Levies are generally pretty fair: the more valuable your apartment, roughly, the more you pay … unless the developer decided selling premium apartments was easier with lower levies attached.
QUESTION: I have just discovered that that I am paying significantly higher strata fees than other units in the block the same size as mine, and even some with more rooms than mine.
I am paying around $150 extra per quarter and have been overpaying for the whole time I have lived here. Identical units directly below me are also paying these higher fees.
Our strata manager says I can bring this up at the annual general meeting but it will take a unanimous vote to approve the changes. Otherwise I will need to take legal action.
Isn’t the owners corporation obliged to have these unit entitlements reviewed and corrected? – Baffled of Beecroft
ANSWER: In a word, no. And this problem is more common that you might think. Developers often give their more expensive apartments and commercial units lower Unit Entitlements (the basis on which levies are calculated) to make them more saleable.
It’s true that you can alter them with a unanimous vote but that’s asking turkeys to vote for Christmas as those paying too little would have to pay more.
However, the Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal can correct this but it will need cast-iron documented evidence that the allocation wasn’t fair.
Ask your strata manager to recommend a couple of specialist strata surveyors who could run this case for you and invite the other owners affected to share the cost of this action (since they will be sharing the benefits). If you win, the CTTT can even order the developer who established the skewed levies to repay owners the excess money they have paid over the years.
And why not ask your Owners Corporation to fund the case – all that takes is a simple majority – not a unanimous vote – and it could be in the interests of all but a fortunate few.
Please email your questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.