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My brother bought a old unit in Melbourne 2 years ago which has rising damp. The previous owner painted up the unit etc and sold it
The body corporate said oh no rising damp has never been in these block of flats. Tenants provided me with a copy of the minutes in 2014 which confirmed a rising damp issue and what the body corporate did to fix the issue and that the building external was painted to cover up the damage on the lower external walls
So the body corporate are lying. I have had a plumber investigate leaks within the apartment and said he found one leak in the shower which he fixed however the rising damp in on every internal wall
2 months later the plumber visited the unit and wrote in his report the moisture reading in all walls has not reduced and that there are no leaks in the unit causing rising damp and that drain it is a body corporate issue
So my question is 1) what do I write to the body corporate as they are playing dumb and 2) what action can I take to get the body corporate to take responsibility ?
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Section 46 of the Owners Corporation Act says quite simply that the OC must maintain and repair common property. Section 5 says its members must act honestly and in good faith.
Armed with those pieces of information, you brother should ask them if they want to do this the easy way – fix the problem – or the hard way: spend thousands of dollars on legal fees fighting it, lose, pay his costs and then fix the problem.
If there’s rising damp in common property walls, they have to fix it. No if, or buts. The fact that they have literally tried to cover it up and lied about it will not stand them in good stead if they decide to fight this at VCAT or in court.
He should give them the option to come up with a guaranteed timeline for investigation and repairs or his next call will be to a strata lawyer.
NB: No work can be carried out in occupied apartment blocks under the current Victorian lockdown restrictions – but that wouldn’t stop them from making provisional appointments subject the the lockdown being lifted.
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.
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