corporate managers don’t go near the complex, agents tell you about your apartment and as an owner you don’t know your tenants or other owners.  If there was a representative tenant then perhaps they would know that ‘common property’ matters fall through the crack and they could put in ‘their 2 cents worth’ when it came to decision-making.

I don’t think I would want them to have voting rights although their opinion would be really valuable in discussion like – are there enough clotheslines?  Is the cleaning done to a good standard?  How hard is it to get a full bin to the footpath?

 

[optusJo]

OOPS!  I looked at the contract again:  The owner details will not be  in the hundreds of dollars!
2.2 Additional services paid by hourly rate or fixed fee
Hourly rate: $220.00
Chargeable as follows:  in units of 6 minutes or part thereof.
How often paid:  Upon presentation of invoice.
The fixed fee:
2.5 Fee units  – The term “fee units” means the value set by the Victorian Treasurer each year under the Monetary Units Act 2004, as amended for each financial year – 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 value of a fee unit is $15.03;

The maximum we will need to pay is less than $50.

[optusJo]

What sort of costs does this search involve?

[optusJo]

I would want to know how they keep the Strata Committee records and how much access is given to owners.  In Victoria we have an Owner’s portal and has a maximum of about 25 documents, and our complex has been going for at least 30 years.

On another site, the question is asked who determines what documents form the OC records.  The answer seems to indicate that there is no discretion about what is filed.  Is this only in NSW?  I suppose even if it is in VIC, the argument would be that it is not on the portal, but the records are somewhere and you could look at them for a cost?  In our case one committee member had luckily kept lots of “paper” records.

What is a Strata Manager Broker?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[optusJo]

I am in Victoria.

We are in a block of 8 flats and until recently there was only 1 owner on site.  Then COVID came along and the flats were harder to rent out as they were looking “unkept” and “unloved”.  It is only when owners were starting to look at getting more renters or selling that “the look” became an issue.  Owners had relied on real estate agents and real estate agents generally only commented on the flat itself not the common areas.

We spent a lot of time and effort to clean up the front garden and documenting where maintenance needed to be done and getting quotes.

Yes we did it because we cared and yes we saved money by doing this and yes owners were happy because they went on to get renters and sell their apartments.

Our Strata Manager’s contract (from the SCA) sets out the fee of $220 per hour from arranging to come to the site, to getting quotes.   They are not on-site and certainly do not check that work done on the property has been done to a standard.

4 out of 8 owners did a lot of work last year – I will certainly not be “working” again.  My time is also valuable.

 

[optusJo]

I am in Victoria – Our Strata Manager contract has

2.2 Additional services paid by hourly rate or fixed fee (The hourly fee is $220)

Arrange any major (> $1,000 or 15 minutes) maintenance/repair/replacement of Owners Corporation
Property (% of project value)
Upon agreement  or hourly rate

If this applies to getting quotes – it could explain  high levy fees.
I wonder how this is shown in invoices or quotes?  Perhaps it should be mandatory for all invoices and quotes to be accessible on the “owner’s portal”.

 

 

[optusJo]

In Victoria under new legislation, any rental providers (not sure what the new term for owner is ) must have a working smoke alarm.  It is enforced by the rental agency – so I suppose owners could get away with not having one.

The Fire Safety check done quarterly has never requested access to individual units.

 

[optusJo]

I wonder how effective the law/suggestion to strata managers and fire safety companies would be that the “finder of problems” cannot be the “fixer of problems found”.

Given that most Strata Companies now have some files on their websites – it would make sense to insist that all reports are kept there.

 

 

[optusJo]

Hi

It’s not really a community building social event – there is only one owner that lives on site.

The bigger question is that owners need to become aware of the fact that the common areas are in a bad condition.  I would like it to become a catalyst for having a building maintenance report/template.  We do not have one at present.

The owners who have come on site have expressed surprised at the maintenance /repairs needed.

 

 

[optusJo]

Interestingly (I am in Vic) I was told by Consumer Affairs that I was entitled to see the Owner’s Register for no fee.  The manager however wishes to charge $19.99 (I think) and send it to me.

The price is not the point!  

[Author]

Replies