#28313
Jimmy-T
Keymaster

    @Beth99 said:
    It’s like we need to pick our battles and I am going to focus on the fact that some are  being non financial and holding a position.

    You certainly do have to pick your battles but the question of owners being non-financial (NF) when they are on the committee is probably the hardest.

    There is nothing to stop anyone from being elected to the committee when they are NF – it’s just that an NF owner can’t nominate anyone, including themselves, to be on the committee.

    And even if a NF owner did make the nomination, any decisions made by the committee would stand (under section 38, below).

    The best you can hope for is to point out during a meeting that committee members may not vote while they are non-financial and neither can they vote if the person who nominated them is NF at the time the meeting was called and still haven’t paid what they owe (see Schedule 2 (9)(4) below).  This could also prevent a forum from being formed as a quorum is only formed when more than half of those “entitled to vote on the motion” are in attendance.

    However, if you want to go down the road of who is validly elected and who isn’t, the first thing to do is to ask the strata manager to show you the pieces of paper on which the nominations were made (or some record of that).  

    What you are looking for is proposers who  were standing for election themselves, an proposers who were non-financial, members who self-nominated who are listed on the strata roll as joint owners.

    If you snare enough of them in your net, you can then go to Fair Trading for a mediation at which you invite them to resign and then to NCAT where you seek orders declaring the election invalid and calling for an EGM to elect a new committee – this time with all proper procedures in place.

    Good luck.

    Schedule 2 (9)
    (4) Voting rights cannot be exercised if contributions not paid

    A member of the strata committee is not entitled to vote on any motion put or proposed to be put to the strata committee if the member was, or was nominated as a member by a member who was, an unfinancial owner of a lot in the strata scheme at the date notice of the meeting was given and the amounts owed by the unfinancial owner were not paid before the meeting.

     

    38 Acts and proceedings of strata committee valid despite vacancies or defects

    (1) This section applies if, when any act or proceeding of a strata committee was done, taken or commenced there was:

    (a) a vacancy in the office of an officer of the owners corporation or any other member of the strata committee, or

    (b) any defect in the appointment, or any disqualification, of any such officer or member.

    (2) Any act or proceeding of a strata committee done in good faith is as valid as if the vacancy, defect or disqualification did not exist and the strata committee were fully and properly constituted.

    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.