You have to think that if some of the service providers in strata-land spent as much time and energy just doing their jobs as they do trying to diddle us out of our hard-earned, the apartment world would be a much better place.
You may have seen or heard the story on the ABC this week about a conveyancer who has migrated from South Australia to the post-apocalyptic strata wasteland of Victoria (steady on, JT).
This chap is appalled to discover that real estate agents are trousering substantial amounts of cash for recommending purchasers and vendors to lawyers and conveyancers to get their paperwork done.
Are we shocked or surprised? Not really. As corrupt behaviour goes, this barely registers one brown paper bag on the dodgy dealings scale.
However, we are alarmed to hear from a Flatchatter in Queensland that there Real Estate agents are claiming it’s too hard to get information out of bodies corporate, and they are recommending solicitors to do the job for you.
We are keen supporters of potential owners getting near-forensic searches of strata records before they sign on any dotted lines. But if solicitors are paying real estate agents to drive clients to their doors, how objective will their opinions be?
You’ll find that question and a clever answer HERE.
Elswhere in the Forum, a Flatchatter asks how they can get the owners corp to replace screening bushes that they destroyed thinking (but not very much) that they were common property.
It’s not a strata issue per se, but the hedge-depleted owner wants to know how they can get compensation without taking the owners corp to court. That’s HERE.
Another eagle-eyed Flatchatter has noticed a section of the standard NSW strata manager’s contract that seems to insulate them from responsibility for anything they do wrong, deliberately of accidentally.
Thankfully our friends at OCN have edited the section so that it is a lot less one-sided. Bearing in mind that the previous incarnation of the strata managers’ body used to threaten to sue for breach of copyright if you tried to change their contracts, it might be interesting to see how individual strata managers react to redacted contracts.
If you’re planning to do it, maybe you should talk to OCN first. That’s all HERE.
And finally, an owner who wants to convert their two-lot strata to separate entities – because they can’t get strata insurance – wants to know if that will attract stamp duty. That’s HERE.
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