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i see no upside for the OC to sell land whose use can only improve over time. As will its value. You alone will be the winner of you are allowed to buy it with the value of your lot surely rising by far more than the amount you offer, to the detriment of others 

 

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david,

I understand in many buildings the OC does not hold keys of everyone. My point is that in an emergency when time is of the essence  and if an owner left no contact details and left no key with a neighbour or concierge etc requiring the OC to force entry why should the OC have to pay to repair a door whose damage could have been avoided if only the owner had been reasonable in his actions?

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Jimmy, given what you wrote, who do you see responsible for damages to a front door and lot owner’s contents if the OC and its hired tradesmen need to enter to make emergency repairs and the owner has not left keys with anyone? Surely the OC cannot be forced to reinstate items that need not have been damaged if a neighbour had a key.

Is there another section in the SSM Act that speaks to this?

It would be great to hear of NCAT cases that considered this issue.

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Hi kaindub,

Thanks for the reply but I think you missed clause 6 of s. 122

As I read it the OC is not responsible for damages to the door or lot owner’s contents if the lot owner hindered the OC in carrying out its functions.

Surely withholding keys from the OC when one is  absent and in fact not passing the keys to a neighbour or friend is the very definition of hindering? No?

 

 

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This is very interesting indeed. Especially Tina’s contribution.

As I am new to strata, could someone please clarify the following:

A) before a vote is taken on a renovation, are by laws, required (as a means to protect the OC) to be officially requested by the OC from the renovator or is it assumed the renovator will provide these as a matter of course?

B) are by laws  needed for every action by the renovator if it impacts common property eg one by law for  installing air conditioning in common walls, one by law for  installing wooden floors and one by law for a jacuzzi?

C) should by laws specify exactly what is to be covered? That is for instance, air conditioning? Or can the by law be vague and suggest a blanket cover for additions and modifications by the renovator?

D) if a renovation is waived through at a meeting of owners and by laws were either not requested or provided before the vote or at the vote, then any R&M including the possibility of undoing the renovation will be at the cost of the OC, true?

Thanks.

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The rent check idea was no doubt written without consulting an alert landlord. The premise on which it is founded is that tenants will use the data from bonds held by FT to ascertain the true rents paid by tenants rather than look at the advertised rents which it is implied may be misleading. The government also thinks landlords will use it to determine what rents they should charge.

But the premise is flawed. If a landlord has a long standing tenant say 10 years on a yearly lease that was renewed annually with rental adjustments, putting current rent, say for argument’s sake, double what it was 10 yrs ago, the bond data will reveal ONLY the rent charged in the tenant’s first year some 10 years ago because FT informs that the quantum of the bond cannot be changed until there is a change of tenant.

That will serve to only MISINFORM both landlords and tenants.

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He Brizzylions, I  agree with Jimmy. As I am new to strata, I don’t have any direct experience but my ex husband had a similar issue in a flat he leases. Tenant complained about the dampness and mould. My ex responded by giving the tenant a rent discount, as he assumed he was responsible. In hindsight he should have got the owners corporation involved by investigating the matter as it could not be the result of anything the landlord or tenant did.

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Jimmy thanks for the tip on the website pages to look at.  I will be speaking to neighbours on this issue in the next few days and am of the opinion, and I may be wrong as I am not legally trained, but think that if the OC has to pay to rectify the problem, that is install insulation, then those who did not know all the facts about the renovation eg me as the buyer and others who I am informed were not given particulars about the renovation should not have to pay for the rectification. Do you think this is a strong argument?

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Jimmy thanks for the reply. When. You say “their problem” , do you mean the committee should pay for the work or the owners corporation? If you mean the latter, does that mean I will be sharing the cost of the insulation and or carpeting?

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Jimmy, thanks for the reply. Regarding by laws, there is no mention of floors, just that the renovation, presumably as communicated to the owners corporation in the agenda of a meeting was approved. Of course the by law on not disturbing others ie the standard by law on the issue is on place.

As to the musical instruments, that is not my key issue as I have stopped the kids playing. That said, the noise from foot traffic continues to disturb a neighbour

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These are excellent questions which were not raised let alone addressed in the program. I feel the issue of strata mismanagement by agents, committees and (from what I discovered on my short time involved in owning a strata unit), lethargic politicians needs a far deeper and wider investigation.

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I am new to this site and already find it very interesting. I have a query while the matter of balcony is discussed. Say in most cases a balcony  is owned by the OC and as I read the posts, it is the OC which is responsible to maintain it. If the only people who can get to the external balcony are those in one lot, how is it that all lots must pay for the maintenance?

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I agree with Jimmy, given what I have seen in some buildings. If the strata wanted an outright ban on everything other than a car using the space it would have a by law stating that the car space can only be used to house a motor vehicle. Your best bet is to recommend to the committee a “box thing” as Jimmy mentioned and suggest it be standardised in shape or size.

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@ quirky Thanks for the detailed reply

 I will address at this stage your comments on your first two paragraphs in the post. According to the SM, there is no document mentioning wooden floors or any insulation installed. Committee members I spoke to have no recollection that the matter of wooden floors was ever raised on any meeting. Also, to clarify, the noise is not only a function of foot traffic but apparently my kids’ piano and saxophone playing can be clearly and loudly heard by neighbours. I assume this is due to non existent or poor quality insulation. As to your comment on NCAT, assume I will not get retrospective approval, how can I be made to rectify a problem created by the committee or SM? Shouldn’t they be held accountable for their negligence or incompetence?

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@ Jimmy thanks for the reply but I surely cannot demand that of guests or tradesmen or short term tenants i may have from time to time. Say a short term tenant agrees to a no shoes policy, but soon after moving in, changes his mind. I will be on the hook, no?

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