[Whoopi]

Hi Ziggy

Our SC member we were having the most trouble with didn’t bother to turn up to our mediation so we arrived with two lawyers so did the owners corp and it was a total waste of time.

We had been warned by other owners that the committee would not honour their resolution at the mediation. The owners were not notified that committee member did not attend.  Plus he is paid an enormous honorarium.

Cost us a bomb and what we ended up agreeing to in the mediation was ignored by the SC. Our mediator was useless also and it deteriorated into a name calling exercise.  

At first I felt like I got a bit off my chest but afterwards I realised it was unproductive. You are not even allowed to report to owners what happened in mediation as it is all confidential. This makes no sense at all to me.

It gives parties the chance to say anything they want and not stand by it. The owners had no idea what went on and what it was all about. Again the committee were able to control the information that filtered back.

I am amazed at how many unhappy strata bunnies are out there. I have worried about you since your private message and think about you a lot. Hang in there Ziggy…… Call Four Corners !!!!! Insight !!!!! Would love to see my committee chased down the road by Current Affair !!!

[Whoopi]

Haha do ya think dingo? Yep but it is also for all owners and I think it is over the top. Thanks for your input  Dingo. Much appreciated. 

[Whoopi]

Well Said Mike I  totally  agree.  They just wear you down and wear you down until you go away. Broke and broken. Strata is not a democracy not even close.

Our minutes have just come out and it occurs to me that when an owner takes a SC to the tribunal the SC should have to cease  any offical action until it is proven they are righteous in their behaviour.

Because we took the SC to task  and won they have the power to vilify us in the minutes which they have just done and what can we say about it, nothing!

Or we should be able to make inclusions in the minutes like a committee section and an owners section wouldn’t that put a cat amongst the pigeons. Owners don’t have minutes we can send out just  Strata committees big difference in that perspective. You want the opportunity to defend yourself somehow.

We don’t have a current Strata Roll,  or access to emails or phone numbers. The owners are about to vote on an appeal against us. They are having a paper EGM so we can’t even speak to the few owners who may turn up. At the bottom of our notice it says Owners do not need to attend no action is needed, in other words we don’t want you to attend cause we don’t give a hoot about the owners opinions.

What  each minutes should say is please everyone attend the meetings we are interested in your opinions your vote counts this is your home your voice should be heard.  

Maintain the rage some how Mike  I am glad all of these fab Flat chatters are commenting on this topic  and want to keep it going until some one listens. I wish you luck. Stay in touch.

[Whoopi]

Hi FDH

 Wow yes that is exactly what’s happening to us in our building. I am sure there are people in our building who feel this way as well. But the retribution is swift if you are seen not to swim with the rest of the salmon. I will be interested to see how you go. All the best of luck and thank you for chiming in. I am so uplifted by the responses from others.

[Whoopi]

 Hi Penny Hill and Stressed, Dingo 

 

 I want to tell you I feel exactly what you are going through, we can private message each other find out if we are in the same building or same area. Gather our forces to go to the minister with our issues.

 Cheers 

Whoopi

[Whoopi]

 Jimmy this is great advice  we will pursue this. Thank goodness for flat chat.

[Whoopi]

 Hi Jimmy and everyone who is following this thread,

 First of all thank you for highlighting my story, I felt like a celebrity for a second there. It did only last a second as the SC are now gearing up to appeal which will probably add another four months to the fight. This is what happens when logic flies out the window. The SC are driven by an emotional vendetta mentality. This will cost us more money and the owners as well, depending on who comes out the other side the winner.

 Many people ask me why are the owners allowing this to happen?

 They are kept in the dark. The minutes are propaganda, not informative. The minutes are written by the people we are fighting, we have no input to the minutes. We also have no way of contacting the many investors. The strata manager is in league with the committee  and the last time we asked for the strata roll he sent us the wrong building roll. The owners have not seen the application for the tribunal nor the outcome of the tribunal.

Then there is the character assassination that has taken place .Over two years they have been told horrendous things about us by the committee. All of which got back to us some how. They also believe what they are told by committee members who also have access to all of the floors,  the human instinct to believe what one is told by their elected official is the easy way out. Then there is the power aspect of the committee.  If a committee is corrupt they will do and say anything to stay in power because if anyone else gets their hands on the books they will be found out. They have all of the investors votes spread out across the committee and the company nominee votes also which are considerable.  When I have tried to approach people they either won’t acknowledge me or say I don’t want to get involved, and if they do befriend me they themselves are on the receiving end of retribution. Our friends had their access swipes to the building disconnected. But you can’t prove anything, they were told it was a computer glitch …. It was not and has happened to us before. Another friend who was very passive was vilified in the minutes incorrectly and was driven out of the building.

 The owners do not know how much has been spent on legals, they voted at an egm (no one showed up to hear our side) for  a very low amount which would have been surpassed ten times over. They did not include  the experts in their costings. The Lawyers who are affiliated with  the Strata manager are underquoting in the costings for the appeal. Our lawyer had a look and said there was no way they could run an appeal for that amount of money.

 No one goes to the meetings AGMs etc. They are told how to vote and not to come.

 So we fight on against the Strata manager, against their lawyer, who really doesn’t care how it turns out he gets paid anyway, against the committee, and against the owners. Apart from the $250,000 worth of repairs needed in my apartment. For two years  my apartment has had a broken and non compliant fire door. Documented by the fire company. This is how crazy and broken the system is.  Apologies if I am a bit repetitive .

 Jimmy can’t thank you enough for the support. You and also your other Flat chat folk have advised us well.

Cheers Whoopi

[Whoopi]

Hi Bonnie 

 I am interested in this question too . As with our situation the owners have not been told the outcome of the Tribunal or how much it cost them to fight us . This I find astounding but I don’t think there are any rules/laws on this. if there are I would love to know.

Our minutes were massaged to the point the owners had no idea who was taking who to the Tribunal or what it was about or how much money was involved.They were told not to come to the EGM and told how to vote or to give their votes to the committee. Our minutes are propaganda for the Strata committee and  the Strata manager. Eventually the owners will have to find out something but I don’t know how. Perhaps when they get a special levy.

 I do know you have the right to ask for all information from the Strata manager on any legal issues. If they don’t  deliver you can go to Fair Trading . You can also ask for the costs of the legal activity.They may charge you for their time which is legal but I find that offensive, you are an owner and have a right to know about your investment and your building. I think that rule is there to stop people driving their Strata crazy. If the info were put into the minutes you wouldn’t have to ask.

 We asked our Strata manager to send the findings of the Tribunal to the owners as we felt they had a right to know the truth. He ignored our email. The owners still don’t know and we will try to send out to the owners we have details for  but again getting a recent Strata Roll is almost impossible.

[Whoopi]

JimmyT said

But if you can separate your emotions from what needs to be done, identify the problems that are the highest priority and the solutions that have the highest chance of success, and then just drive towards that simple first step, you will make progress. 

BTW Jimmy T , This is what we ended up doing and were successful in the Tribunal. But it took two years over $120,000 and our home is not a sanctuary but a battle ground still. We are outcasts even though we were and are in the right, though I am past caring about that now. We also know our battle is far from over  So it’s back to the  trenches.

[Whoopi]

Hi Millie

 

 It shouldn’t be this hard. It really shouldn’t.

 In reality my family have not broken a rule or a By law in our building. Yet we have been under seige since we arrived.

 My biggest complaint re the system is Strata Committees answer to no one. Unless you go to the tribunal. This leap from  communal negotiation into the legal arena needs a middle ground. Mediation is not cutting it sorry. 

 The next issue for me is the company nominees proxy farming is alive and well while company nominees are allowed to be owners and committee members they should only be employees of the company or legal reps. Half of our building are investors whose votes have been spread amongst the committee who are now all of a sudden company nominees.

 I want my life back and my money too Millie

[Whoopi]

Hi Rthorburn

We are  currently applying for costs so will be about a month before I can answer that.

 

 CHeers

[Whoopi]

 Dear Friends on Flat chat 

I have been grizzling on this forum for quite some time.Thank you for listening , helping and indulging. I am still not happy with the system. Since this thread  began my financial input to legal action has risen to $120,000. I laughed and cried when I read my first post and we were at $30,000. But I am happy to tell you after two years of  the worst living conditions and conflict and character assassination WE WON. The tribunal granted us everything we asked for. A landslide victory under the new laws.  Over $300,000 of repairs to our apartment. We will still have many dramas to deal with to have the orders complied to I am sure. But just at this moment let me bask in the warmth of success. 

 

 Ok basking finished …..This is not good enough… Most owners could never afford to fight the fight we had to. We could not even sell as our property was in such terrible disrepair and it was documented.  Yes we won, and I stand by everything I said in former comments. Jimmy T  what can we do? What can I do to change this state of affairs? We plan on approaching the member once we get through the huge amount of repairs, if we have any sanity left.  I am quite sure I will end up back in the Tribunal as the Committee are still in power. Change is needed. The individual owner needs protection and a voice that does not take years and cost them all of their savings.Thank you all again for reading and advising.  Now back to basking!

[Whoopi]

Thank you Lady Penelope, you are amazing and thorough.

 

 Sorry Jimmy I keep forgetting they have changed the names from EC to SC and we must define Strata Committees from Strata Managers. I did mean the Strata manager. Communicating with the  Strata committee is a waste of time they just ignore it.

What I really want  is to be treated with respect, to be asked not told.

 I will put forward a motion next AGM

 

 Thanks for the advice.

[Whoopi]

Hi lady Penelope

 

 Sorry I am an owner. BTW have loved all of your input on this site. Thank you for reading. 

[Whoopi]

Thanks Jimmy

[Author]

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