#54633
TrulEConcerned
Flatchatter
Chat-starter

    Good evening,
    You may recall that I was shocked as were Jimmy and Scotlandx that a SC member of my block is having the OC pick up the tab for his “strata education” subscription.
    After asking for access to ALL of the strata’s documents, the agent granted me access to invoices via an electronic portal, which doesn’t work properly. I can only view some but not all invoices.
    I made one discovery so far. I found that the “strata education” is in fact a subscription to something called Your Strata Property. I say “I discovery” because Mr Secretary submitted an invoice that looks like a neatly typed shopping list and included two line items for Your Strata Property: $400 and $58. He did not (as far as I can see, note the portal is problematic) include a copy of the actual invoices or receipts from the publisher he would have received upon paying his subscription dues with our funds.
    The $458 was included as part of an invoice whose bottom line mentions: “All items are cost recovery total of $911” , that Mr Secretary passed to the agent (for payment to himself) after having the Chair note by hand on the invoice that she “approves payment”. I was not made aware nor can I find records of any agendas for and minutes of meetings that took place to discuss and approve this payment.

    Cunningly Mr Secretary does not list payment for his time, but only for 62 trips via the bridge (@$3 each) for which he billed $186 (he states to attend to strata repairs) as well as purchases of paint, lights, gloves etc, items whose original invoices which were never sighted by the OC nor is there any way of knowing how much of what was bought ended up in Mr Secretary’s possession for personal use.

    Interestingly, regarding the $458 subscription, on the website he signed up to, I found the following Q & A:

    Q. Can I ask my strata building to pay for my membership?
    A. It doesn’t hurt to try!
    If you are a committee member in a NSW strata or community scheme, you may be entitled to an “honorarium” – a small annual payment for your services as a committee member. Some YSP members who are also committee members ensure that the cost of their YSP membership is covered by their honorarium. If you’d like to find out more about how to claim an honorarium as a committee member….

    Q. Can my building join, or is membership only for individuals?

    A. We are currently only offering individual memberships. If your building is interested in a ‘building wide’ membership, please let us know via support@yourstrataproperty.com.au and, subject to the level of interest, we will consider offering YSP memberships to buildings…..

    As these expenses (of $458) were never discussed or approved by the OC; the fruits of the membership (papers, discussions and phone calls) were never shared with the OC; as no honorarium was ever discussed or approved by the OC; as the provider herself makes clear: the service is “for individuals”, am I correct to conclude that Mr Secretary is brazenly breaching the SSMA and enriching himself?

    I look forward to your guidance.