@theora said:
The strata manager has told us that if we want to know anything more to ask them which I won’t do because I’ve been threatened by them before and I think it should be his responsibility to make sure everything is done correctly…Also, should our Strata Manager be doing something other than washing his hands of it. He’s scared of them as well but as far as I know it’s his job so he shouldn’t be taking management fees if he won’t do it.
Strata managers are not strata cops. The Strata manager can only act as instructed by the Owners Corp or EC unless EC powers have been delegated to the SM under your current contract.
If that’s the case, they should be doing more. If not, that’s not to say they shouldn’t be a bit more helpful.
With that in mind, rather than getting both the strata manager and the other owner offside, I would be asking the manager what you should be doing.
At the very least, I would be seeking mediation at Fair Trading over issues regarding common property (attaching the air-con and deck to common property walls).
The reason for this is not necessarily to prevent them from doing something, but to make sure they and anyone to whom they sell their unit in the future are responsible for repairs and maintenance, as specified in the Act.
Given that you won’t have the 75 percent of votes required to pass a by-law, you can apply to NCAT to issue orders under Section 140 (4) and (5) and Section 141 of the Act. There are other provisions about resolving disputes that may be more relevant, depending on the circumstances. Your strata manager should be able to advise you on this.
If the strata manager doesn’t have delegated powers and there’s a 50-50 split of Unit Entitlements, you can’t instruct them to act on your behalf.
However, you have a majority of UEs, you can hold a meeting and issue instructions from that. Either way, the strata manager will almost certainly charge the owners corp (you and your neighbour) for any extra work involved.
Otherwise, if you want someone to represent you, you should be talking to an experienced strata lawyer who will make the tricky phone calls and write the strongly worded letters (and then charge you for it).