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Good day one ‘n all,
I recently applied to NCAT for a short menu of orders. After looking into the substance of the claims, NCAT gave me a hearing date. Note in the past a hearing date was offered swiftly after lodging a claim. Now it seems NCAT wants to satisfy itself that the claim has legs. A good thing too!
My queries are as follows:
(1) Must a strata mgr or committee inform ALL owners of a NCAT dispute for which a hearing date has been set? I ask because in one strata I deal with, the agent has not included my application on his portal or the letter from NCAT inviting the OC to attend in January. The agent has not mentioned the matter in any email circulars. This means all those other than the mgr, the SC members and me have no idea what’s going on (but all will be impacted); and
(2) Must a strata mgr or committee mention in any submission to the STRATA HUB my NCAT application against the OC? Must the STRATA HUB be informed about an owner’s complaint to NSW Fair Trading against the strata mgr? Or can these matters be concealed from the STRATA HUB? I ask because in my case, I complained to NSW FT about the agent’s conduct; NSW FT replied that my claim has legs and will follow up with the strata mgr (but not tell me of the outcome of their actions, if any, against the strata mgr) and a few weeks after my application to NSW FT, out of the blue the strata mgr resigned as mgr of our scheme. Surely other stratas should be informed of what if anything NSW FT found and did regarding my claim. Or are other strata schemes to be left in the dark?
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hi,
It seems there’s been no replies to this question!
I have same issue. The Strata Manager (SM) did NOT inform all the lot owners that a lot owner had applied for an NCAT hearing last year.
Another NCAT hearing has been lodged and accepted last week, and a directions hearing date has been slated for the new year.
It seems that it is in fact a requirement under the Strata Schemes Management Act (SMAA) that the Owners Corporation (OC) be required to inform lot owners of any action, but I cannot seem to find anything specific in the SSMA
Reading the Far Trading NSW website:
What happens next
Strata and community schemes cases are first listed for directions. Check the notice of hearing from NCAT and follow the instructions provided. If your case is not resolved at the first hearing it may be listed for a contested hearing on a later date.
Read the hearing preparation checklist to prepare for your hearing.
In strata and community schemes cases, NCAT sends a copy of the application to the parties and to the owners corporation. The owners corporation is required to give a copy of the application to all lot owners or members of the association except for penalty applications.
Why question is firstly, what are the timeframes in which the OC are required to inform lot owners about an NCAT application, and secondly, what penalties can be issued, and are they issued to the SM, or the OC? and how can this complaint be made?
TimSP, I suggest you call ncat not FT and ask them how to compel the strata mgr to circulate your ncat application to all lot owners.
Ask ncat what can be done about the strata mgr and OC ignoring their obligations under the SSM Act in this regard.
TimSP, I suggest you call ncat not FT and ask them how to compel the strata mgr to circulate your ncat application to all lot owners. Ask ncat what can be done about the strata mgr and OC ignoring their obligations under the SSM Act in this regard.
I would bet all the toys under my Christmas tree that NCAT (the A-G’s department) will say this is strata, therefore it’s a Fair Trading issue and Fair Trading will say it’s NCAT, not them. How do I know this? Because I have heard it so many times myself.
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.
TimSP, I suggest you call ncat not FT and ask them how to compel the strata mgr to circulate your ncat application to all lot owners.
Ask ncat what can be done about the strata mgr and OC ignoring their obligations under the SSM Act in this regard.
Thanks @shortcrust. having dealt with NCAT numerous times, they aren’t in the habit of giving out advice or legal advice freely! I have found FT more giving and helpful (really depends who you get on the phone!) , but, can only quote from the legislation.
(1) Must a strata mgr or committee inform ALL owners of a NCAT dispute for which a hearing date has been set?;
Yes. Read Section 228 Notice of Applications to Tribunal (2) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW). I copy / pasted the paragraph here:
(2) On receipt of an application, an owners corporation given notice of an application for an order must—
(a) immediately cause a copy of the application to be prominently displayed on any notice board required to be maintained by or under the by-laws on some part of the common property, and
(b) so display the copy for the period specified in the notice for the making of submissions, and
(c) immediately serve a copy of the application on each owner of a lot in the strata scheme except an owner who is a named party to the application.(2) Must a strata mgr or committee mention in any submission to the STRATA HUB my NCAT application against the OC? Must the STRATA HUB be informed about an owner’s complaint to NSW Fair Trading against the strata mgr? Or can these matters be concealed from the STRATA HUB?
No. No. Yes. I logged into my Strata Hub account. I see no place for NCAT actions to be recorded. Here is a link to NSW Government page showing what kind of information is accessible to owners: Read under “who will have access to this information”.
Strata Hub is new. They added some new things in the past year. I think it would be a great idea to have NCAT applications (past and present) documented. However, there could be a privacy issue.
In my experience (Victoria( i think that owners know if there is a VCAT hearing when they are told there will be a Special Levy. No details however were given in my experience.
Firstly, just becuase the FT website says the OC has to do something does not make it mandatory.
There is a difference between should and must. To support the must case one needs to find part of the act which says so. (I cant find any part of the act that says that NCAT notice must be sent to all owners. JT correct me if I’m wrong)
Secondly, how did it get to a situation where the owners don’t know that they’re going to NCAT.
Whilst the strata manager usually receives the notices, they are not obliged to do anything but pass it on to the committee. The committee then decides at a committee meeting what steps to take to address the notice. This is done at a properly convened committee meeting, with an agenda thats sent to all owners. The result of the meeting is also sent to all owners.
It seems from the original post that its likely that the committee are trying to wash over this thing at NCAT by keeping the owners in the dark. In my opinion thats bad practice and tells me that the committee has something to hide. Remember that the strata manager is instructed by the committee so its not likely they are doing this of their own bat (though if they are you have an incompetent strata manager)
Proceed to NCAT and see if you can get an order for your costs. When the other owners find that they are footing legal bills for dubious actions, they may tweek to the fact that the current committee is inept.
Ultimately all issues come back to owners to decide what they want to do. In my strata a number of owners were unhappy with what our SC was doing so we wrote to all other owners setting out our concerns and what we thought the solutions were. While you can try and use NCAT and FT to address issues, it’s a lot of work without any certainty where it will lead, and can take a lot of time as well. So best to go to those who decides who runs your strata – the owners. We were surprised and encouraged by the amount of support we received from owners. So get your strata roll and start talking with other owners. We had support to essentially remove the previous SC that was the problem and vote in a group of owners to get our OC back on to a solid footing. And keep owners informed about what is going on and ask for their views – good communication and democracy in action are powerful things!
I cant find any part of the act that says that NCAT notice must be sent to all owners. JT correct me if I’m wrong
This edited from Tina’s last post:
Section 228 Notice of Applications to Tribunal (2) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW). On receipt of an application, an owners corporation given notice of an application for an order must… immediately serve a copy of the application on each owner of a lot in the strata scheme except an owner who is a named party to the application.
Looks like a compulsion to serve the notice, by whatever means.
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.
Penalties are only possible when there is a little subparagrapgh under the relevant section of legislation stating “Maximum penalty – x penalty units” There is nothing section 228 – Notice of Applications to Tribunal.
Just adding my voice as an owner and applicant in a strata scheme whereby a copy of an application (and orders) is never provided “immediately”. It eventually gets distributed but it can take a couple of months and even more. NCAT isn’t interested seeing it as a minor procedural matter unrelated to the “real issues in dispute”….whatever that really means.
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