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Gee Tina got off well! My strata at the time was charged over $3,500 for fitting locks from Bunnings (@$3.40) per 2 pack, to ten apartments.
Then my tenants took them with them when they moved out so I had to replace them myself.
I loved your rant about recalcitrant residents flaunting recycling bin rules in apartment blocks. However, I must say that where I live in Sydney in the Northern Beaches Council, the URM rubbish trucks doing the weekly rounds have been sighted just emptying the contents of all different colour coded bins (yellow= containers, red= putrescible rubbish, blue= paper) together in the back of the truck at once.
No wonder ‘people’ don’t give a toss if Council doesn’t care!
The ABC’s War on Waste was interesting to watch on where our recycling really goes.
I have an OMEGA 45cm dishwasher in my unit. Installed it myself! Works a treat![attachment file=”OMEGA.jpeg”]
It was refreshing to read your post that you as a landlord isn’t money grubbing and after an increase in rent when the lease is due for renewal. Restores ones faith in humanity. Usually, in my experience as a landlord, the tenant is asking for a drop in rent or they will go and rent elsewhere. I always agreed, as I didn’t want to go through the hassle and expense of advertising for and finding a new tenant, and then paying the agent their 110% commission on a weeks rent. I was just happy to have tenants who paid rent on time and didn’t trash the place.
Anyway, back to your question; while I am unaware of any legislation you can quote, it is unethical for the agent not to consult you on raising the rent. As the landlord, the ball is in your court since you own the property and what you want goes, and you can instruct her/him to reduce it back to the level it previously was, and that you require them to consult you on any issues concerning the property in future. If this causes dissonance in your relationship with the property manager then you can complain to their manager, or walk elsewhere and take your business to another agency to manage your property. Best to handle it diplomatically and request that the rent be restored to the previous rate, and you will consider an increase at the next lease renewal date but you need to be consulted first.
You have not specified what the ‘error by your tenant’ was? I assume they left a tap running and flooded the place, or something similar. Most sensible thing for you to do is read your PDC of your insurance policy to see if it will cover ‘tenant error’, and submit a claim anyway since you have nothing to lose. If they decline your claim then you have your answer.
Good luck claiming from the OC.
Good luck claiming from the tenant who I assume lives off the smell of an oil rag, or has already vacated and moved elsewhere and probably adept at evading debt recovery proceedings.
Shortcrust, there is an advantage to the BC as the money obtained now as payment can be put towards repairs and essential items in the sinking fund.
You could find out how much longer the renovations are going to last? if they finish next week then your problem is solved. If you feel they already have a low rent, then provide a sample of current 1 bedroom rentals nearby, end tell them that they are already on a low rent.
Shoes left outside the door is a topic raised before on the Flat Chat forum and the general consensus is that residents (myself included) don’t like it because it makes the foyer look untidy. Even if you are carrying your son, surely you can kick the shoes inside the door and come back for them later.
Plus, they can be an O,H & S issue if someone else in the apartment block trips over them. Just take your shoes inside. If they are too untidy for your apartment, then they are too untidy for common property where everyone else has to look at them.
I suppose you will have to lobby the other tenants of your complex to support you in approaching the chair of the OC as a collective, to get the answers to your queries that you are seeking.
Frankly, I have the opposite problem where I wish there were security cameras in my apartment block, although who monitors the footage and has access to it would be contentious. I have had items stolen from a secure shed in the basement car park. A tenant let a tradie in to park in the visitor space who helped himself to anything not nailed down by prising a padlock, piled his ute sky high with stolen items and drove away. My unit balcony overlooks the driveway, and had I had a CCTV operating it would have captured the offenders number plate for me to hand over to the police.
The tenants across from me have children who ride e-bikes which they drag into the unit (so they don’t get stolen) when they get home from school. One of the kids has ridden his bike fast along the common path leading up to the security door and smashed into the glass balustrade scattering glass everywhere. With no CCTV proof, the OC has had to pay to replace the glass panel, while the kids are laughing about it. We’ve also had to pay to replace a glass panel that street vandals have smashed on the balcony after throwing a large sandstone rock, and then running off. At the moment I am moving a large flowerpot from the foyer that tenants are using to prop the security door open 24 hrs, so their mates without a door key can come and go whenever they please. This is despite the strata manager writing to all occupants of the building of the necessity of keeping the door closed at all times. If I knew who the offender was with a CCTV footage we could curb the behaviour.
So write to the OC head with a petition of signatures from other residents/tenants and ask for the answers you are seeking.
This is a copy and paste from a previous thread I posted on the Flat Chat forum. Do a search on the search button on this site and there is lots of posts on Company Title units that will keep you absorbed for hours!
It is going to cost a LOT more than $10,000 per unit. The apartment block has to be surveyed, legal papers drafted and meetings held and resolutions voted upon.
Are all owners on board with the conversion? If dealing with tradespeople, council etc. is the issue, then have a Directors meeting and appoint a strata manager to take over the management of the block!
It doesn’t matter that you are Company Title. Strata managers service Company Title also! The manager will be responsible for the account keeping, ASIC notifications and the holding of the AGM every year. Call a few up and ask them to provide you with a quote and a spec on the service they will provide before deciding who to go with.
If it doesn’t work out with the chosen one, then you can vote to change at a subsequent AGM. You no longer have to pay the bookeeper and accountant as the strata manager should be performing these functions. At the last Company Title unit block I owned a unit in, finance for a mortgage wasn’t an issue for anyone and the units were selling for a mint (even unrenovated).
If you do go ahead with conversion, be aware that it is a long, complicated and expensive process.
To start with, you should take the time to ensure that each of the shareholders is able to establish that stamp duty was paid on the contract by which they acquired their shares. Without this proof, stamp duty can be payable on the historical share transfers prior to the conversion being able to take place.
The first step is to ensure that enough of the owners are onboard with the idea to convert to strata title.
You will need to get at least 75% of the shareholders (or, if a poll is called, 75% of the shares) to vote in favour of the conversion.
That said, in reality, you really need all of the shareholders to be behind the conversion. If one or more shareholders hold out against the conversion, the costs involved will significantly increase. Formal conversion is a two-step process:
- First the members must resolve to convert from company title to strata title; and
- Secondly, the members must lodge a strata plan at the Land and Property Information (LPI).
Before you can lodge a strata plan at the Land and Property Information, the Council needs to give a development approval to the conversion of the property from company title to strata title. It is important to have an understanding of the development process. Importantly, you will need to satisfy the following minimum criteria:
- Does the building comply with the relevant Building Code of Australia? Note that most buildings do not but there may be certain exemptions available.
- Is the building compliant with fire regulations?
- If the building has any tenants, are the tenant arrangements regulated low income housing? Low income housing is regulated by State Environmental Planning laws, which requires landlords not to convert properties from low income housing. This policy includes the conversion from company title to strata title. It is important that you understand what rentals are being paid at the time the DA is submitted.
- Sydney Water requires each lot in a strata plan to be separately metered. This may require the installation of either separate metering for each lot, or auto metering for each lot. Someone needs to manage this project as well as; a fire consultant;A hydraulic consultant in relation to the water metering;A surveyor to prepare the survey; and If necessary, a town player may be required in relation to the development application.
When the DA is obtained, the members will need to vote to approve the lodgement of the strata plan. The strata plan only needs to be signed by the company, as it is the company that still owns the property at this point.
If the company has any mortgages or charges over its shares, or has provided any mortgages over the property, the security holders will need to be informed and approve of the proposed conversion from company title to strata title. Bear in mind the company will need to supply the certificate of title for the land to obtain the strata titles. Without the certificate of title the strata plan cannot be lodged at the Land and Property Information (LPI).
As the property is currently owned by the company, the company needs to transfer the property to a strata plan. A transfer will need to be prepared. The transfer is from the company to the Owners Strata Plan.
The strata plan should be lodged with the Land and Property Information for a pre-inspection. This will ensure so requisitions are raised.
Upon registration of the strata plan, the titles to all the lots will be issued by the LPI. This means that the owner of each lot will still be the company in the first instance. There will then need to be a separate transfer from the company to each individual lot owner.
If an owner has a mortgage over their shares, the mortgage will need to be noted on each strata title.
- All owners should inform the mortgagee that the company is converting from company title to strata and should arrange to have new mortgage documents prepared and signed. Those mortgage documents would then be lodged with the transfer from the company to the owner of the shares and the mortgage would be noted.
- Stamp duty on the transfers from the company to the owner needs to be considered. If the individual owner can show that they have a contract to purchase these shares that has been stamped, there should then be no stamp duty payable. However some owners may have owned their shares for many years and the contract of even the stamp duty evidence may not be available. If they are unable to produce their contract, a separate application has to be made to the Office of State Revenue confirming that the owner has exclusive use and rights to occupy the unit and that there is no charge in the beneficial ownership of the shares compared to beneficial ownership of the strata title lodged at the start. Statutory declarations are usually required in this regard.
- The timing for the transfer for the lots into the individual owners’ names will depend upon the provision of the stamp duty declarations and the marking of the transfers from the company to the owner.
It is in all owners’ best interests to have the one firm of solicitors advising all of the owners in relation to the transfer from the company to ensure that the transfers are effected correctly, i.e. that their name is put on the correct title for the unit and any mortgages are recorded correctly for the unit.
The Land Title Office (LPI) charges for registering a strata plan $298.30 per unit. While the cost of preparing the strata plan is subject to a surveyor quoting on the work.
Once the strata plan has been registered and the company has transferred all the lots into individual owners’ name, the company has no need to exist.
Most company title buildings will not have any capital gains tax issues as the assets were acquired prior to the introduction of capital gains tax.
An accountant needs to be engaged with the aid of your company manager to take steps to wind up the company or to dissolve the company. This would require the following:
- A resolution of all the shareholders;
- A cancellation of all the relevant shares;
- The allotment of one share to one Board member; and
- The Board member taking steps to wind the company up.
The company may either be would up or dissolved, but more likely than not it would be dissolved.
Activity relating to the company’s resolution usually requires a solicitor experienced in company title matters;
A project manager should be engaged with the Board to do all the things associated with obtaining the development approval for the strata plan;
Managing the relationship with the Office of State Revenue in respect of stamp duty usually requires the company to engage its solicitors to manage the stamp duty obligations;
Managing the transfer of the land from the Owners Corporation to the individual owners is usually done by the same solicitor as it will be a cost saving;
Dissolving the company can be done in conjunction with the company’s accountant and/or the company manager.
Usually the timing in these matters will take approximately twelve months. The Board of the company should obtain an appraisal from a reputable real estate agent of valuer to confirm that the conversion will increase value to individual shareholders. A cost benefit analysis needs to be prepared as to the other costs associated with the conversion as to how the conversion will increase the value of the shareholders’ units. Solicitors will need to be engaged to advise the Board and the company in relation to:
- The meetings of the members;
- Submitting of forms to the Office of State Revenue and the payment of stamp duty;
- Submitting of the documentation to the Land and Property Information;
- Liaising with each individual shareholder about the status of the stamp duty on their contract to purchase the property;
- Liaising with shareholders who have mortgages over their shares to ensure the mortgage in correctly on the correct title of the lot.
Bad luck that you live in a Company Title apartment! If you are on the Board of Directors, convene a meeting to air your grievances. Putting carpet or rugs down may be a resolution. If you are not on the Board make representations to the managing agent or Chairman to convene a meeting on your behalf to mediate an agreeable outcome.
It was such a relief to sell up and move out of my Company Title unit in Sydney. It had a Chairman and self appointed Board of Directors who were all old people on the old age pension, who knew nothing about Corporations Law and the convening of meetings and the running of a company. Frankly they couldn’t run a ‘chook raffle in a corner pub’.
I would never buy into a company title apartment complex again!
Tradies might be up in arms over my response, but they can be not the most tidiest of people when it comes to using the lavatory so laying the blame of ‘financial responsibility’ on the culprit may not be as easy as it sounds. My experience is that they leave the door open when they leave for the day anyway, so any passers-by could use and soil the toilet. I suggested to our last lot of tradies that they 1. walk 50 metres to the public toilet in the park at the end of the road. 2. Go to KFC and use their toilet. 3. Go to the service station 50 metres in the other direction and use their toilet. 4. My toilet in my apartment is not available for them to use.