Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
Hi,
I have downsized for retirement and purchased a top floor apartment built in 1995. Was a great price and now I see why. Was told that the balconies may need to be renovated with new waterproofing and tiles in the next five years and the day I moved in I was told it’s happening soon.
The balconies are over 200 meters square and are considered Common Property with my exclusive access. There is water egress in units below and you can clearly see the deterioration of the expansion strips in my balcony. I’ve suggested that they be replaced however been told due to “legislation Design & Building Practitioners Act 2020, a partial waterproofing remedial works will not be permit.”
22 years ago a previous owner converted on balcony into a sunroom and built an awning on the main balcony.Ive been told I have to prove approval for these or I will have to pay for removal of these. Bit scared to go to council to check on these as may cause more headaches.
The work involved has been advised to take 2 months.
sorry about long winded story but can I ask
1. Do I have to live in a construction site for this length of works ? Would be lot of foot traffic.
Ask your builder.
2. Do I have to prove approval of structures built so long ago ?
Is this a pergola? In other words, is it a roof over your balcony? Council would usually approve it as long as it is not too close to the boundary fence. Just ask Council to visit and take a look. In my strata someone complained about work that was done more than ten years earlier. Council investigated and eventually it was approved.
3. Acquired 12 very massive pots on the balconies with purchase. Do I have to remove them ? Would be near impossible.
Ask your builder. You probably should remove them to avoid breakage. Builders will not be happy to tip toe around them. IF they are too heavy, empty them first.
4. Been told this will cost Strata over 1 million. Does this need to be voted on at a AGM ?
It sounds like a lot of money. If the owners corporation does not have the money, they would have to raise a special levy. That would require voting at a general meeting.
Wow. I thought it was just me who felt so angry that I was breathless and incoherent whenever I talked about strata!
It surprised me that Sue thinks that people look down at strata owners. In other parts of the world, living in an apartment is normal.
I hope someone else will report on strata after Linton Besser. I don’t want strata grievances to fall off the twenty-four hour news cycle.
…I expanded my complaint to include her inability to recognise when an invoice is for work on private and not common property, I was told that if the SM didn’t initiate the work then she’ll just pay any invoice that gets sent to her and she’s not responsible for whether or not the work should actually be paid for by the OC. I’m talking about work that’s obviously private like fixing a tap in someone’s sink (no longer can be a defect either).
That’s corrupt. Owners Corporation money should only be spent on maintaining / repairing common property. If the strata manager does not recognise the difference between common property and the lot, they are not fit for their job.
The simple solution is to pass a motion at your strata committee that the strata manager should not pay any invoices unless they have been approved by the treasurer (or another registered office-bearer) of the strata committee. Anything that the strata manager pays without approval is on them.
That is exactly what we did four years ago. My previous strata manager had a clause in their contract which allowed them to spend up to $500 on any repair without referring it to the owners corporation. They also wanted to spend above $500 if it was an “emergency”. I got tired of seeing jobs which cost $495 or $490. At other times they went over $500 because the lot owner deemed it an emergency. When the motion was passed, the strata manager terminated their contract with us. We lived happily ever after.
That was an excellent report. 44 minutes is not enough to tell every person’s story. Linton Besser said he received thousands of stories from unhappy owners.
My past strata manager used to run the meetings as if he was in charge and the owners answered to him. An NCAT Tribunal Member explained to us that it’s the other way around: strata manager answers to the owners.
Ignorance is a problem. I know owners, who do not understand what an owners corporation is and what is its responsibility. They complain about paying levies. They think they’re claiming their levy money back if they can get a repair on their home. They don’t care whether it is common property or not.
For most of us, the apartment / villa / flat etc is the most expensive thing we own. I would urge every owner to educate themselves. The Owners Corporation Network has a lot of basic “New to Strata?” information on their web site which every owner in a strata lot should read.
Mediation was fairly straight forward, we both outlined our case and then the mediator came back to each party individually to work through an amicable solution.
…
In hindsight I should have progressed to mediation sooner.Best of luck out there fellow strata dwellers !
Excellent news. Enjoy your aircon! Mediation bookings can take months. The sooner you apply for it, the better.
If this is already going to court, there is not much I can add. It looks like a war between two groups of residents.
Have you spoken to the property manager or the owner of your home? If they advertised the rental property as having gym access, could you ask for reduced rent?
Hello rrychar
I feel your pain. My strata went to NCAT and successfully removed the security cameras. We did it without engaging a strata lawyer. It involved a lot of time on the computer getting to know the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 and reading a lot of strata lawyer web sites. I can tell from reading your post that your knowledge of who’s who in strata is not complete.
The Owners Corporation is IN CHARGE of everything to do with the strata plan. The Owners Corporation is whoever owns the 12 lots in your strata plan.
The owners corporation appoints a strata committee to oversee the work of the Owners Corporation. The strata committee has three office bearers: chairman, secretary, treasurer. The strata committee is appointed each year by the owners corporation. The owners collectively decides who serves on the strata committee.
I am guessing that you used the word “strata” to refer to the strata manager. The people you call “strata” answer to the Owners Corporation. Not the other way around. Strata managers are delegated the responsibility of taking care of your strata plan. They might tell you what is / is not permissible according to the law. My experience is to question everything they say. It is easy now with internet access.
I am saying all this because you may not realise that you, as owners, have a lot more power than you realise. Both strata committee and strata manager answer to you. Their power was granted by you and the other owners. You can take it away from them by voting.
HOW WE SUCCESSFULLY REMOVED THE SECURITY CAMERAS:
If an owner installs something which ALTERS THE EXTERNAL APPEARANCE OF COMMON PROPERTY and they did NOT pass a SPECIAL RESOLUTION to make that alteration, they are breaking the law.In your situation, there should have been a meeting for ALL the owners to vote. Not just the strata committee. A special resolution means that 75% of vote is in favour of the cameras. e.g. if eight people vote, a special resolution would be six votes in favour of the cameras.
It is impossible for the strata committee to make this decision on their own. Likewise it is impossible for the strata manager to make this decision on their own. If they say so, they are lying. It is explained in Section 108 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.
We cited two laws:
Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 Section 108
Surveillance Devices Act 2007You can find all Acts of Parliament on the internet.
All your points about data security are valid. We included data security in our NCAT submission. Ultimately, the NCAT tribunal member ordered the removal of the cameras because it violated Section 108 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.
The bigger issue:
- There is no clarity on the data privacy of residence and who has access to the data. If strata installed the cameras, it would fall under their data privacy policy but as this has been installed by the owners corp, it seems it falls into a black hole.
- At home CCTV kits are a potential cyber issue, creating a security issue on someone monitoring the time, days of the comings and goings to the individuals apartment. Or, worse still illegally gaining access to the cameras and the footage for other more sinister purposes. There are no industry regulation around owners corporations being mandated to use professional security companies.
- The access to the security footage is kept on an owners phone, creating further security and safety risks. Also, creating a creepy environment for residence.
Would be great to get your thoughts on this topic and to hopefully bring awareness to the cyber and data privacy issues that exist.
Presumably, the chairman thinks there are drug deals and other criminal activities going on, or they’re just weird. I would be worried about domestic violence perpetrators, stalkers, paedophiles viewing the video. Who are we to know if the chairman is one of these people?
Your first step is to talk with the other owners. If 75% of you don’t want these cameras, you can win this.
I am in NSW in a unit block of 4.
…
3) At the AGM, 2 owners wanted to keep the admin fund contributions to an amount which was almost 60% less than the actual costs of last years fund. There was almost double the payments predicted to the Strata manager because there is a lot of conflict with owners splitting 50/50 on the costs. He is copied into all emails and says he needs to be paid for his time. Fair enough. The opposing units wanted his costs decreased but even if it was half, the contributions would still not cover the shortfall.It is unrealistic to raise say, $4,000, in levies but spend $10,000 in actual costs. That would be 60% less than actual costs. It sounds like they’re trying to spend down existing funds and leave nothing left for maintenance.
4) Also at the AGM, 2 owners want to keep the sinking fund the same, even though we just had a big cost with replacing old utility infrastructure which reduced our sinking fund to around $10,000. The painting was supposed to be done but now will not be done. It is mouldy and peeling.
The owners corporation must prepare a capital works plan. The capital works plan documents what work will be required over the next TEN years. You aestimate the cost of that future work and allocate money for it over the next ten years. (It’s all explained in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015).
5) The strata manager says we are in breach of the Strata Law by not having a budget or levies set. Is this true?
Correct. You can read the “strata law” for yourself. Here is how to find it:
1. Google Search “Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 No 50”
2. There should be a link for “NSW Legislation”
3. Click on “view legislation”. This is your bible for understanding NSW “strata law”. Everyone should read it.
4. Scroll down to “Part 5 Financial Management” and read it to understand your responsibilities regarding budgets.
5. Scroll down to “Schedule 1 Meeting procedures of Owners Corporation” to find out what should be included in a general meeting agenda. There are two kinds of general meeting: Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). Your strata manager may charge you to hold EGM but you can hold one between yourselves by following the procedures outlined in Schedule 1.5) A few days after the AGM, one owner who wants to keep costs down demanded the record of spending by the sinking fund over the last 10 years. The strata manager then copied everyone into the reply where he said the strata would have to pay for his time to do this. There have been different strata managers over the years and he would need to go through records. The owner who requested this was very angry
You should have signed an agreement with your strata manager to define what work they do for their monthly service fee and what incurs extra charges.
Have you and the other owners already received annual financial statements? They should document what money has been spent in the past year. They are boring to read. Most owners I know throw them out or put them in a drawer and forget about them.
My strata plan (8 units) is 50 years old. I retrieved every financial statement since 1975 and entered the transactions into a personal finance software on my personal computer. I know where every cent has gone.
6) I have requested a copy of the budget which another owner prepared and which she has reworked. She wanted to table it at the AGM and get it voted on but the other 2 units requested to see it first. I think this is reasonable.
I thought you said that you just had an AGM? If you have another general meeting, it’s called EGM (extraordinary general meeting). You should get the proposed budget approved at the next EGM. Refer to Schedule 1 to see how much notice you need to give for an EGM.
7) I feel that administration is looming. I have spoken to Fair Trading and they say we need to do mediation first.
No. If you apply for an “appointment of a compulsory strata manager”, you bypass mediation. It goes straight to NCAT. Go to the NSW fair trading web site and download the application form for strata. The form has a list of all the orders you can request, whether you need mediation, what evidence you need to produce and who can apply for them. Any owner can make that application without telling the other owners. The fee is about $110.
8) I sent an email prior to the AGM asking all unit owners to a 1 hour meeting about the budget over one sunday, and another hour the following sunday if things needed more work. There was no reply.
As kaindub said, not a good idea. Call an EGM (extraordinary general meeting). Follow the procedures as set out in the Schedule 1 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. If you have all your discussions documented in minutes, you have something to show to the NCAT member.
9) I was wondering if there is a list of administration costs somewhere that I could look at?
This should be in the strata management agreement document. The arrangement between you and your strata manager seems relaxed. The strata manager should provide a list of their costs for managing the place and doing extra things that are not included in the monthly service fee. They should have provided a financial statement every year to show how much money was raised and how it was spent.
8 lots. Around $800K each. Levies $3200 per annum. 0.4% of property value. Sydney.
NSW
Can Committee members conduct Major Capital works without approval for the OC?
IS a special resolution required ie 75% votes for?
The works would change the appearance of the complex as viewed from the outside.
Is there legislation that describes this?
Is there an amount or costs limit?
any capital works (major or minor), which alter the external appearance of the common property, require a special resolution. 75% of the vote of the owners at a general meeting.
legislation is Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.
As far as I know, there is no costs limit.
NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) could make orders to stop works. You can find more information on the NSW Fair Trading web site.
… claiming I have breached by-laws as I should not be writing direct to owners. No owner has complained or requested removal from the distribution.
Imagine if you wanted to invite all the owners to a party. Would it be illegal to write to them with an invitation?
I have been issued with a Notice to Comply invoice amounting to $220.00 which I will challenge through Fair Trading and NCAT.
This sounds like a bluff. There is no such thing as a “Notice to Comply invoice”. Did the strata committee give you a form which looks like NSW Fair Trading’s Notice to Comply with a By-Law Form (see below)?
https://www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-03/notice-to-comply.pdf
You need to see the exact wording of your by-laws to confirm whether such a by-law exists. If such a by-law does exist, you could apply to NCAT to have it invalidated for being “harsh, unconscionable or oppressive”.
Next, one of the earlier chats between David Bannerman and Jimmy noted that the owners corporation cannot issue a fine or a Notice to Comply invoice unless NCAT first makes an order for your to pay.
Finally, I suggest you familiarise yourself with Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW). Google it. Scroll down to “Part 7. By-Laws for Strata Schemes”. Sections 146 to 150 are most relevant to your question.
Who issued the Notice to Comply? If the strata manager has been delegated to do it, they can issue the Notice to Comply. Otherwise, you have to hold a meeting of the owners corporation (or strata committee) to pass an ordinary resolution to issue that Notice to Comply. Make sure you have evidence of a motion passed at a general meeting, if you did not authorise the strata manager to issue such notices.
Refer to Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 sections 146 and 147 for the exact rules.
Then google “NCAT application strata” and scroll down to a large heading “Penalty” which has a bit more guidance.
If your strata manager is trying to put you off going to NCAT with the $20K cost, can you ask your secretary to do it instead? An application costs a bit over $100. I hate the idea that you’re doing their job for them.
There are laws about “abandoned goods”. You could research that and see if you could simply pick up the rubbish and put it in the nearest red rubbish bin for council pick up. The drawback is that they might get the impression you are a free cleaning service.
Oh no. This is terrible. The last time I updated by-laws was in 2021. I paid $146.40 at the NSW Land and Property Information (LPI) in Sydney (near Museum Station). The office had moved from St James and was significantly smaller. They were obviously preparing for the final offload of the business to PEXA.
Before we became self-managed, the strata management contract listed by-law changes as $550 per by-law.
There should be an option for non-lawyer people to do this.
Hi CupOfC: for your info, the strata roll is merely a list of names and addresses of each lot owner in the strata plan. It is not a record of correspondence (emails, text messages, letters, meeting minutes) which you seem to be seeking.
There is no such thing as secret info which only the strata committee can see. Any owner is entitled to request a viewing of the records of the owners corporation. The process for requesting that is also explained the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) (SSMA 2015) under the heading “Part 10 Records and information about strata schemes”.
If the strata committee conducts a meeting, the meeting agenda has to be distributed to all owners, even though only the strata committee will be making the decisions. It is explained the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) under the heading “Schedule 2 Meeting procedures of strata committees”.
If that grey water waste pipe services more than one lot, then it is common property. The owners corporation is responsible for all common property. See Section 106 of SSMA 2015. The only exception would be if they can prove that the lot owner is responsible for the damaged common property.
The owners corp can choose how they pay for the repair of the common property. If they choose to make an insurance claim, the owners corp pays any applicable excess.
I can’t see how a by-law giving the owners corp has the option to decide who pays insurance excess makes sense. If it is common property and the lot owner did not damage it, the owners corp pays for its repair.
If the lot owner is responsible for the damage, the owners corp should bill the lot owner for the total repair cost. It is ridiculous to make an insurance claim and blemish the owners corp’s insurance claim record.
Here is what I think happened. Owners corp does not have the funds to pay for this repair. They look at making an insurance claim. They don’t have the funds to pay for the insurance excess either. They invent a by-law that allows them to pass the cost on to the lot owner.
If you do a search ON THIS WEB SITE for “lawyer in the hot seat”, you will find a two part interview between Jimmy-T and a strata lawyer. In part two of the interview, they talked about a costs by-law for recouping legal costs from an owner. The lawyer said such a by-law is invalid.
Your situation is different. So you really should contact a strata lawyer and tell them your story. As much as I love reading the opinions of others on the forum, NCAT will decide according to the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW). A strata lawyer should know how this would apply in your case.
I agree with Sir Humphrey. I wondered why this strata manager wants to make herself busy with this too.
Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 is your friend (again). Refer to “Schedule 1 Meeting procedures of owners corporations”.
You can definitely organise your own meeting amongst yourselves. The procedure is explained in the above legislation.
You could formalise it by passing a resolution at a general meeting. This should not cost a cent if you do it yourself. Once it is recorded in the minutes, you have something to show the strata manager, other owners, NCAT member.
However, the NCAT member would be more impressed by a common property by-law (which costs money).
Whether you have a leg to stand on? My owners corp was taken to NCAT by an owner. She wanted one of her neighbours to remove their dog. The NCAT member asked how long the dog had been living there. Answer: 10 years. NCAT member: “I am not about to remove a dog that has been living there for ten years.”
NCAT members each have their own temperament. Hopefully, if it comes to a tribunal hearing, you get a member who has common sense.