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I know that our first AGM was held after our strata plan was registered and each AGM since has been held in the same month about the same date (give or take a couple of weeks now and again).
Though this consistency hasn't helped owners who still wait to show up at the AGM with their list of grievances instead of having them included in the agenda!
In our complex, we have never had official positions. Our SM told us this was OK that we didn't need to have someone to be the secretary, the treasurer etc. We all shared these responsibilities.
This worked as we all have jobs, families and other committments. I believe this shared responsibility kept everyone on the committee. When someone got snowed under with their own personal life, the others would keep all running, as we were all in the loop. This allowed us to go on long holidays, or even just take a month off from the running of the place.
Totally agree with Jimmy. It is a tight rental market out there. I am not currently renting but have friends who do (and those who have rental properties) and alot of people offer more than the going rate to get a rental property.
I did rent in the early 80's when the rental market was very tight and 40 people would show up to apply for every property for rent. I can say that myself and my partner dressed as if we were meeting the queen, had all the details and had no problem getting a property (infact, were successful at two at once and got to pick from them).
It really is like a job application!
If something that is common property needs repairs or maintenance with your strata then you I believe you would have to pay a special levy. Just because you don't use a part of common property doesn't mean you don't have to maintain it. It's like someone who doesn't have or drive a car would have to still pay for the maintenance of the driveway.2
Have you contacted your council about this? There are building codes and Australian Standards that apply to roof drainage and the adequate direction of the water run-off. Would contact them then perhaps they can take on the matter and get it resolved.
I believe we may be about to head down this road. We only have one member on the EC who does not have the time to carry out all duties due to work and family committments.
Owners in this EC who have never put their hand up, due they say to the fact that they don't have time, believe that those on the EC do have time. They don't, they make time.
Our EC gets quotes to carry out works, reports to carry out repairs, and yet the owners reject these, want more quotes/reports done then complain that nothing gets done in the complex. Getting quotes/reports done for a complex takes time let alone all the organising that would be involved in getting works carried out, that is if we could get a quote/report approved. That is why I will no longer put my hand up. And that is why we have maintenance and repair issues outstanding.
So I hope that soon we have the SM handling all of our affairs.
Have often thought that there should be some sort of limitation to people being on the EC. That they should have an attendance record at AGM's of at least 50%. We have had a couple of instances where owners who haven't attended AGM's get themselves onto the EC. Then they try to get works/changes done to their unit believing they themselves can approve works. When they are unsuccessful, they leave the EC.
We now have a ruling that if you are on the EC, you cannot vote on matters concerning your own unit.
When anyone goes shopping around for a new strata manager (or even getting quotes from tradies) you should always get them to state what exactly they are going to do for the money. People will always think that they are getting a bargin if the price is less, but they may actually be getting less.
We had to have common property lighting replaced. We got a couple of quotes. Residents were keen on the cheaper one. Problem was, the cheaper one didn't say what work would be carried out. The expensive one stated the type of lights, which lights would be replaced and how the work would be carried out. We eventually went for this quote. The same goes for strata managers. What are they going to do for the money?
Also residents, the OC and the EC have to realise that they are not the only complex a strata manager has on their books. You have to keep on top of things to make sure everything gets done. You cannot sit back and think that the SM will act. But people believe that having an SM means they just know everything. One of our owners complained to me that our SM didn't organise to fix something in the complex. Alarmed, I asked when he advised that this was a problem. He said he hadn't told them. He just thought they would know!
Don't want anyone thinking the above makes me pro SM's. I don't think ours is great, and that is with us constantly getting onto them. But you cannot ask a SM to organise an inspection/works/correspondence, not hear anything and not see anything and sit back and think that it must be done. Ring them up, ask for email confirmations, keep on top of them. If ours makes a mistake or slip up, creates a delay etc we make them write to all owners/residents (at their cost) and explain themselves.
So get your SM to list what exactly his/her duties are for your complex, ie what services the SM provides for his fees (or drag out original any info provided with management agreement). And get same from other SMs.
We have had similar here. Our Strata Manager has carried out repairs that the EC were not advised of. I only found out as at the time I was the recipient of the cheque statements.
I have had many battles with our SM regarding unnotified/unauthorised repairs. Many transactions on our statements did not even identify the unit number involved.
When confronted with these our SM would say “don't worry we will just put it to your insurance”. It was then that we discovered that this was a regular occurence – that repairs, that we did not know were being carried out, were being paid for by the OC then claimed on our insurance. All without our knowledge.
I fought for 12 months to get a list of our insurance claims that were put through on our behalf without advising us. There was quite a list.
There were many concerns raised from these actions. If we did not know there was a problem with a unit, and it kept happening (as has happened) then how could we determine that further investigation or works need to be carried out? And what if the problem wasn't common property or the responsibility of the OC (which did happen) and yet we are paying for it?
How do we advise owners who may come to us on what to do about a problem in their units? An owner could come to the EC and be told it is the responsibility of the owner to fix, and their neighbour could go to the SM and have it fixed, paid for and claimed with the EC ever knowing the problem existed.
Then the SM sent out a notice to all owners that someone would be coming to inspect the units to address a problem (that many units including my own did not have). But the EC had not asked for such inspections or works to be carried out. The SM had taken it upon themselves to decided this needed doing.
We have only ever permitted the SM to carry out works of about $250 or if it were a life threatening/dangerous/damaging problem without referring to the EC first. Then they just started approving anything and everything.
Am honored to be called a legend. It is great that I have been able to give fellow strata strugglers some advice gained through experience. However, I believe I have gained alot more than I have given from the “readers” out there and from you Jimmy T.
Though I have never been affected myself, I have seen what some of these short term rentals have done to friends of mine. They have a number of people next door to them as well as an entire block of apartments (all owned by the one person) with a continuous turn over of residents behind them.
Complaints about their behaviour have lead to a barrage of beer bottles and obscene language over the fence. Confronting their immediate neighbour lead to their car being parked in. What do they do? They can (and have) make complaints, but by the time anything is done, these short term residents will probably be heading off in their VW combi which they will leave at the airport whilst going to destinations unknown (with no forwarding address). Then the next lot will move in.
My friends feel trapped. Their lives a misery. They are afraid of further more serious retribution. They would like to sell up and move but can't afford it. Besides, who would want to live in these conditions?
Get together enough all the information you can. The engineers report, that you will only use licensed insured tradespeople (and check that they are), taking responsibility for any damage to common property by your tradespeople (EC/OCs fear damage to stairwells, lobbies etc from materials/tradespeople coming through), that all materials will be removed and disposed of (ie no building materials placed in residential bins but taken to tip), check with your council about regulations (my council is very helpful in supplying details regarding what can and can't be done), supply plans/diagrams of works and advise EC they are welcomed to see that work carried out is indeed the work you said would be carried out.
In my complex we had a resident who wanted to make changes. The EC asked for details. He said he would provide details after we agreed to it! He wouldn't supply anything – measurements, where/how the changes were to be made, plans/diagrams, nothing. Zip. Just a very vague desciption with words like “about” or “almost” and “nearly”. The EC said no because he was not willing to provide any details for us to make an informed decision. Saying “yes” to an idea could be a dangerous thing.
Tell owners that only residents cars whose details have been given to the OC will be allowed to park anywhere on the premises. Then arrange visitors parking passes issued to each unit that must be displayed on the visiting cars dashboard. So any car that is parked anyhwhere in the complex that has not given their rego number to the OC must display a visitors pass with the unit number they are visiting on it.
And advise residents that a visitors car has a limited time to park there ie no long term visitors parking for months. Some residents may borrow someone elses car and put the visitors tag on it and think they are pretty clever. But if they only have, say 24 hours before having to move on then they won't be so clever.
And as far as naming and shaming on the windscreen of the offending cars, I would put a notice on the notice board/s in the complex so that everyone sees it!
Tell all the residents that you are going to do the above, with bylaws to clamp and tow at their cost.
Whatever you do, do not go ahead with any internal changes without approval! If you do and your OC takes you to the CTTT I believe you could be ordered to return unit to original condition, reversing any works done. You could be held accountable for all manner of things.
Best for you to take the matter further in the correct manner. You have the engineers report. Do you need council approval? Get all the info you need to state your case. From this forum, Fair Trading, etc. Research what you can and cannot do.
Apartments/units have to be renovated sometime! People can't live with pink toilets or orange ktchen benchtops forever! If an owner covers all the bases, crosses the t's and dots the i's, I don't see how an OC can reasonably deny renos.
Alas, we still also have a few regulars who still try parking in the visitors car park. And I would like to point out that we have more than ample street parking. You could park a semi up there. Infact we did have a resident who drove a truck and had no problem. And when we had the driveway upgraded, all cars had to be parked on the street and there was more than enough space for all! And yet, there are those who believe they should be able to use these spaces if they want.
Living in a large complex such as yours would be difficult to find the owners of the cars. Perhaps your EC could ask that all residents submit the regos of their cars for access/security purposes? Or a name and shame board? Where you could put up a photo of the car in question saying this person keeps parking in the visitors spot?
Our Strata Manager has previously advised us that even visitors have a time limit in the visitors car parks – 24 hours.