@kiwipaul said:
I was fully aware the OP was in NSW and my opinion is the same … then this …the BC manager or OC cannot spend BC money on private areas without a very good reason and at the very least a majority of the owners voting in favor …
And what you said at first was …
I would say the vote would have to be unanimous to spend money on anything but common property. (My emphasis – JT).
What you are saying now is quite different from what you said at first. But the important thing is that we have established that …
a) Under certain very common circumstances the Strata manager CAN spend money without necessarily running to the EC every time he or she needs to do so …
b) There are circumstances – to which you allude yourself – where it’s permissable (and preferable) for the Owners Corp to pay for the work to be done.
What we haven’t mentioned is that the Owners Corp can and probably should pursue the owner for payment of the work done.
In the case first raised by ChrisJ, another owner requested that the Owners Corp gardener cut the weeds and grass in a neglected garden.
Let’s imagine (for it is dangerous to assume) that this complex has the standard by-law that says the owner is required to maintain their garden and keep it tidy.
Failure to do so would then be a breach of by-laws and that’s where the NSW strata Act kicks in. This is what it says (Sub-clauses 2 and 5 left out as they aren’t relevant to this discussion):
63 What power does an owners corporation have to carry out work and recover costs?
(1) Application of section
This section applies if a person who is required to carry out work as referred to in this section fails to carry out the work.(3) Work required to be carried out under term or condition of by-law
An owners corporation may carry out work that is required to be carried out by a person who is the owner, mortgagee or covenant chargee in possession, lessee (or, in the case of a leasehold strata scheme, sublessee) or occupier of a lot under a term or condition of a by-law and may recover the cost of carrying out the work from that person or any person who, after the work is carried out, becomes the owner of that lot.(4) Work that is duty of owner or occupier to carry out
An owners corporation may carry out work that is required to be carried out by a person who is the owner, mortgagee or covenant chargee in possession, lessee (or, in the case of a leasehold strata scheme, sublessee) or occupier of a lot in order to remedy a breach of a duty imposed by Chapter 4 and may recover the cost of the work from that person.(6) Recovery of costs as a debt
The costs incurred by an owners corporation in carrying out any work referred to in this section may be recovered by the owners corporation as a debt.
If that by-law regarding the maintenance of the garden is in place, all ChrisJ really has to do is ask the EC or the strata manager if the owner of the messy garden is being charged for the gardener’s time as is permitted under the law. And he can even put that up as a motion to the EC or the next AGM.
By the way, I see no obligation on the OC to charge the money if they choose not to; the Act says ‘may’ not ‘must’ when it comes to recovering the cost as a debt.