Podcast: Unfair contracts plan to beat the BS
This week we take a deep dive into the next swathe of proposed NSW strata reforms which will include attempts to cut through the baloney and BS and make it…
contracts
Unit buyers beware – the Qld disease is spreading
The true extent of the price apartment owners pay in Queensland due to its distorted management rights system is becoming apparent. And even more alarming, it looks like the “Queensland…
Forum: Kickbacks and con jobs in conveyancing
You have to think that if some of the service providers in strata-land spent as much time and energy just doing their jobs as they do trying to diddle us…
Podcast: Council cops unit block defects orders
We’re going interstate and all-ages in this week’s mixed bag but we start with a council on Sydney’s North Shore that has been served with a repair order for defects in…
Podcast: Contract con tricks and little victories
It’s very much a mixed bag in this week’s podcast, not least because what’s good news for some in property prices is, inevitably, bad news for others. But first, we…
Forum: Strata Managers under serious scrutiny
Strata managers have shuffled into the Forum spotlight this week, prompting questions about, it seems, lack of knowledge or understanding of basic strata law. Take a co-owner self-nominating for election…
Owners battle illegal lets and crippling contracts
Queensland apartment owners are ramping up their battles to regain control over their homes on two fronts. One aspect is the fundamentally immoral (but entirely legal) practise of developers selling…
Pitfalls and perils at a new block’s initial AGM
The initial AGM of a new building is an exciting, confusing and challenging event, especially for first-time owners. But the more things you get right there, the easier life will…
Podcast: Contract concern as plan nixed in the bud
There’s an air of cynicism – or maybe it’s just weary experience – around this week’s Flat Chat Wrap podcast, but we only have ourselves to blame. Last week we…
SM contracts to be fixed but not set in stone
Contracts between strata managers and owners corporations have been accused of being one-sided, rigid and unfair, but they are unlikely to be replaced by standard statutory contracts any time soon…
Forum: Cashed-up and confused by costs levy
Here’s a bit of a brainteaser. An owners corp has won its tribunal case against a couple of lot owners over unapproved renovations. The OC’s strata manager has now asked…
Forum: Time to rewrite strata manager contracts?
The standard strata management agreement – as issued by Strata Community Australia – is a brute of a document. And while it’s not an mandatory form as, for instance, the…