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As a full owner of an apartment, am I entitled to be included in the distribution list, and therefore view all documents that have been sent to the Owners Corporation, even if those documents are from a Strata Lawyer having been sent in response to correspondence I have sent to owners?
I have seen on recent invoices from the lawyer the EC of my strata has engaged to address issues I have raised that some of the Time Entry Notes state that certain correspondence has been sent to the “Owners Corporation” which I have not seen.
I am a member of the Owners Corporation and my levies are paying for these legal costs as much (if not more) than the other owners, do I not have a right to see them as well?
Thanks
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As a registered owner you have unlimited access to any correspondence carried out by, to or on behalf of the Owners Corporation.
There is no privacy provision that would exclude you from viewing any records or communications to or from the owners corp.
To take an extreme example, when an Owners Corp has been involved in a legal matter that has been “sealed” or has been decreed a private settlement, any owner can still view the document, as they are, by definition, “party” to the action.
It is up to the strata manager or secretary to find a means of allowing the owner to see the document without breaching the confidentiality imposed by the court. Usually this is done by allowing them to see the document in private but not copy it, after undertaking in writing not to divulge its contents to anyone else.
So, getting back to letters etc, you and anyone else who is a registered owner in the strata scheme is entitled to see them. You may have to pay a modest fee to the strata manager for arranging the viewing, but it is still your legal right to do so.
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.
There are exceptions – if the letters contain advice from the lawyer relating to a potential or actual dispute with the owner, then the OC can claim privilege and is not obliged to make them available to the owner.
This is because the owner may be an adversary in an action against the OC. If the OC were forced to give the advice to the owner then privilege would be lost.
Thanks Scottie – you learn something new every day. We are so lucky to have all these people who are smarter than me contributing to this page. If anyone wants me, I’ll be on the dunce stool in the corner.
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.
Ha ha very funny Jimmy.
The issue is common interest – where an owner and the OC have a common interest in the information, then there can be no objection to it being provided. However where those interests diverge, you need to think very carefully about whether it should be given to the person.
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