Compulsory Strata Managers – the nuclear option

Hey Guys,

Just an update on where things are at. It’s quite a process. We have had our directionals hearing and have a hearing date in November. NCAT referred me to lawyers in Marrickville who gave some input for free. That was very helpful.

It’s not very clear how much evidence you need to gather for these things but a lawyer friend of mine told me to put together a timeline of events that can be referred to which I did. Having clear reasons for seeking the appointment was another and the timeline is there in case you need to show a series of events that link to evidence such as emails within an annexure. The timeline really helped uncover things I had forgotten or had not seen previously.

I really did not want to go this route but it’s just very obvious nothing will get done. One of the owners indicated he will be moving and things will probably get repaired once he leaves. Another owner told me the same and said I should wait before pursuing matters.  I called around and spoke to about 8 managers who do offer compulsory appointments. One of them actually said its something they like to do as it’s quite lucrative. I was quite shocked by that.

The new agent who was signed on said during the EGM he was getting worried and may not be able to represent us if they didn’t seem to be making decisions. It’s very unfortunate. I’m about 30 years younger than most of the owners in this small complex and for the most part seen as a trouble maker as I’m asking for the buildings to be inspected.

They really are completely clueless about their responsibility to each other’s common property. It’s like watching a train about to crash and nobody is trying to stop the train.  We have about $40K in confirmed damage and in two years’ time, we need $20,000 to paint the complex. My ultimate goal is to get everything done so they have no decisions to make.

It’s so incredibly political and completely toxic and logic is completely gone because it has gotten so personal. They do not want to meet and discuss and plan prior to AGM’s & EGM’s and are constantly confused during the meetings because they didn’t prepare in advance.

During the meetings they ask for more quotes and more information and then we wait another 6 months and again nothing is determined. For these reasons and many more, I think compulsory is the only way to go in this case. Just hope the hours I put into this NCAT documentation don’t go to waste.