Can SC members be sued by the OC?

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  • 08/10/2023 at 12:36 am #70565
    TrulEConcerned
    Flatchatter

      Greetings all,

      Has any OC had success in suing a strata committee member or former member for acting in a way that NCAT agreed was “not in good faith”? I refer to the following section of the SSM Act

      STRATA SCHEMES MANAGEMENT ACT 2015 – SECT 260
      Personal liability of officers of owners corporations and others
      260 Personal liability of officers of owners corporations and others

      If so, what liability was sheeted home to the SC member?

       

       

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    • 11/10/2023 at 6:32 am #70588
      kaindub
      Flatchatter

        Just because NCATsays their behaviour is not in good faith is not enough to take action.

        There is a level of proof required to get a prosecution. Remember thst it’s going to be a civil case. Who is going to pay the legal bills?
        For the OC to engage lawyers requires a resolution at a general meeting. Maybe other owners are not thst keen to spend the money

        Also the committee member may call on the OC insurance to indemnify their legal costs. They then have deep pockets, and deep pockets often win court cases.

        So whilst technically it’s possible to sue a committee member, there are a number of obstructions in the way.

        My advice always to people considering litigation is do you want to recover a loss, or do you just want to be right.

        Even if you win the former, their can be a high emotional and monetary cost.

        17/10/2023 at 11:42 pm #70738
        TrulEConcerned
        Flatchatter
        Chat-starter

          Thanks Kaindub, much appreciated.

          My aim is to recover losses to the OC both historic and ongoing, see below.

          In my case it’s going after a former committee member who cannot call on the insurance policy cover that current committee members can when sued.

          Of course it makes sense if the expected sum obtained via legal action exceeds the cost of the legal action. One ongoing cost for the OC  is that he handcuffed the OC to a strata manager of his choosing who is expensive, unresponsive and unaware of the SSM Act. And did so after he already sold his lot.

          The strata mgr is not keen on transparency. Recently when I asked to access the strata records, for which the SSM Act allows access to ALL the records for a nominal fee, the strata mgr replied that I will be billed $49 for every document I wish to view other than my levy ledger.

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