From the Forum – down in the dumps with a slack SM

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We live in strange times indeed, and this week we received one of the longest posts to the Forum that I have ever seen.

The main topic?  A strata manager who allows residents to dump large items in the bin room and uses strata funds to pay council charges for their removal. Too much information or just attention to detail?

Obviously, there’s more to it than that.  Add into the mix that 90 percent of the residents don’t have English as a first language and a similar proportion of committee members are only interested in topics that affect them directly, and you can sense the frustration.

At face value, it sounds like a text-book situation calling for the appointment of a compulsory strata manager but, as we never tire of saying, that’s a “be careful what you wish for” scenario.  Sometimes the cure is worse than the problem.

It’s in situations like this when you really need someone with the authority to come along and say “stop doing this and start doing that or there will be trouble!”

A StrataKop, perhaps?  Or a strata ombusman’s office?  Neither of these entities is likely to appear any time soon, so if anyone has some bright ideas (and a long attention span)  have a look at the post HERE.

Elsewhere on the Forum:

  • My committee wants to hold its next meeting in person … even though we had our AGM on Skype because of Covid-19.  That’s HERE.
  • The insurer has paid for damage caused by issues upstairs – but not the excess.  Now the committee says I have to pay the extra $1000.  Is that right?  That’s HERE.
  • The Act says replacing the kitchen and adding a timber floor are minor renovations.  The strata manager says I need a by-law.  Who’s right?  That’s HERE.
  • Will this agency help us to get rid of our current strata manager?  That’s HERE.

There are lots more questions and answers on the Flat Chat Forum. If you haven’t done so already, register, log in and give it a whirl – you may have exactly the answer we’ve been looking for.

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2 Replies to “From the Forum – down in the dumps with a slack SM”

  1. Jimmy-T says:

    This is now being discussed in the Flat Chat Forum

  2. newlsie says:

    Thanks Jimmy, We live in a unit block of 36 units and are experiencing similar dumping of resident’s junk, particularly mattresses, right underneath the sign that says please don’t dump your junk. In the past, before our compulsory strata manager and building manager we managed this very well. We would send pictures of the dumped items to the real estate agent and ask that they withhold the bond until the tenant removes their junk. In most cases that worked. Now the BM just tosses the junk down the stairwell to the old furnace room making that room inaccessible and a potential fire hazard. There is no communication with the residents who continue to do this.

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