#24995
Jimmy-T
Keymaster

    Be very careful when he does sell the rest of the units and you are able to have your first AGM.  At that point you MUST examine the current caretaker contract and, if it has been inflated and seems to have no performance measures, find someone yourselves.

    Judging by his feather-bedded caretaker contract, and his attempt to get you to pay a third of the costs of the water, he will almost certainly try to con new owners into thinking they have to accept his choices of contractors. Resist this at all costs or you will be paying for it for the next few years.

    Find a strata manager who will be willing to take over the building at the first AGM and will speak up for the unit owners at the AGM. Don’t let this guy railroad you and the other owners into hiring anyone else. Find your own contractors like cleaners too.  If you haven’t found them by the first AGM, defer the decision. 

    I can’t overstate how important this is. Once he has sold the majority of the apartments, the building is not the developer’s to do as he pleases – but it sounds like he will try.

    Get good people who will look after the owners, not a mate of the developer, because the next challenge will be to get a defects claim in within the two-year window.

    In the meantime point him at Section 78 (2) of the Act which says:

    78 Manner of levying contributions

    (2)  Contributions levied by an owners corporation must be levied in respect of each lot and are payable (subject to this section and section 77) by the owners in shares proportional to the unit entitlements of their respective lots.

    He can’t just divvy up the payments between the owners on a per capita basis. He owns the other lots so he has to pay (you might find the caretaker contract is suddenly reduced as a result).

    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.