Podcast: Developers’ cosy deals with cronies curbed
With two major chunks of strata legislation landing last week – Victoria’s new laws and NSW’s proposals for a revamp of theirs – we pick the bones out of the…
contracts
New Vic strata laws target cronies and contracts
Strata laws have been given a major shake-up in Victoria – and it’s all about consumer protection. As well as including new rules for strata owners and committees, the new…
Qld owners use pester power to curb contracts
Here at Flat Chat we have long campaigned against the “legalised corruption” of the pre-sale of caretaker management contracts in Queensland. There, for no better reason than to put more…
Building managers dodge contract limits bullet
Stories about incompetent or dishonest strata building managers are the stuff of apartment dinner party one-upmanship. Or should that be one-downmanship? To be fair, most strata and facilities managers are…
Managers targeted in Vic strata law upgrade
December may seem a long way off but for strata residents in Victoria, it will see a new dawn for their Owners Corporations as laws passed last month eventually come…
Why first-time buyers need better protection
As our various governments, state and federal, lure us with grants and tax breaks into buying new and off-the-plan units, they really need to put more safeguards in place to…
Survey aims to challenge suspect Qld strata laws
Before the state elections in Queensland last year, the state’s Deputy Premier Steven Miles invited the Unit Owners Association of Queensland (UOAQ) Committee to contribute to a legislation review regarding…
Tribunal won’t sack slack caretakers, say body corporate owners
Unit owners in Queensland are being advised to avoid the state’s tribunal system and just pay private contractors to cover their caretakers’ shortcomings, after a series of cases against poorly…
Embedded networks – the latest scam coming to a block near you
If crumbling buildings in Sydney and towering infernos in Melbourne are doing nothing else, they are drawing attention away from a sneaky scam that could cost new strata owners a…
Roundup: Something rotten in the state of Queensland
As I have said many times, the pre-sale of management rights in Queensland is a form of legalised corruption that leaves apartment owners to pay for contracts that they had…
Power play as shocking contracts unlocked
In what can only be described as a solid win for strata residents, home owners and tenants living in strata schemes will no longer be locked into uncompetitive long term…