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19/02/2016 at 7:17 am #10323
I hope someone can help, recently i was in arrears of over $12,000 but thanks to a solicitor got it down to by $3000 to just over $9000 I paid almost 3/4 quarters of it and it was bought down to $3700 but now the strata manager has proceeded to take legal action after a meeting was held of the owners corp. No one but myself attended it was done by proxy and out of 5 units, 1 was unfinancial, 1 never answered. I was of the impression that a owner could not vote if they were not financial and a meeting to seek legal action was to be in person, also can someone tell can a strata manager do this for such a small amount. I have been told that the manager is annoyed because I questioned him and his tactics and now he is seeking revenge. Please help.
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19/02/2016 at 1:47 pm #24505
You’re correct about un-financial owners being unable to vote at a General Meeting, however attendance either in person or by proxy by just two (2) of the three (3) remaining financial owners of your Plan would be sufficient for any vote requiring a decision by a simple majority (show of hands) to be legally taken.
So the vote taken at the General Meeting to which you refer was legal, although….. as it was about the recovery of your unpaid contributions plus the prescribed rate of 10% pa interest (i.e. ≈0.8% per month on the amount then outstanding), together with the Owners Corporation’s costs of recovering its debt, no General Meeting was actually necessary as the Executive Committee or the Strata Manager if so delegated could have themselves made that decision.
What to do now?
Despite your post’s title of “bankruptcy” I’ll assume that you haven’t made that declaration, so the Owners Corporation’s legal action will likely result in a letter to you from its Lawyer or Debt Collection Agency, where your previous demonstrated efforts to pay-down your debt will no doubt work in your favour.
So when you receive that correspondence undertake to pay your next contributions installment on-time, and make an offer to repay whatever amount is then outstanding over whatever timeframe you can safely manage, and then see what happens.
I suspect that nothing will happen, because I doubt that your Owners Corporation or their Lawyer/Debt Collection Agency would bother to pursue you through the Courts for the earlier repayment of an amount of $3,700.00.
But in the event that something further is initiated, or if by some chance you have declared bankruptcy, then again speak with your solicitor or to the Australian Financial Security Authority about your overall situation.
20/02/2016 at 9:08 am #24487I have paid the levy due for january quarter but the strata manager is the one attempting to take bankruptcy against me and he is not informing the other owners that the arrears have been paid done. He said at the meeting that he had no knowledge of any payments made from his solicitor but this is incorrect as the solicitor was informed of this straight away and received copies of the receipts showing amounts. The strata manager is the one that is be devious and misleading and doing everything in an attempt to have me gone from the building. Also as I mentioned 1 owner is unfinancial but no legal action has been taken against her as she is considered “quiet” yet I have been labelled a troublemaker and been made a example of as I asked too many questions and made the manager look like an idiot.
Is the strata manager allowed to carry on like this and is it even legal?
20/02/2016 at 11:05 am #24488I don’t see why the managing agent or the OC would be pursuing this overzealously. In the longer term, it is not in anyone’s interests to have levies unpaid and for debts to grow. However, on the face of it, jpsblue75 is making progress paying off the debt and in the meantime the OC is benefitting from better interest on the arrears than they could get if the levies had been paid on time and were sitting in the OC’s bank account.
Since it seems to be a small OC, I suggest the best course of action is to speak directly to as many as possible of the other 5 owners, or write them a letter. I would explain to them that you are catching up your levies with the payments you can manage on a regular schedule and the OC as a whole is benefitting to some extend from interest in the meantime. Given that good behaviour on your part, I doubt any legal action would succeed. As an owner you should be able to see what costs are involved in taking that legal action and you might be able to persuade your neighbours that they are better off if you are left to continue working off the debt.
That said, there is a statutory debt to the OC they they could enforce with a debt collector if you did not stick to a reasonable repayment schedule.
21/02/2016 at 4:03 am #24511i have attempted to speak to the owners through mediation but they refused and i have since found out that this is thanks to 1 tenant that is a proxy for the owners she has been talking to them and portraying her lifestyle onto me and spreading innuendo and lies. As for the rest that Peter mentions I am making every attempt to lower the debt but the strata manager has not informed the owners of any payments made. His comment was ” I have not received any information for anyone about any payment” and this incorrect as emails were sent to him, his accounts dept and all owners from me after i received a email from my solicitor informing the owners corp’s solicitor of payments made and copies of receipts i had given. However, i think that they all deleted my email to them without reading and the solicitor has not informed the manager of payment. Thus giving the owners corp the impression that the debt still stands at the original amount of around $12,000 and this is misleading. The strata manager i been told by many people is annoyed that i basically questioned him and talked back. I am pretty sure that i have this right and that the manager works for the owners not the other way around. This manager is out of control and a megalomaniac, narcissistic individual. If anyone else reads this, have they encountered a similar person or situation can you advise me on what to do? Yes i thought of the tribunal but have been unsuccessful in the past but will try to attempt again. Mediation isn’t an option as the owners are now convinced I am the root of evil and must be shunned thanks to the strata manager’s and a owner’s proxy manipulation and lies.
21/02/2016 at 10:56 am #24513Just an idea:
Perhaps a very short letter to each owner, on paper, not email, along the following lines:
Dear Neighbour,
I expect you are aware that I am in arrears with my owners corporation levies. However, I am concerned that some of you might not have been informed that I have been making regular repayments to reduce this debt from a high of about $12,000 XXX months ago and now my debt is reduced to $XXX.
I am conscious that the owners corporation needs to have levies paid to meet its various expenses and I am keen to eliminate my debt as quickly as I can manage. Owners might also not be aware that under strata legislation, arrears attract interest that is rather higher than the OC could receive from any bank deposit. Consequently, although the present situation is not ideal and I am working to remedy that, the OC will come out ahead in the end.
Regards,
I doubt that a paper letter will go unread if you keep it brief and only make these few factual points. If need be it could be followed up later with more detail or discussion about the managing agent, but for now, I suggest the short letter might cut through any disinformation or lack of information. If anyone demands proof of payments etc. then that is good because they have started talking again and you can send them a photocopy of your receipts.
Good Luck.
21/02/2016 at 11:01 am #24514PS. If your financial situation is not too dire, could you get a loan to pay off the levy arrears? The interest on that loan would be less than you have to pay to the OC.
More generally, I think there are services that will assist to consolidate debts into a single loan with lower interest than you would pay for OC arrears, credit cards and so on. I don’t know more than that so can’t advise further, but I am pretty sure such things exist.
22/02/2016 at 10:36 am #24522You know that in this type of situation an owner can put a resolution to the owners corporation to agree to a payment plan in relation to the unpaid levies? This can include waiving some or all of the interest where someone is in a difficult situation.
In relation to the resolution to take legal action – I just wonder if misleading information was provided in relation to the resolution (that is – it represented that a much higher amount was outstanding), whether the resolution would be valid. It is a legal issue so would be a pain in the neck to pursue, but just a thought.
It never bothers me that much if people are behind, as long as they are paying, after all the OC is getting the interest.
23/02/2016 at 10:57 am #24530The strata manager has never informed the owners corp that any payments have been made and i have now lowered the amount to around $3,400. The strata manager claims to have NO knowledge and was NOT informed by anyone including the solicitor (acting on behalf of the owners), who was informed by my solicitor and sent a copy of all receipts. The strata manager is a megalomaniac and out of control. I am not trying to be a victim nor stir up trouble but I have done all the right things and still being penalised for some unknown reason. The building has 5 owners, 1 owner overseas and not interested, 2 owners including myself as residents and 2 owners interstate. I am the only taking any interest and asking questions and making “noise”. The owners past and present refuse to communicate even with mediation. The other owners blindly follow whatever the strata manager says and it is usually with out following legislation or any merit.
Where i am this strata manager thinks he is god and with only 4-5 strata management companies in the area, people are stuck between a rock and a hard place and not open to choice and thanks to gossip between managers word gets around about a certain client.
23/02/2016 at 10:23 pm #24533Does your executive committee have a treasurer or is all delegated to the strata manager? In any case, a question you could put to the EC is “What do the OC records show of my arrears?”
As treasurer of our OC, if an owner asked me about his or her arrears, I would be able to quickly give an answer of what the managing agent’s records show – I can access the unit balance list electronically. If the amount was not what you thought, then I would strongly recommend taking that specific point up with the managing agent. They should be able to reconcile their records with your receipts.
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