Old by-laws could be bad news for flat hunters
When was the last time you looked at your strata scheme’s by-laws? If you are like most people, you might have glanced at them when you bought the unit or…
committee
Is joining your committee really worth the stress?
There’s an old adage in apartment living that the people you really want on your strata committee are too busy making the money they need to service their mortgages to…
Forum: Law breakers want to sue over complaints
Our “star forum post” this week (for want of a better term) concerns a resident of a mixed use block where the proprietors of the commercial units all come from…
Podcast: The many sins of commission at Fair Trading
If there is one area of NSW Liberal politics that may be glad that the kerfuffle over the appointment of a trade envoy to New York is drawing so much…
Webinars – committees and forced sales
They say a camel is a horse designed by a committee – but then what better beast to get you across a desert? This month our sponsors Bannermans Lawyers are…
Podcast: Knives out for Commissioner Chandler
This week’s Flat Chat Wrap has a look at something we predicted a few weeks ago – that the knives would soon be out for Building Commissioner David Chandler, just…
Forum: Deadbeat owner paid no levies for 10 years
Apartment owners not paying their levies is an all-too-common occurrence in strata. But when one owner out of four his dragging the chain, that’s 25 percent of a block’s revenue;…
Overexposed strata chairs may hide from the Hub
Executive committees could be about to see a mass exodus of office-bearers as a new register of strata schemes takes effect in NSW next month, warn insiders. Simply put, some…
Podcast: Will exposure drive away office-bearers?
Imagine you are the chair or secretary of a strata scheme. You can cope with fielding a reasonable number of messages via the strata manager or building manager. It’s a…
Forum: Stalemate, power plays and an even split
At any level of politics it can be hugely frustrating when the numbers on both sides are equal. With everyone in their respective trenches, it can take a casting vote…
Forum: When rising damp is no laughing matter
One of the funniest shows ever on TV was a British sitcom called Rising Damp. What does it have to do with strata? Well, it was about young and not-so-young…
Would you elect a tenant to your committee?
Years ago I heard about a building in Sydney that was totally dominated by a long-running chairman who was an autocrat and a bully. Residents found his “my way or…