Have your say on building defect insurance
DLI is a strict liability insurance product of first resort that covers critical building elements, such as structure, waterproofing and fire safety systems. It allows building owners to make a claim…
ABC levies debts report misses the mark
OPINION There’s a story in the ABC TV’s business report about how an apartment owner who’s had a run of rotten luck has just had everything made worse by her…
Podcast: Bankrupting levy debtors is a bad idea
No sooner had we written about how paying levies is often the first thing to go when apartment owners are facing a cost-of-living crisis, than this story pops up on the…
Last chance to comment on Qld law changes
Queensland is gearing up to revise some of its body corporate legislation and submissions are now closed if you wanted to make a submission to the committee assessing the new…
Radical reforms on the cards for NSW regs
Big changes are in the wind for strata in NSW with two working groups having recommended reforms – some radical – in legislation and regulations for the sector. One report…
Unit buyers beware – the Qld disease is spreading
The true extent of the price apartment owners pay in Queensland due to its distorted management rights system is becoming apparent. And even more alarming, it looks like the “Queensland…
Forum: Power of one owner versus lots of lots
There’s an interesting conundrum in the Forum this week and it’s all about the power wielded by a single entity that owns several apartments against the collective might of the…
Why unit owners can’t cut insurance to save
Fires in Hawaii, floods in Australia, earthquakes in Turkey and storms in New Zealand are likely to hit apartment owners in ways they can’t avoid. These natural disasters are driving…
How Gigacomm got our home office internet gig
I’m a bit of a geek and I love my gadgets but I am as nervous as anyone when it comes to untried and untested technology – especially in strata…
Podcast: How to upscale your address for less
Flying (almost) solo this week, Jimmy looks at a Sydney Morning Herald story which reveals the posh areas in Sydney where you can upgrade your address without paying the multi-million dollar costs…
Forum: Range wars and modern strata cowboys
Back in the old Wild West (of America, not Australia) they had what they called “range wars” – they broke out when farmers, who legitimately owned chunks of land, would…
Long and short of the Qld caretaker con-trick
We’re giving a fair amount of space to Queensland caretaker management rights at the moment, and that’s for two very good reasons. Firstly there is a multimillion-dollar rort of strata…