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Strata scheme 50+ units / Nov 2017 OC / minor defect claim in Supreme Court – 3 years and counting / very delayed and protracted expert reports (some 4-5 years after OC) / no exec summary from anyone / massive legal bills / no end in sight? Help?
Really concerned that having a strata committee advised by lawyers, with no focus on achieving an outcome will drag on for years without resolution and cost $1,000s to each unit without the defects having any real negative consequence or materiality.
$400k spent in legal bills to date; all focus on litigation, not identification of key issues and negotiation.
Is there any advocacy organisation that can be inserted into the process to provide some commercial analysis of the process?
No commercial entity would embark on such frivolous unchecked legal spending without first understanding what winning looks like.
Only winners are lawyers and experts IMO – not even sure if anyone mitigating loss for waterproofing issues which have been ongoing for 4+ years – crazy.
- This topic was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by .
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It is similar in Victoria.
The Owners Corporation Act 2006 of Victoria was inserted with a “benefit principle”. Now even basic clearing of blocked sewage still needs going to Tribunal to determine which one owner should pay (It is no more equally divided among all owners but would rather go fully to the few unlucky owners “who benefit the most”). This is no joke and VCAT had made few rulings that look very threatening to simple minded lot owners.
Cui bono? The Lawyers and the Management Corporations in Victoria. A new industry of Owners Corporation Legal Service has popped up; enormous number of new multi-dwelling buildings had sprung up with administrative components of levies being more than double Council rates (taxes by Council). Only the uninformed can be happy paying that much to live in those buildings.
In the long term there would be empty buildings until the laws give back some reasonable rights to lot owners.
Thr solution may be using indirect ownership through a Limited Corporation (like Company Title in the old days) which may make a comeback.
I firmly believe that lawyers love clients who want to “ fight it on the principle”
As pointed out ,litigation can be very expensive and time consuming. If both parties are mature, then a mediated solution will be the quickest and cheapest, and there is no winner or loser.
Strata committees can justify this route ( ie a mediated settlement) because it is the most cost effective for the owners.
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