I was on the radio the other day and got a couple of calls from, let’s call them mature ladies, who live in small unit blocks and who have been pretty much left to run the place because no one else is interested.
One of them was seriously concerned that she was having to make decisions on her own about issues such as fire safety, that really should have been made at a general meeting.
She was worried that if she didn’t follow the letter of the law, she would be personally liable if there was a fire and serious damage was done (or even worse).
I was able to reassure her that, unless she was given advice that there was a serious danger and she chose to ignore it, making the wrong decision in good faith would not come back to bite her personally.
And making the right decision without following all the procedural steps to the letter of the law, wasn’t likely to see her in Strata Jail either.
With apathy being the dominant force in many strata schemes – especially where there are a lot of investor owners – there must be thousands of people in this predicament.
They are the antithesis of the power-hungry demagogues who run buildings like their hobby farms. They do the job because they have a sense of duty … and no one else will step up to the plate.
But it must be terrifying sometimes when they read about all these changes to the law and they wonder what will happen if they don’t get it right. (Answer: not much!)
With that in mind, it’s refreshing to get back to the nuts and bolts of strata living. Of course, all the hot button issues like short-stay letting and bullying are keeping the Forum ticking over, but here are a few bread and butter issues that have us scratching our heads from time to time.
- How much notice do you need to give for an AGM? And must it be on a notice board? That’s HERE.
- Every meeting has a motion confirming the minutes of the previous meeting. But what happens if the minutes of a previous meeting are incorrect? That’s HERE.
- Under the new laws, we will be able to vote in advance either by post or electronically. But what about elections for the committee when nominations can be taken at the meeting? That’s HERE.
