Strata madness – tell us what’s driving you crazy
Is something bugging you? I mean, is there anything about living in strata that’s REALLY getting your goat, curdling your blood and leaving your mustard uncut. At the OCN Strata…
Four essential questions for a first AGM
Strata buildings’ AGMs can happen at virtually any point on the calendar but the beginning of the year is a peak period for those occasionally tempestuous, often tepid, always rare…
Roundup: Flat Chat live is back – better than ever
OK, folks, try to contain your excitement but the all-singing, all dancing Flat Chat Live is back on the agenda To be fair, it’s not called that any more, it’s…
How to silence strata committee bullies
Nobody in their right mind enjoys formal committee meetings. Whether it’s your local club or your company board, they often descend into battles of wills between those who know…
Codes of conduct and standing orders rule!
This week’s column in the Australian Financial Review has raised the issue of codes of conduct for committee members and standing orders for committee meetings. These are two very different…
Roundup: Who pays when a party trashes your Airbnb let?
Toilet blockages, carpet burns and broken bed legs; these are just some of the accidents hitting holiday rental hosts according to new data released this week. And many hosts are…
Who’s really got your back in strata battles?
Everybody’s got somebody out there on the barricades or in the trenches, fighting the good fight on their behalf. Drivers have the motoring organisations while cyclists and pedestrians have their…
Roundup: Time we took a closer look … at us
There are lies, damned lies and then statistics, the old saying goes. And then, to compound the mendacity, there’s what politicians and journalists do with them. I love stats. My…
Defects bond? Jail the dodgy developers!
This post, an expanded version of last week’s roundup intro, appeared in this form in the Australian Financial Review. Happy New Year! Two pieces of legislation came into force as…
ROUNDUP: New laws – the good news and the bad
Happy New Year! Two pieces of legislation come into play today. The first sees the long-awaited defects bond for new apartment blocks come into effect. The other sees what seems…
Party on … without making your neighbours hate you
It’s probably a little late in the day for this – it appeared in the Flat Chat slot in the Australian Financial Review last week – but it applies to…
Roundup: Why the Law Lords’ ruling on Airbnb really matters
Just when I thought I was going to get to 2018 without mentioning Airbnb again, the Privy Council in London goes and stuffs things up – but in a good…