- This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 10 months ago by .
-
Topic
-
I am an owner of a townhouse in a block of two which was under self management but became strata managed to resolve a common boundary fence issue. The SM resolved this problem thro legal action and I was hoping to return to self management but this wasn’t possible. Due to an altercation with the owners of the other townhouse and insufficient levies the SM received a successful full management order from a tribunal hearing resulting in special levies and a high increase in strata levies. The strata quarterly levy has increased from $400 to $850 and due to the tribunal hearing neither owner is able to attend the AGM or complain about the high increase. As my townhouse is only valued at approx. $300,000 & I am on the disability pension is there any course of action that would be worthwhile. Also removing strata management appears hopeless when the other owners will not agree to it.
Many thanks for any help.
-
Replies
-
This is a very good example of how a statutorily appointed manager can be a double edged sword. While owners corps can, to some extent, pay fast and loose with their responsibilities, Strata Managers have a legal responsibility to do the right thing and therefore tend to err on the side of over-servicing rather than under-servicing. And remember, things haven’t been done properly or they wouldn’t be there so they know that there is a level of scrutiny.
Your best if not only hope is for you and your neighbours to present a united front at the CTTT. If you can’t do that, the CTTT would be very unlikely to remove the order since the fundamental problem clearly still exists.
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.
@JimmyT said:
Your best if not only hope is for you and your neighbours to present a united front at the CTTT.There are some things about this story which are not clear and I suspect that the problem may be that meganpepi and the neighbours cannot present a united front.
1) Who had the altercation with the neighbours, you or the SM?
2) Is the boundary fence between your lot and your neighbour’s lot, or is it between your scheme and another neighbour?
3) Who applied to the CTTT to have a statutory SM appointed, you, your neighbours or the SM?
@meganpepi said:
Also removing strata management appears hopeless when the other owners will not agree to it.Sounds like the neighbour is happy with the SM.
meganpepi – if you have had a full management order from the Tribunal then there must have been some serious issues with the management/administration of your plan. This is not the type of order that is given lightly, and the Tribunal needs to be satisfied that essentially the plan/scheme is not functioning, especially if full orders are made, which means that all power was taken away from the owners.
If there were insufficient levies then that also had to be rectified. In the general scheme of things $1700 a quarter in total is not a huge amount of money, although of course if the scheme were self-managed then you wouldn’t be paying a strata manager. We don’t know what other issues there were or are that require the increase in levies.
It also seems from what you have said that the other owner instigated the application for an order for a compulsory strata manager. They must have, as no-one else has standing to request such an order (well ok they might, but it would be unusual).
I think you are correct – at present you will not be able to remove the strata manager. You don’t say how long their appointment is for, but you will need to wait at least until that lapses.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.