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I am involved in several stratas.
All the strata managers I interact with upload some not all records to their portal. Invoices and insurance documents are in my experience always uploaded.
In a slap in the face to the notion of transparency, the full array of data on the portal is viewable only by committee members. And the “full array” of what was uploaded is a fraction of all documentation in the hands of the strata mgr.
Non committee members have access to a (much) smaller part of the “full array” available to the committee members.
A lack of openness by strata managers is done I believe to coax owners (not on the committee) who want to know what’s really going on, to have to visit the strata manager’s office to inspect the records. This requires an email from the owner expressing the intent to inspect the records pursuant to s. 182 of the SSM Act and to agree to a time suitable for the owner and the strata manager.
All you should do is write to the strata manager that “you want to inspect ALL the records of the OC”.
Do not limit yourself in your email to inspect just the invoices. Why restrict your visit? There is no upside for you.
You do not have to be on the committee to apply via s. 182.
The strata manager will most likely ask you to pay the regulated fee of $31 (+GST) for the first hour of inspection and $16 (+GST) for any subsequent half hour. Take a mobile phone or tablet to photograph papers you’re interested in.
Did the deceased use email?
Does the wife or brother know the password?
Is the property jointly owned by the wife and the deceased?
If “yes” to all three, why not continue to use that email account and have the brother sign off his emails with the wife’s name?
Make clear in the first email to the strata manager that following the passing of her husband, the wife will now do the correspondence. For simplicity, inform the strata manager and committee members that the family will keep the deceased email address.
Just my 2 cents.
@slicendice you wrote that ” I intend to put a series of resolutions to the meeting….. requested she give me notice. She has told me the meeting will be held in June (our FY ends May 31) ….I … intend to send her the resolutions before the end of the FY”.
First of all, may I correct you it’s motions not resolutions that you will send the strata manager.
You are thinking like a reasonable person. Not everyone is. She has the power to corner you.
1. You say you asked her to give you notice of a meeting, i.e. a heads up (ideally long) before the official notice of meeting is circulated presumably several weeks’ notice. I do not see that she agreed. And even if she did, what if she later decided not to give the notice? Or forgets? As Jimmy often says and I can prove it…”there are no strata kops” on the beat to police such behaviour; and
2. While the SSM Act requires her to give a minimum notice of 14 days of the AGM, some strata schemes give more notice. Much more in some cases. The only reason I can think of is to catch owners out by shutting down the opportunity to provide motions. This happened to me a few years ago. Owners were given the notice, from memory, 8 weeks before the meeting was held. It stopped me in my tracks submitting any motion.
3. Fact: You have no idea when in June the AGM will be held (if indeed it’s in June, maybe it’ll be in May or July) or how early the notice will be sent out.
I suggest you spend this w/end writing the motions. Then either on Sunday or Monday email them to the strata manager and copy in the committee Secretary.
That maximises the chance that your motions will be listed in the agenda. By that I mean they cannot shut the door on your motions claiming the agenda was sent out already or she was working on it (so far out from the AGM’s due date).
If developments come to pass that you want to withdraw the motion, you can do so before the agenda is sent out (it’ll be like they never existed) and in the event that the strata manager claims they are already listed in the agenda, you can a I did, withdraw them at the AGM or amend them at the AGM.
Show her you’re alert to what’s going on and you’re no sucker.
Good luck!
@Jimmy, thanks for the suggestion of asking the SM to note my belief (in fact it’s widely known) that some SC members indeed have conflicts of interest. I suppose the SM wants to keep his job, so doesn’t rattle anyone’s cage.
Further to Jimmy’s recommendation, before you speak to an experienced strata lawyer, organise a log of events:
What happened
When it happened
What the tenant did; what your son did; what you did; what the strata manager did (or didn’t do) etc
Include copies of emails, letters and any notes you have from your son, the tenant, the strata manager, servicemen etc
If you can get a letter from a doctor as to the deleterious situation in the unit, then that’s a big fat feather in your cap
You must tell the lawyer your story with as much evidence to back your allegations.
One more thing: Jimmy says that if the OC agrees at mediation to do as you want, then get it in writing. Having been there done that, I did get it in writing and the OC never followed through. Amazing! They knew I’d have to go to NCAT to get anything from them (and I did) but they also knew I would have to apply, rewrite my documentation etc and NCAT would not hear the case for at least 2 months from when I filed. Often closer to 4 mths.
At NCAT I got the order I wanted, but not the $202 application fee reimbursed by the do-nothing committee.
Lt. Columbo,
PECUNIARY INTEREST
Jimmy is right when he mentions the strata manager or a committee member must ask about members who have or may have a pecuniary interest in strata matters. But as Jimmy always says, “there are no strata cops to enforce this”.
I have been involved in several strata schemes where the strata mgr asks this very question. If it is answered in the affirmative, a note of it is made in the minutes.
If it is not responded to, even when half the committee have pecuniary interests, the strata mgr or whoever is chairing the meeting goes on to the next agenda item.
STRA
You could also ask the person or persons pushing for STRA if they are willing to pay the higher premium associated with strata insurance policies that cover STRA taking place.
I had a long discussion about this a year ago when a committee member let his property out on the sly; when cornered he denied responsibility for the problems his “guests” made and he never agreed to pay the higher premium. I was told by the insurer that STRA WILL raise the premium charged for strata insurance and the increase is a function of the number of units engaged in STRA. The more units engaged in STRA, the higher the premium.
Quirky makes a good point where he mentions that “at the general meeting, it is possible to amend the motion”.
He advises that some legwork ahead of the meeting will be needed, in order to get the text of the motion right.
Anyone not just the proposer can at the meeting offer to amend the motion, but it would help for the proposer of the amendment to discuss the changes before the meeting with others.
Alternatively, the person proposing the motion (as listed in the agenda) can also withdraw it a general meeting. I have seen this done numerous times for various reasons.
Withdrawing may be a popular decision because that will give everyone time to come up with alternative text for the motion, which could be considered at a future general meeting.
Nobody gains by amending on the hop, especially when holes in the listed motion are shown to be large enough to drive a tractor through.
Having been to countless AGM of several different stratas, I have seen that a strata manager or secretary will allow (but rarely invite) any owner who wants to submit a motion or motions for a meeting to do so and will allow the owner who is providing the motion(s) to add an explanation to the motion(s) in a few lines, if he/she wants to explain it/them.
The motion followed by the explanation will both appear in the agenda. This is to help readers better understand what the motion is about.
At times, a committee member or two may disagree with what the motion seeks to do or maybe hostile to the owner providing the motion and I have seen committee members voice their disapproval (or worse) at the meeting. But never have I seen anyone but the person providing the motion provide the explanatory notes in the agenda. I have often seen motions w/out explanations in the agenda and frankly that is a lost opportunity for he/she providing the motions.
As to how the votes are recorded, many strata managers adhere to the simple “resolved” or “defeated” option. You can however ask – and in my experience such a request has never been refused – that votes be recorded by lot number instead of a simple “resolved” or “defeated”. You must do so at the beginning of the meeting.
Slicendice, you mention the AGM.
If you want to put forward any motions for the AGM, I suggest you get your skates on.
Cunning agents and committees like to thwart anyone who wants to provide motions. They do this by not formally
asking for motions before they issue the agenda for the AGM. In many cases the first many owners hear of an AGM is when they find the agenda for the meeting in the mail.
By then the barn door has long closed. No opportunity exists for you to provide a motion(s) for that meeting.
So I suggest you assume an AGM or a general meeting may be called at any time without advanced notice to owners to submit motions. Hence, I recommend that you forward, as soon as possible, to the committee and agent all the motions you want listed. That way it’ll be impossible for them to exclude them from the agenda on the basis of you sent them after the agenda was already prepared.
If at a later date your issues are resolved, you can always withdraw your motions before the agenda is prepared or if it is already prepared and your motions are listed, you can withdraw them at the meeting.
Best of luck!
@TheHood
Thank you for your reply. A few points come to mind:
1. As to your comments on FT process, you are correct:
(a) Very little consequences for the strata manager;
(b) Many staff do look the other way. I however had a sterling woman who seemed to have had enough of rogue strata managers and asked him to respond chapter and verse to my allegations. He was unable to dispute a single one; and
2. Your assertion that the strata manager did not quit because of FT is IMHO erroneous. He loved the OC. There was one guy on the committee who he worked with, his only contact and it seemed like they shared a brain. They saw everything the same way. I am sure that he was rattled by the dozen or so allegations I made, every one of which he could not defend to FT. He did little and was paid a good sum to rubber stamp the committee’s very very few decisions.
So I do think in this case it was not FT per se that scared him but that he did not want his name blackened (if nothing else, when compared to his colleagues managing other schemes).
Slicendice I agree with you. Given apathy is like a virus in most schemes, do not rely on a coup working in your favour. I was involved in a small and a large strata where I was a latecomer to a group that organised a coup, but the existing committee members obtained proxies and called enough of their supporters to the AGM in order not to allow any change in committee composition.
In your stead I would act against the strata committee and the strata manager.
* Get the ball rolling by filing a complaint against the strata manager for not complying with what is required of him under the Property & Stock Agents Act. Note it’s not the Strata Act which regulates his conduct.
To complain online about the agent not doing his job, see
https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/help-centre/online-tools/make-a-complaint
scroll to
real estate, property management and strata
click on
complaint form
and fill it in.
There is no cost and FT will look into the matter.
I did just that 18 mths ago and the result was the strata manager quit running our scheme.
For more details you can call Fair Trading on 13 32 20 (but the website is pretty easy ot understand).
Good luck!
Bigpon2 have you made any headway in getting your hands on the strata records? Did you ask for anything other than the Strata Roll (i.e. the contact details of all owners)?