This week’s lead Forum post feels like a duet between Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus – as in “Oops, I Did It Again,” and “Wrecking Ball.”
Given the number of people running around strata who are trying to make sure everyone else is doing the right thing and living by the letter of strata law, it’s amazing how many owners slip through the net, even when they don’t mean to.
Our Flatchatter has completed a major renovation of her bathroom without her owners corp noticing – which is an achievement in itself – and everything seems to be working just fine, with no reports of leaks in adjoining flats.
But now she has discovered she should have had a by-law in place to cover the work and its long-term consequences.
Just to make matters a little trickier, she is about to rent out her flat, which could mean neighbours and strata committee members having a sneaky sticky-beak at the open home, at which point her not-as-old-as-it-should-be bathroom will be revealed.
What does she do? Say nothing, hope no one notices and trust that the renovation doesn’t leak any time soon?
Or confess her sins and throw herself on the mercy of the strata committee, leaving them to formulate a by-law while she picks up the legal tab.
Or is there a third way that doesn’t involve her being charged an arm and leg to resolve an issue that isn’t really a problem – at least, not so far? That’s HERE.
Elsewhere in the Forum:
- Who’s responsible for a non-existent 10-year maintenance plan now that a special levy is needed to fix issues that were missed before? That’s HERE.
- Our ancient water pipes are starting to fail. Anyone know of an easy and inexpensive solution? That’s HERE.
- Neighbour has attached a screen to her balcony without permission. No one objects to the screen, but should she have followed procedure? That’s HERE.
- When the law says there’s no obligation for fire inspections of townhouses, how can we make sure everyone has working smoke alarms? That’s HERE.
- Can the strata committee approve common property upgrades without general meeting approval? That’s HERE.
There are many more new questions and additions to ongoing discussions than we have room for here.
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