Flat Chat Strata Forum Living in strata Current Page

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  • #8600
    Felix
    Flatchatter

      Reluctantly this is being considered due to a dysfunctional executive committee at present, the lack of young people to be able to serve on future executive committees and looking to the future it appears that this dysfunctional committee might continue to be elected.

      Do you have any managing agents that you know of who might specialize in this function.  I realize that you will probably suggest firms who support your Forum.  However there must be others who could give guidance in applying the application to the CTTT.  Someone applying may be a bit too windy whereas we would want it to be accurate and to the point.

      We also realise that some firms might not wish to be involved in this subject, however we feel that the OC should be protected and that the EC should be acting on behalf of the OC ,who elected them, and not just for their own agendas

      There are numerous points to be made over a few years and clearly the Strata Act has not been followed properly.

      Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

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    • #17398
      Jimmy-T
      Keymaster

        Yes, I would recommend Strata Choice, not so much because they are sponsors, but the other way round – they are sponsors because they are the kind of people I would recommend.

        But really, you first of all need to think about what you want and bear in mind the “compulsory” appointment doesn’t compel a strata m,anager to do the job – you have to have a strata manager lined up and ready to do it before the CTTT will issue the order.

        So you need to shop around and find a strata manager who:

        a) will accept the job

        b) understands what your problems are and knows how to fix them

        c) is appropriate for your building.

        If yours is a small building you may not get a strata manager who’s prpared to take on that level of hassle for the limited fees available.  A small local independent operator may then be the best bet.

        If your building is large, you may want a strata management firm with serious heft that can deal with any heavy-duty opposition that might arise (did anyone say owners who are lawyers?).

        One thing you do need is for any strata manager you employ to be a member of Strata Community Australia, the strata manager’s professional body.  Apart from Strata Choice at the top of this page and SrataRes at the bottom, I would happily recommend Strata Plus, Dynamic, O’Connors and McCormacks (off the top of my head).  

        The critical thing is that you need to know what you want them to do and then be convinced that they will do it. They only way you can find that out is by talking to them.

        Meanwhile, if anyone else has any positive recommendations they want to make, feel free to hop in.

        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.
        #17402
        Paul2000
        Flatchatter

          It really is very difficult to find a good managing agent and the only satisfactory way is by referral, as Jimmy states.

          We moved into our 4 lot block, 18 years ago and had to put up with the most useless manager you could imagine. He regarded me as “difficult” because I tended to question him on basic things such as building maintenance and the incorrect drafting of accounts. Shortly after we moved in we were given a notice of the balance of a special levy which had been raised and which had not previously been properly recorded! We didn’t raise a fuss as we wanted to start off on the right foot and not antagonise our new neighbours. Silly us! We had water running into our upstairs cupboard because of a problem with the sealing of the penthouse verandah above. This took 6 months to resolve because he just ignored all our requests. He then sent out a letter one day saying that he had consulted with his engineer (at a fee of $800.00) and that the verandah etc needed repair and that he had approved a firm to do the work at a cost of around $15,000. We we were smartly on the phone and told him that the EC had not approved the work and that it wasn’t happening. I then obtained an independant contractor who did the work for $1,400. After numerous other problems with accounting errors etc I lodged a complaint with Fair Trading which was upheld as he was in numerous breaches of the Act and we were able to get rid of him.

          The replacement agent from a large firm in Crows Nest were also not so bright. They charged for everything you could imagine, storage of documents,  phone calls, postage, stationery etc but were unable to pay tradesmen so that we were receiving letters of intent to sue for non payment. The person doing the accounts could not balance and the budget was a joke. After 2 years of this nonsense we decided to manage it ourselves and have never looked back. I am secretary and we have money in the bank, have organised tenders and managed a large repainting project with no hassles. I do the accounts and banking and everyone is happy. There is a bit of work to do and organise but one other owner and I do it all with no difficulty. One owner is in dreamland and wouldn’t lift a finger to help and the other owner is an absentee landlord who doesn’t want to spend any money (tough on that – majority rules!). 

          So if you have the expertise you might want to do it yourself but in some places, taking into account the personalities involved, you might want to have a competent external firm do the work. At least that way you don’t have to personally harangue your neighbour for late payment of levies.

          Good luck

          #17407
          Whale
          Flatchatter

            As a Member of an Owners Corporation who moved to self-management years ago, I agree with Paul2000, but I also agree with Jimmy T‘s suggestion that you need to find a Strata Manager that’s appropriate for your Plan.

            “Appropriate” predominately relates to the size of your Plan; ours is 27 Lots and on the basis of experience that’s about as many as I (as Secretary and all ’round dogs-body) could manage – properly.

            At least one of the Strata Management Companies that Jimmy T‘s mentioned offers a Record Keeping Strata Agreement, where they handle all the paperwork like legislative compliance  budgets, agendas, minutes, levy invoices, work orders, and paying the bills, and that leaves the Owners Corporation, and more specifically its Executive Committee, to fully control all the day-to-day maintenance, repair, and relationship issues at its Plan.

            So now you have three choices, to:

            1. select a competent Strata Manager from the names provided and negotiate a full-service Strata Management Agency Agreement;
            2. move to self-managemnt and do it all yourselves, or;
            3. select a competent Strata Manager, negotiate a Record Keeping Strata Agreement, and do the rest yourselves.

            What a great and useful Forum this is!!!

            #17408
            Felix
            Flatchatter
            Chat-starter

              The Strata in question is only slightly larger than yours and while the record keeping agreement is interesting it doesn’t overcome the dysfunctional EC making decisions that are contrary to the Strata Act.

              Jimmy suggests that a small independent operator may be the best bet and maybe that’s the way to go.  We have gone that way in the past and we’ve found that the service from the small operator suited us better than a large firm.

              If the application is made to the CTTT by one owner and the CTTT makes their decision, is that decision final or does it have to be approved by the OC ?

              #17412
              scotlandx
              Strataguru

                In answer to your question Felix where the CTTT makes an order to appoint a compulsory managing agent, no ratification by the OC is necessary, it is out of their hands, refer below.

                I think we had the same managing agent in Crows Nest as Paul2000, they were a disaster.  I won’t go into what occurred, but the ramifications of one of their misdeeds are still being dealt with two years on.  Prior to that we had a sole operator in the Eastern suburbs who lied to us, and before that a very large, very well known organisation, also disastrous. 

                We now have a small independent outfit based in Mascot and we are very happy with them – they are professional and honest, and to me that is very important.

                On the subject of applying for an order to appoint a compulsory managing agent – the hurdles for granting this type of order are high, because in doing that the CTTT is removing basic property rights.  You need to satisfy the Tribunal that the owners corporation is not functioning, i.e. that is unable or unwilling to make decisions necessary for the proper functioning of the OC, which may include compliance with the Act.  Examples include where the OC is not meeting/refusing to meet its obligations under section 62.  It isn’t enough to say that you don’t like how it is functioning, or you are unhappy with decisions that it has made. 

                An order can take a number of forms and give a range of powers – so the CTTT may decide that the appointed agent is to take on all the functions of the EC, in which case they can unilaterally decide to undertake works, or they may decide that the agent only has the powers of the owners corporation for matters such as setting levies.  The CTTT does like to have options for appointment of an agent, so you may need to provide the name of more than one, three is a good number.

                None of the above is legal advice, I have never been in the position of having to make this kind of application but have had experience of it in another context!

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