› Flat Chat Strata Forum › NCAT – the NSW Tribunal › It’s as if I’m paying to sue myself › Current Page
Here’s the problem. NCAT insists they’ll only answer the question as to whether legal representation will be allowed, at the actual hearing. So a Strata Manager and / or Strata Committee will spend money ‘preparing the case’ with ambulance-chasing lawyers, who will also front-up on the day (at this time that means on the phone) charge bucks for that, but then not be allowed to participate and the SM or SC member will have to speak.
Significant amounts of Owners Corporation funds are, no doubt, being wasted. It would be much better if the issue of legal representation, or not, could be decided ahead of a hearing. Of course, ‘respondents’ might also be unfairly scared into paying hard-earned bucks for their own lawyer.
There are many other areas too where NCAT are unbelievably inconsistent. Their literature says one thing but they do another. It can all be very confusing. Just one example is how a particular matter can be accepted by NCAT without the required mediation taking place, while another matter is rejected because mediation wasn’t attempted. It seems to all depend on moods and whims.
In short, NCAT are an unpredictable ‘law unto themselves’. Don’t go there.
By the way, EnterSandman purports to be an authority on ‘strata living’ yet doesn’t even get his terminology right. For about 5 years now it’s been Strata Committee, not Executive Committee, and Owners Corporation, not body [sic] Corporate. It’s ‘personal signalling’ JimmyT, not a pop culture reference.