Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
Ask your strata manager to give you a copy of the strata management contract if you don’t have it already. If it is a contract based on a template provided by Strata Community Association, you should look at Schedule A2 (which lists “Duties and Functions” and “Limitations on Authority”). This is where you find out how much money the strata manager is authorised to spend without telling the owners coporation (or even the strata committee).
I had the same experience with past strata managers. Expensive bills for simple jobs appeared on our quarterly cash management statement. It was too late for me to object to the expense because it was “done and dusted.”
The strata managers argue that it is a waste of time contacting the owner for every little repair. In my past management contracts, the strata manager stipulated that they can spend up to $500 without telling the strata committee. So they send a “work order” to a contractor with a “$500 limit”. Unsurprisingly, we are charged $490 or $495 for every job. Over the course of years, these repairs add up to a lot of money.
Then they had another condition which overrode the $500 limit if it was an “emergency”. The definition of “emergency” was when the owner called it an emergency. It did not have to be life threatening or leading imminent collapse of the building. It just had to be a cranky owner.
In a nutshell, the strata manager was free to spend the owners corp money without consulting the owners corp beforehand.
Call an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the owners. You need 1/4 of the owners (or unit entitlements) to ‘earn’ the right to call an EGM.
I have a couple of ideas for the agenda:
1. replace the secretary
2. present all the quotes to the owners and let the owners select one.
You need to explain to the other owners that the secretary is working against a motion that has already been passed by the owners corporation. You already voted to get the work done. The strata committee is delegated to do the work of the owners corporation. If it is failing to do this work, the owners corporation should take over.
Please remember that the strata committee (and strata manager) work for the owners corporation. The owners corporation is ultimately in charge. They don’t want you to know that because it would make life difficult for them.
A laundry washtub is not the only way to dispose of waste water. My waste water hose goes into a pipe under the laundry basin.
I lived in Germany for a couple of years. It was very common to see a washing machine in the kitchen (front loader under the kitchen bench). The other popular location was the bathroom. There was no second laundry basin. The waste water hose is connected to wherever the waste water is supposed to go.
Dishwashers don’t feed their waste water into the kitchen sink.
It sounds like a nasty response from the property manager.
Please look up Residential Tenancies Act 2010 to familiarise yourself with your rights.
Also read your lease agreement. The standard residential tenancy agreement can be found here. Both the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 and the lease agreement should indicate that you are entitled to have something like the oven in working order. Page 8 of the standard residential tenancy agreement document has a heading “LANDLORD’S GENERAL OBLIGATIONS FOR RESIDENTIAL PREMISES”.
You should also have received a condition report. Both landlord and tenant complete the same condition report at the start of your tenancy. It records the state of the property at the start of your tenancy.
In the standard residential tenancy agreement, 60 days’ notice is required for a rent increase. On page 5 of the standard residential tenancy agreement, it says:
“Section 42 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 sets out the circumstances in which rent may be increased during the fixed term of a residential tenancy agreement. An additional term for this purpose may be included in the agreement.”
There is a rent check tool on the NSW Govt’s web site: https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/renting-a-place-to-live/rent-check
It uses rent data collected from rental bond lodgements to give you an idea of how much rent is being paid for similar properties in your area. Use it to see if the rent increase is reasonable.
Addit: added a link to the standard residential tenancy agreement. Mentioned the condition report. Correction to notice period of rent increases. It should be 60 days.
I copy/pasted Section 106 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 because it describes the responsibilities of the owners corporation. Following the manufacturer’s recommendation to test the water every six months should fall under paragraph (1) below.106 Duty of owners corporation to maintain and repair property(1) An owners corporation for a strata scheme must properly maintain and keep in a state of good and serviceable repair the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation.
(2) An owners corporation must renew or replace any fixtures or fittings comprised in the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation.
(3) This section does not apply to a particular item of property if the owners corporation determines by special resolution that—
(a) it is inappropriate to maintain, renew, replace or repair the property, and
(b) its decision will not affect the safety of any building, structure or common property in the strata scheme or detract from the appearance of any property in the strata scheme.
(4) If an owners corporation has taken action against an owner or other person in respect of damage to the common property, it may defer compliance with subsection (1) or (2) in relation to the damage to the property until the completion of the action if the failure to comply will not affect the safety of any building, structure or common property in the strata scheme.
(5) An owner of a lot in a strata scheme may recover from the owners corporation, as damages for breach of statutory duty, any reasonably foreseeable loss suffered by the owner as a result of a contravention of this section by the owners corporation.
(6) An owner may not bring an action under this section for breach of a statutory duty more than 2 years after the owner first becomes aware of the loss.
(7) This section is subject to the provisions of any common property memorandum adopted by the by-laws for the strata scheme under this Division, any common property rights by-law or any by-law made under section 108.
(8) This section does not affect any duty or right of the owners corporation under any other law.
Oops. Thanks for the correction Jimmy. The declaration with the JP / solicitor is on the second page. It was there when I filled out the form about two years ago.
I question how well the strata managers know about the process. I had to tell mine what to do. The strata manager before that simply wrote a letter on their own letterhead. I would rather use the Fair Trading’s form.
Hi Katie, the owners corporation cannot directly fine the villa owners. A fine can be issued by NCAT (New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal). There is a process.
First, get a copy of your strata plan’s by-laws. Hopefully, there is a by-law which says where they may or may not park a motor vehicle.
Second, if you find a by-law that has been breached: make a record of dates / times, car make and model, registration etc when you saw the visitor spaces being used. Photos with car registration numbers would be helpful.
Third, issue a “Notice of breach of by-law”. This is a form you can download from the NSW Fair Trading web site. Google it. You can only issue the notice if one of these is true:
- Strata manager decides to issue the notice
- The owners corporation passed a motion to issue the notice
- The strata committee passed a motion to issue the notice
With (2) and (3), there has to be a meeting of the owners corporation or strata committee. A majority vote is needed.
If you do NOT have a by-law which tells people where to park their cars, you need a meeting with a 75% majority vote, which is called a special resolution, to create a new by-law for your strata plan.
The notice is a warning. It tells the resident that they breached a specific by-law on a certain date. If they do it again over the next six months, the owners corporation is permitted to go to NCAT. NCAT will only accept your application for an order to fine the residents if you follow the above steps.
I can’t remember the fine but I think it is a maximum of $550. People usually change their behaviour after receiving the notice.
You can avoid holding a meeting if you convince your strata manager to issue the notice. In the past, I downloaded the form and completed it myself. Then I emailed it to the strata manager and asked him to serve it on the resident.
Has your strata committee held a meeting and voted to issue a notice to comply with a by-law already? You have to hold a meeting and produce the minutes if this becomes an NCAT application.@Sage-grouse. Correct. When our (past) strata manager appeared at NCAT, it was on behalf of the owners corporation. The owners corporation was charged. Not a person.
@Ziggy, a by-law which conflicts with your Council’s rules is an invalid by-law. For instance, we can’t pass a by-law to build a meth lab on common property. All Commonwealth, State, Council laws take precedence over by-laws.
NSW Government remarks “concerns about smart meters”
I googled “smart meter radiation”. Smart meters emit radiofrequency (RF) radiation. The amount of radiation is smaller than what is emitted from a mobile phone. American Cancer Society is not concerned about it.
Last year, there were reports of people having their electricity plan changed without their knowledge or consent after a smart meter was installed. The changed electricity plans resulted in unexpectedly high bills. If anyone is switching to a smart meter, please talk to your electricity company immediately to get the best available plan for your circumstance.
The person providing the report (e.g. a builder, engineer) should also have photos of the problem.
You also need evidence of you asking for the work and the owners corporation refusing to do the work. An email chain showing that you asked for something to be done and they rejected it. Or minutes from a meeting where they dismissed a motion to do this work. Phone calls are not good enough. Get it in writing.
Hello guestguest
NCAT hearings are done in person. On the Fair Trading web site, they say that we are encouraged to represent ourselves. In practice, people bring lawyers.
Having said that, I have NEVER brought a lawyer. I had to respond to an owner, who did have a lawyer. Their case was dismissed.
You have completed mediation. The outcome is not satisfactory to you. You should advise the mediator that the other side has not complied with mediation agreement. The mediator should give you a letter to say it is OK to go ahead with an NCAT application.
The other side will continue to bluff you into submission. They will try to frighten you with legal costs. If you have done nothing wrong, and you win the case, they will have to pay for their own legal costs.
NCAT applications require an application fee of about $110.
It would not surprise me if the owners corp suddenly produce evidence of water ingress testing after they receive their ‘notice of directions hearing’ from NCAT.
I read the case quoted above. The applicant was a previous strata committee member. The respondent is a current strata committee member.
The applicant, himself, had done some questionable things. e.g. conduct a strata committee meeting at which he was the only attendee and approve a $20,000 retainer to a consulting firm.
The applicant had a long list of grievances without sufficient explanation for why they were out of order. One of his complaints: that the strata committee decided to terminate the services of abovementioned consulting firm.
The respondent was found to have breached a by-law by viewing some CCTV footage with another strata committee member, without first seeking the approval of the strata committee. Also, a strata lawyer invoiced the owners corp for legal advice given to the respondent.
However, Senior Member did not find a strong enough case to remove the respondent. He went through all of the respondent’s grievances, one by one. There was also a complaint about the respondent’s noisy dog. The applicant did not do himself a favour by piling on complaint after complaint.
It looks to me that we have two neighbours who seriously dislike each other. One of them got angry and went to NCAT to get vindication.