Nowhere is the phrase caveat emptor – buyer beware – more relevant than in purchasing strata units. And if you and your solicitor or conveyancer don’t do your homework you could find yourself in trouble.
QUESTION: A new owner has bought an apartment which, it turns out, had a kitchen renovation done without owners corporation knowledge, let alone permission. Now the kitchen has started leaking into the apartment below and they are saying that since the pipe-work comes under common property, we and not they have to pay for the repairs. Is this true? – Lois, Bondi
ANSWER: It’s hard to say without reading your by-laws but my first response would be to tell them that they should have checked with the previous owners whether the new kitchen (which was no doubt part of the attraction when they bought) had permission from the owners corporation and warranties from the kitchen installers.
If they did have warranties, then that’s who has to pay for the repairs. If they didn’t then they – not you – have to pay the price of their own lack of diligence.
Amid all the finger pointing, let’s not forget that someone has damaged common property. You have to feel sorry for the new owners but the vendor has benefitted by ignoring the by-laws of your building, not to mention the common decencies attached to being a member of a community such as a strata development.
And we shouldn’t forget that there is an innocent party in all this – the owners or tenants whose apartment is being leaked into.
My advice would be to tell the new owners that the repairs must be done quickly and they are going to have to pay anyway; they can either pay for the repairs now and chase the previous owners for compensation (with your support) or your owners corporation will pay for it and then pursue them for the costs of the repairs and all legal costs on top of that.
You have a responsibility to maintain common property – but that doesn’t mean you have to foot the bill every time some selfish dingbat decides that by-laws don’t apply to them, then makes a profit on their dodgy renovations.