[rhea]

Thanks Jimmy. Apologies for late response, my internet was down. Previous form had statement as attached.

I will ask for the recent form authorising the proxy vote on behalf of the elderly neighbour to the Strata Manager.

At next AGM hopefully, we will have more owners in the commitee.

[rhea]

Thanks Jimmy for your sage advice.

Apologies forgot to mention the property is in NSW. All the 12 lots have same Unit Entitlement (UE) of 30 each. The UE includes Unit plus one Storeroom combined.

Although 12 units have a Storeroom,  they are not numbered sequentially on the plans, neither are they all clustered together and they are not all the same size as per the Strata Plan and Quantity Surveyor’s measurement. A discrepancy of up to 4 meters was noted when making the comparison.

There is a dispute between the owners regarding the extra Storeroom because of its historical use, location and based on individuals interpretation as they do not want to relocate from their current storeroom. Of course once allocated, the extra Storeroom will probably become cleaners room (which all owner’s have agreed upon). As I mentioned the scenario is convoluted.

[rhea]

Thanks for your suggestion kaindub. 

[rhea]

In order to understand why we are interpreting the registered strata plan differently,  I have requested further clarification from both the Strata Manager and the owner who does not agree with my assessment. As usual, the Strata Manager has been unresponsive so far and I have sent him another reminder.

I am also mindful that some owners have raised concerns earlier that it would be inconvenient for them to move because their storeroom was jam-packed. 

Meanwhile, I also organized 3 professionals on different weekends to carry out an independent assessment and their interpretation was similar to mine.

My assessment was found to also match the assessment carried out by one of the Real estate agents who recently sold 2 units in our block and he was the first one who brought to our attention that some of us were occupying incorrect storage room. 

I would like to keep an open mind, however, would not be like to be shortchanged on my unit entitlement.

[rhea]

A very good point Jimmy T.

Thank you.

Rhea

[rhea]

I agree with you Stratabox. I can only request for the information.

I am not aware of Strata legislation that enforces sharing of information collected by office bearer via survey. 

Hopefully, owners would be prudent not to elect the same Treasurer at AGM.

[rhea]

Hi Stratabox,

Since the Treasurer told us that the consolidated data would be emailed to us, I have requested an access to the raw survey data and to provide other information as per Jimmy T’s suggestion.

Also, I have asked the Treasurer that all future surveys created should be in collaboration with the committee.

I am assuming when creating a Survey via “Survey Monkey” one has to provide an email address, where all survey results are sent. In this instance, the Treasurer has provided her personal email address. 

I do not know if there is a tool that would give an access to the raw data unless the Treasurer gives the password to her email or forwards each survey result to the committee. If the committee agrees we could create a group email box for future surveys.

Any suggestions? 

[rhea]

Thanks Jimmy T.

[rhea]

Scotlandx you have an excellent memory!

In order to answer JimmyT’s question, I copied the relevant part. 

 

[rhea]

Thanks, Jimmy for your response. The reason I believe they are in cahoots is an ongoing saga. I have summarised the main reason below.

• On 1 July 2015, our first 10-year Capital Fund Plan (CF Plan) was prepared by Quantity Surveyor. The CF Plan was prepared without consulting the OC and I believe the plan is inadequate because it does not capture all works that are needed. The CF Plan was carried out under the instructions of the Treasurer, and Secretary with help of Strata manager. 
• In Oct 2015 a special levy of $500k was raised for all remedial work-window upgrade that was not captured in CF Plan.
• In Nov 2016 another special levy for $100k was raised to pay for works outside the scope of the Contract and was not in CF Plan. Most works were carried out to Secretary and Treasurer’s units and excluded other units due to insufficient funds. 
• This year there is a proposal for Special levy again for ceiling repair work that is not in the CF Plan.
• The Secretary has demanded the crack in her unit ceiling be fixed. The Secretary got the builder to inspect her unit and units on either side of her unit. The builder estimated the work would cost approx. 20k/unit. There are other units that require ceiling repair too. However, the remaining 9 out of 12 units were excluded from this inspection.
• I requested the EC and Strata manager for inspection to be extended to all the units in our building. They argued that it would decrease the value of their units if it became a part of the record in AGM minutes. Consequently, I believe that the Strata Manager, Secretary, and Treasurer are in Cahoots. 

[rhea]

I believe secretary, treasurer, and our Strata manager are in cahoot.

I saw the secretary outside our building talking on the phone at 6.30pm when the AGM was scheduled.

Is there a penalty for Strata Manager or Secretary for postponing the AGM when quorum existed?

 

[rhea]

Thanks, Jimmy T you have answered my question.

Thanks, David. 

 

[rhea]

Thank you scotlandx.   

[rhea]

I proposed engaging a structural engineering last years at the AGM. But the Treasurer, Secretary and the Strata manager argued that it would decrease the value of the units if it became a part of record in AGM minutes. However, I will try again.  

I will also phone the Fair trading regarding lodging the application prior to AGM.

Thank you everyone for your advice.

[rhea]

The issue is that these two individuals keep getting majority votes every year at AGM and the Strata manager fully supports them.

There is only one other owner who agrees with me regarding how dysfunctional our strata committee is. There are few investors and they don’t seem to care.

There is one other owner who agrees with me regarding how our strata committee is dysfunctional.

I have even proposed getting rid of the Strata Manager. However, the treasurer told us that she is against employing new Strata manager because of her great working relationship with the Strata manager. Under such circumstances can Fair Trading still assist via the process of NCAT?

Also, I was wondering if “Funds for specific purposes” for the ceiling repair work would be applicable under Strata law/regulation because it benefits only a few individual owners? 

Thanks

[Author]

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