There’s a sad and slightly creepy story from Tasmania this week – and it’s all about how some people haven’t quite got to grips with the concept of strata even after decades of living in an apartment block
Our reader’s Mum lives in a small block which doesn’t have a body corporate and, as a result doesn’t have building insurance.
Now, strata law in Tassie is pretty basic but it does say apartment owners have to form a body corporate and they have to insure their building.
Our reader’s mum has her own insurance and doesn’t want to pay any more.
A “friendly” strata manager has explained to the other owners what their legal responsibilities are and here’s where it gets tricky.
From what our Flatchatter says, the strata manager has also said that they need to hire him (or her) to organise the strata insurance for them and a majority want to go as along with that.
Now we realise that when people are passing on messages about a topic they clearly don’t know too much about, some things get lost in translation.
Is this strata manager being truly helpful? Or are they taking advantage of inexperienced and naïve property owners? After all, they will get a nice commission on the insurance policy.
You can read our solution HERE.
Also in the Forum:
- From the “no good deed goes unpunished” department – the owners corp sent a plumber in to fix a faulty tap that was threatening to flood the flat. Now the owner says they didn’t ask for the plumber so they’re not paying. That’s HERE.
- There’s a locked bike blocking access to fire extinguishers. The strata manager says they have to leave it for 14 days before they can move it. Do they? That’s HERE.
- What constitutes a cosmetic renovation, a minor one or a major one. Don’t ask Fair Trading – even if they know (which seems dubious) they won’t say. That’s HERE.
There are other new questions and answers and lots of ongoing discussions in the Flat Chat Forum.
