I wonder what would happen if the owners pursued the OC through Fair Trading and the Tribunal for failure to arrange alternative financial arrangements for owners who can’t afford to pay a special levy up front. I believe it is now possible for OCs to split finances between strata loans for people who can’t afford to pay up front and one-off payments from those who can but don’t want to pay interest charges.
With that in mind, the friend could apply for mediation – which is free of charge and doesn’t involve lawyers – leading to seeking orders from the Tribunal under Section 87 (1)(b) that refusal to engage in a payment plan was “unreasonable”. That section allows the Tribunal to order a “payment of contributions by a different manner”.
There is nothing in the Act that says all contributions have to be paid in the same way, and many examples of permission for the OC to find different ways of accepting levies payments. Application for meditation is free. Your friend could go to Fair Trading armed with information that the OC had the option to choose other methods and decided for reasons that it may not be able to justify not to do so. That would probably qualify as “unreasonable”.
Your friend should also try to find out if there are other owners who are facing the same issue, which will strengthen their hand. But this is certainly worth pursuing at mediation.
87 Orders varying contributions or payment methods
(1) The Tribunal may, on application, make either or both of the following orders if the Tribunal considers that any amount levied or proposed to be levied by way of contributions is inadequate or excessive or that the manner of payment of contributions is unreasonable—
(a) an order for payment of contributions of a different amount,
(b) an order for payment of contributions in a different manner.
(2) An application for an order may be made by the lessor of a leasehold strata scheme, an owners corporation, an owner or a mortgagee in possession.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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