- This topic has 4 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 7 months ago by .
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We are a 10 unit strata in Canberra and I am afraid that I am a little concerned. Sorry for the long post and I would appreciate advice and experiences from others…
We have an owner who has not paid their OC levy for 4 years
Under the previous SM we ran up $30k legal costs to try to recover past levies (about $5k was paid by the OC and the other has been suspended until the bankruptcy is cleared)
The owner has recently been declared bankrupt
We recently changed SM.
The new SM does not seem to be aware of the money that has already been paid … the old and the new SM do not use the same accounting software and
I suspect the handover was not 100% complete.
At the last AGM a 3 person Executive Committee (EC) was elected that appears unaware, uninvolved, and disinterested. e.g.The AGM minutes and budget have not been distributed to all owners within 14 days and they have not followed up on this
The EC has not elected a chair, secretary or treasurer.
They do not appear to want to ask the SM for up to date details on our finances and transactions.Auuuugh!
My questions are (with my current tentative thinking in brackets … please correct me if I am wrong) as follows:
Do we need to have an EC Chair, Treasurer and secretary? (I suspect, YES)
Who is responsible to check that the SM gives accurate information to the bankruptcy trustee when the property is sold? (I think our Treasurer is)
Is the SM liable if we don’t get all the money we are entitled to as part of the bankruptcy e.g. the current SM appears to be unaware that about $5k of legal costs were paid before the debt collection costs were suspended (the SM operates on the info they have … if they don’t know the history, they aren’t liable)
If the SM is not responsible and liable, then who is? (I suspect our EC is responsible for checking the documents that the SM prepares and highlighting any payments they are not aware of…. and if this is not done then our long suffering owners have to wear the cost)
Does the current SM need to provide monthly (or once every 2 or 3 months) statements of OC income and outgoings? The current SM does not provide access to a portal.Again, sorry for lots of questions … and I am interested in what others think… perhaps the conversations can save someone else some grief.
Enjoy your weekend,
Woodwalker- This topic was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by .
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In short, the buck stops with the EC. Yes, they are supposed to elect those office bearers from among their number (one EC member can have more than one executive function). Yes, the treasurer is responsible for those financial matters but the rest of the EC is responsible to oversee the treasurer and ensure that the treasurer’s functions are performed. So, the whole EC is responsible.
If the keeping of accounts is delegated to the strata manager, they should make the accounts available to the EC any time the EC wants to see the financial records. Ultimately, the buck stops with the EC.
With only ten units, I’d suggest that you could knock on the other 6 doors and ask to have a chat about your concerns. If you find a few allies, I would then talk directly to the 3 EC members, knowing and able to say that other OC members share your concerns. If you had 100s of units, it would be harder, but with only 10, I suggest informal face to face discussion is the best place to start.
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