[Perplexed]

Hi there!  And happy 2020!

We have an on-going committee member who has been on the OC for years. He is financial on one or two of his lots but has been unfinancial on several others, for that entire period.

Owners have questioned both the building and strata managers about the legality of his position but have been told, repeatedly, that he is allowed to continue to hold his position and vote on all matters – including re-electing himself – because he is financial on one of his lots.

Owners don’t believe that response but have been unable to sway the powers that be to exclude him from being re-elected, each year.

Could you pls clarify this point and direct us to any clause in the act which deals with this loophole?

And if he is illegally on the OC – what can we do about it, now?

Tku!

[Perplexed]

We followed yr advice, Jimmy, and wrote to the strata manager and committee prior to an EC meeting, to ask a few questions.  We received the following answers: –

1) We note there is no mention of commercial garbage costs, which are still being charged to residential properties.  I believe this matter was held over from the last meeting. It requires a resolution – particularly now that additional garbage costs will be incurred by operation of the new nightclub and restaurant venues.  We suggest the committee either divides the existing garbage room in 2, for separate residential and commercial use; provides an alternate space – such as the noticeboard, or any other area, to separate services, as required by Council; or we propose that residential owners are no longer charged for commercial or other waste removal services, in strata fees. We pay for this service, already, in Council rate payments.  It is not fair and equitable for residential owners to pay twice, or to subsidise commercial operators.

SC Response: Matter on hold until a solution to Council’s requirements can be met.  Which means nothing will be done.  And meanwhile another two high turnover commercial venues have opened in the building, increasing garbage amounts massively.

2)  We would, very much, like to know where the existing power metres are; which floors, apartments and commercial areas are separately metered; and what plans the committee has, if any, to provide separately metered services to individual apartments.  The current situation, with rising power costs, and unmonitored usage of power in individual lots, leaves individual owners unable to conserve on their power costs, while short term and other rental residents have unfettered and unchecked usage.  We ask the committee to please work out a solution to this problem.  Individual units need individual power metres.

SC written response: They will submit an environmental grant application for either water, solar, plant or electricity efficiency measures.  That doesn’t mean the grant will be approved.  And it doesn’t stipulate it will be towards power costs, if successful.  And it doesn’t answer the question.  (The verbal response, i believe, was – it’s too expensive to meter each flat, so it won’t happen.)  They’re not even getting quotes!

3)  While installation of the NBN is being considered, this might be a good time to add an intercom/entrance system to the residential units.  Residents need freedom of access for visitors and guests.  No automatic access from individual units is problematic and, in the long term, quite unworkable.  We request entrance access system to be placed on the committee’s agenda, until a solution can be found to the problem.

SC response:  Resolved it’s not viable due to security risks.  As if it isn’t more of a risk with all residents happily opening the door for anyone who is standing there, when they come in.  We’ve all been locked out, at some time or another …  No attempt to get a quote.  No justification of lack of access and inconvenience for residents and guests.  Just “No”.

4)  We requested a copy of any minutes or notices regarding the construction the tin shed, on common property, prior to its erection, and any minutes or notices re. the OC paying costs for the shed.  And we requested the OC to instruct the owner of the shed to repay expenses to the strata and remove the obstruction from the courtyard area.

SM response: They would forward documents.  Nothing has been received, as at this moment.  And, last long weekend, a commercial operator set up a dj desk in the shed.  That certainly added to the quiet enjoyment of our properties – which with commercial operations going til 3am, are non-existent.  And there’s no way the committee will address those issues.

5)   Regarding our request for letterboxes the response was: Resolved not to install as there are minimal permanent residents and a concierge.

That is completely untrue!  Most of the residents have been here for yonks!  And if we had an intercom and letterboxes we wouldn’t need a concierge.  That would be a massive saving in costs.

6)  In a parting gesture of goodwill the committee resolved “that these matters be removed from future agendas as they have previously been discussed and will not be revisited”.

So Flat-chatters – if you managed to read to the end of this tale of woe – we would appreciate any thoughts you have on our situation.  And thank you for yr time.  It is great to know you are there.

 

 

 

 

[Perplexed]

Tku, Puddn!

You are on the money with developers ‘right of entitlement’.  In our building they even have written into the by-laws that none of the residents are allowed to complain about any of their commercial activities.

When i complained, as anyone would under the circumstances, they issued notices to say I had to leave the property because it wasn’t residential.  That was a very scary couple of months!  So off we trundled to NCAT to try to sort the matter out and while a decision was still pending the corporates issued the entire residential building with notices to say they had to leave. It was craziness!

Luckily, in that instance, NCAT decided against throwing us all onto the street and the threat was withdrawn. NCAT also ruled that we could complain – as you would expect.  So it was a good result, but a costly and long running process, which doesn’t leave us homeless, but also doesn’t solve the core problem.  And the by-laws remain unchanged, by commercial vote.

The next step in liberating the building isn’t going to be a stroll in the park, either.  Even though it’s all over the news that recycling is ending up in landfill, I still believe it is vitally important that we each do the best we can for the planet, and each other.  We need to recycle, conserve energy, use our community property to mingle with our neighbours and become a real community.  With guidance from the Flat-Chatters that’s what we aim to bring about in our little dysfunctional part of paradise.

Peace, love and happiness, in the neighbourhood.

[Perplexed]

Tku, Jimmy!

[Perplexed]

Oh, Sir Humphrey, a divorce would be marvellous! I fear we should never have married in the first place … but as a love child of the unholy amalgamation, I see that settlement would be extremely difficult.  The commercial owners have cherry picked nearly all the outside areas for exclusive usage and depleted funds from residential maintenance to constructing their exclusive use structures.  If we divorce now, the residential units would be left with possibly hundreds of thouands of dollars in overdue maintenance and capital works – and the commercial operators would just waltz away singing.

We were quoted $10,000 for an entitlement rethink.  The commercials use our strata fund for legal actions against residents, augmenting their edifices, and maintaining the status quo.  Residents have no such funds available.

And in the end we would still have a garbage room that has to be seen to be believed, a massive carbon footprint from our polluting air con system and ‘free’ power, and a building that looks like a complete shambles.

But we will try any ideas we can to turn the block around… so thank you for your time and kind thoughts.

[Perplexed]

That sounds like a plan!  But we have been searching for a strata manager for some time, now.  And we can’t find anyone to take us on.  It appears this building is quite notorious for its ingrained dysfunctionism… How do you suggest we go about finding someone brave enough to assist?

Writing a list of demands is easy.  We have quite a good start with ones already raised at general meetings that have been rejected or deferred. That disheartened us from trying again … But we will ad the other aggravating issues and take another hot. No worries, at all, if it give u a new start.

As for legal assistance. Again, it is a very limited talent pool and extremely expensive to lodge a section 162.  We started down that road last year but two of the five residents who agreed to chip in for the fees reneged on their promise and now, I fear, we have lost that legal firm.  Very sad, because they seemed good.

Many of the owners in the building live remotely, in the country and other cities, so they don’t see the state the building is in.  And tenants feel disempowed and not at all inclined to fund a legal battle.  It’s a bit tricky.  The majority of the apartment are studios with low income owners.  Many retirees. They struggle to cover the outrageous strata levies with rental income received, and are afraid of incurring further debt.  And, of course, there’s no legal aid available for this type of action – no matter how cut and dried the facts.

So friendly strata manager seems to be the key. Could you please suggest where we might start our search?

We thank you, Jimmy, for yr kind assistance.

[Perplexed]

We have exactly the opposite situation in our building. There are 71 residential units, and a number of restaurants and businesses, including 2 night clubs. Out OC, and all general meetings, are completely controlled and dominated by the commercial owners and operators. Therefore we not only don’t recycle – we don’t even have the normal Sydney Council garbage collection services.

Although all residential properties pay the $250/quarter +/-, for garbage collection included in Council rates, we also pay around $100,000/yr for commercial garbage collection, in our strata fees. Apparently our strata management company requested Council cease residential garbage pick up services when one of the nightclub/ restaurant owners, who was chairman at the time, purloined common property areas for restaurant usage. Separated commercial and residential garbage areas were no longer available.

Since moving into the building, some of the current residential owners have requested the building resumes residential collection services, with Council, and to cease being charged for commercial waste removal, but the OC have simply deferred the matter and, at this moment, have no intention of rectifying the situation. It is a real problem.

And don’t get me started on the rest of the inequities and ‘theft of common property’ in the building! It is a complete and utter nightmare …

We love our beautiful, sunny little inner city flats and want to stay here. But it seems residents never win a battle, against commercial interests. And there are only so many hours in a day you can spend bashing yr head against a wall before there aren’t any brain cells left to think with. It has been a never ending, extremely debilitating struggle.

Help us, flat chatters! We are at a loss.

[Author]

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