I believed that a Special Levy needed to be clearly specified in the notice to owners, such as stating, “We are raising a special levy for this unforeseen issue.” However, at our AGM, buried in the sections most people don’t read, it states that owners give blanket approval for any levy the Strata Manager (SM) might raise. The minutes even reference the relevant legislation. As a result, when a Special Levy is raised, the committee is simply “notified.”
Engaging a lawyer or taking a matter to VCAT should still require committee approval before proceeding. I wonder too about why it is that owners’ insurance is used when a Strata Manager decides to go to court – wouldn’t they have their own?