Negligent agent – but who pays?

Whale said:

I remember the original post, and it's prompted me to now include an objective statement on Lots' condition, purely from a common property / OC's perspective, under Item 18 (other items) in the S109 Certificates that I prepare for our Plan. 

In that way, the Solicitor/Conveyancer acting for the Purchaser/s can appraise their clients accordingly. 

JimmyT said:

QUESTION: I live next door to a unit that has recently sold. Over a ten year period, the property  has been continuously let via one real estate agent.

I went to a recent open inspection and was appalled at the property's condition. In addition to a small part of the hall ceiling falling in, most of the rooms had extensive water damage from the common property deck above.

The Real Estate Agent's selling spiel was that the damage was the responsibility of the Owners Corporation and the new owner would not have to pay for the repairs. Given that the agent never reported any damage to the Owners Corporation, surely the cost of repairs should not rest entirely with us. What are our options? – Tiakei via Flat Chat Forum*.

ANSWER: There's not much you can do now the property's been sold.  You have a duty to maintain and repair common property.  You could try suing the previous owner for contributory negligence but it would probably cost much more than you'd save just by paying for repairs.

However, you could have a detailed (but non-defamatory) report, highlighting the name of the agent, minuted at your next EC meeting and distributed so that other owners know to avoid them.

 *This is an edited version of the original posting you will find here

What we thought would happen, has happened. The new owner, who bought the  unit for investment, has demanded, through his lawyers, for the remedial work to his unit  to be started immediately. The work to his unit is on a long list of remedial work being undertaken, so the OC are inclined to tell him to wait his turn. One of his demands was also for work to be done on what he thinks his parking space, however, this is common property and not on title. He was led to believe by the selling Real Estate agent that it was.