#12866
Jimmy-T
Keymaster

    I’m going to jump in here and say it’s all very well reciting what the CTTT says it’s supposed to be but the reality is very different.  Many CTTT adjudicators and Members are notorious nitpickers and others are terrified of making perfectly reasonable interpretations of the law in case they are criticised.

    They will, as a matter of policy, not advise individuals on how to prepare their cases (either complainants or defendants) they say because they can’t be seen to be taking sides.  This is a cop-out. We had a case in this very Forum recently where a violent criminal was allowed to continue his appalling and intimidating behaviour because the plaintiffs had not known they needed one piece of paper (which they had on file – just not with them).

    Anyone who takes a complicated case to the CTT without at the very least the help of their strata manager or, in serious cases a strata lawyer, is taking a huge gamble with their time and energy (and that’s a cost too). And strata managers will quite rightly charge you extra for helping defend a case.

    The CTTT will tie itself in knots to avoid awarding costs, even under the circumstances cited. I have seen the most ridiculous cases argued and argued over again by obsessed residents for whom spending $75 to keep their EC and strata managers running around answering their complaints is a good few weeks’ entertainment.  Do they ever have costs awarded against them? You have to be kidding!

    Right now the CTTT seems to be passing even vaguely complicated issues on to the District Court for appeal, maybe because they have stuffed up so many times that they are an embarrassment to themselves and it looks good on the figures if they say they have dealt with cases “espediently”. 

    I know a couple of CTTT members – good, smart, dedicated people – who live in despair of the time servers, failed lawyers and “mates” who undermine what should be but isn’t a fair and inexpensive tribunal.

    A panel of one strata manager, a strata lawyer and an experienced Executive Committee member could sort out most of these issues in minutes. Instead you have an organisation that claims to be simple, fair and cheap but which is actually complicated, bureaucratic and, one way or another, a terrible drain on people’s resources.

    The cost of an application is far from the only expense.  Even if you don’t hire your strata manager or a lawyer, time is money and wasting your time at the CTTT – and preparing the meticulous paperwork they demand – can be a particularly pointless expense.  The only Strata professionals I’ve met who think the CTTT is working well, efficiently and inexpensively are the people who work for it (and even then …).

    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.