[Pamster]

• Bravo Isydowner for your comments, it’s a shame though that you may not now see this response.
  I write emails to my EC to address issues in my strata where I am the only resident owner. I have been unlawfully excluded from being on the EC which was stated in a recent NCAT decision in my favour. I am still excluded from being on the EC by the use of harvested proxies by the Secretary who appears to be disgruntled because of my NCAT successes. I have enquired as to what her grievances are with me but she does not respond. I have no choice but to write emails to the EC about every matter at the strata whether major or minor because no other owner lives there to see the issues that arise on a 24 hour basis. If I were on the EC I would attend to these issues myself with the other owners being none the wiser that I had done so, but seeing as I am not (allowed) on the EC I have no authority and possibly no insurance coverage to deal with them.
  Jimmy T suggests going to NCAT for an order under section 138…….. Good luck with that! As he (and I) have written in another post, it is an absolute circus there, and the only reason I have succeeded on a few occasions is because of my persistence and a solicitor who is absolutely determined to see that justice is done.
  To have any sort of satisfactory result in a Tribunal where the odds are stacked in favour of the OC you have to jump through many hoops;
  1. Application for mediation to DoFT, (which is always refused by the OC in my case),
  2. Application for adjudicators orders (usually dismissed accompanied by non-sensical reasons for dismissal).
  3. Application for tribunal orders. If the matter is successful at the Tribunal next step is;
  4. Request for costs (which in most cases is refused);
  5. Application for an appeal against the costs decision.
  My solicitor and I are at no. 5 for one matter, and at various other stages in the other 2 matters I have pending.
• No, I am not a serial pest / email writer, and neither am I vexatious (this is borne out by my successes) and to read in submissions to NCAT from the Secretary of my EC that I am both of these things is offensive in the extreme, and to read on this forum that other people could have the same view is equally offensive.
  Over time all of those people who oppose me either sell up and leave, or like a previous strata manager (and EC member) resign. Yet notwithstanding my legal successes they have left a legacy of resentment towards me from new owners who have only heard, I suspect, a biased history from the outgoing EC members who never respond to my emails and even shamefully scurry out of local cafés if they see me enter. Legal success is satisfying but the propaganda war has an impact, but eventually I am expecting that it will turn around.
  My legal advice now is that the EC members have not only breached their duty of care but also their fiduciary duty which is a higher duty, and they may be personally liable for what they have done. This will be a matter that I will pursue in the higher courts against them in due course (I have six years under the statute of limitations). Running such claims in a “real court” will have its risks and stresses but at least I will not have to contend with the clowns at NCAT.

[Pamster]

I have been dealing with NCAT for the past year and have come to the conclusion that it operates in a parallel universe to every other legal jurisdiction.
I have had a few decisions in my favour but yesterday one was dismissed. The adjudicator agreed with everything I submitted but in the end dismissed the application because she said I had not “included a copy of the proposed By-law I wished to have adopted”.
I had submitted the Proposed By-law (that she claimed was missing) one day prior to the closing date of 17 December. The Registry told me they had a record of me having gone to the counter in Castlereagh St to deliver it. The clerk could even recite to me the whole content of the document, including the proposed By-law!

Why the Adjudicator never got to see it is anyone’s guess, maybe it fell into the “Black Hole” that exists in that particular parallel universe! Looks like another appeal and another $81.00 has to be paid by me to get the result that should have gone my way in the first place, apparently they won’t waive the fee for the appeal even though the error was NCAT’s.

As a follow up, my solicitor wrote to the Adjudicator advising her that the “missing” documents were in the file, and he requested that she vary her decision. Her response was that I did not submit the by law “in time” so could not vary her decision, she stated the By-law was submitted on the 18th December, when her very own registry stated they have a record of me delivering it on the 17th!
It appears in this particular jurisdiction, whether you are an Applicant or Respondent, if your case is against the Owner’s Corporation, every obstacle possible will be placed in your way to deny you having an order granted in your favour.
So………here I go again…………… back to the Tribunal to appeal, this three ringed circus that is NCAT is absolutely ridiculous!

[Pamster]

I asked my Solicitor (a Corporate  Lawyer with 30+ years experience in a major Sydney Law Firm) if he would work at NCAT if he received “the call”  – his response;

” Mediocrity is not something I aspire to”.

[Pamster]

Hi my solicitor who worked in the same law firm as victor dominello some years ago, has lodged a complaint with the president of NCAT regarding an adjudicator, due to an appalling and prejudicial decision he made which was overturned on appeal. His erroneous decision gave the respondents (the EC) confidence to continue acting predjucially and unlawfully towards me which has cost me thousands in legal fees. The application for costs was summarily dismissed, the tribunal member stated the respondents were entitled to rely on a flawed decision! I am appealing the costs decision with a new application to be heard by the appeal panel. I am probably on a hiding to nothing because it appears NCAT rarely award costs against the owners corporation.
A number of instances that shocked my solicitor (who had not dealt with NCAT before, though he had been warned by fellow lawyers) occurred at the appeal hearing, one was the respondents attempting to present as evidence a “without prejudice” letter from my solicitor on which he had not waived privilege, when my solicitor objected the tribunal member stated ” the normal rules of evidence do not apply at NCAT”.

The other occurrence was the respondents giving evidence from the bar table with no oaths having been taking. When my solicitor objected and stated that oaths should be taken and the verbal evidence should be given from the witness box, the tribunal member threatened to throw him out of the tribunal!, in the 30 plus years my solicitor has been practicing law he has never been threatened with ejection from any court.

Your comments are very funny and i only wish there were more newsletters, this one certainly gave me a cheery start to an overcast Sunday.

[Author]

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