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MY QUESTION IS WHAT IS THE CORRECT PROCESS TO REMOVE A CURRENT STRATA MANAGEMENT COMPANY AND THEN REPLACE WITH A NEW ONE ?
2HILLS
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Put a motion to a general meeting to engage a different manager. Check how much notice is required to be given to the current manager in the contract and do your homework to see that you would not be going to a worse manager.
In the past our Strata in NSW consisting of 32 units has asked the EC to have a committee of 3 interview a few potential strata managers. The 3 do not have to be members of the present EC and in fact prefer they not be on the committee as they do not have much experience in this area.
Some Owners would prefer a committee recommend a new strata manager or stick with the old before going to an annual meeting which will be occurring very shortly.
Should a motion be put before a general meeting by an individual to engage a different manager may result in the motion not being given proper consideration for various reasons.
One being different factions could go against an individual whereby if a manager has been suggested by an independent committee, the motion may be given more thought and voted on accordingly.
Unfortunately, most Owners don’t know what’s going on with the performance of the strata manager and how helpful they are to the EC and if they are advising the EC correctly.
What would you suggest under these circumstances?
It really doesn’t matter who puts forward any new Strata Manager at the EGM as long as there is a motion on the agenda to appoint that managing agent. There is no restrictions on who within the OC can put forward a Strata Manager, any owner entitled to vote can submit a motion on the agenda of an EGM, that includes to appoint a new managing agent.
I don’t think you need a special ‘committee’ to obtain quotes from various strata managers, the EC can certainly do that. Just remember it will be up to all of the owners at the EGM as to which Managing Agent is chosen. In my view forming an ‘independent committee’ may be pointless, as the EC or any owner can recommend a Strata Manager.
Get your executive committee to start looking first. Once found lodge a item on the agenda for egm or next agm which ever is faster.
It’s what my EC did.
Hi. We have got the the point of holding an EGM and “appointing” a new Strata Manager, and we have sent a copy of the minutes of that EGM to then old SM to inform them of the decision and instruct them to hand the books over to the new SM.
However, the old SM has not even bothered to acknowledge they have received the EGM minutes let alone advise that the books will indeed be passed on.
What do we do in this situation? Is the next point of recourse simple to contact Fair Trading and have them ‘counsel’ the old SM and ask them to hand the books over? Is there anything else we can do?
If in doubt, see what the law says:
37 Procedure for requiring information from strata managing agent
(1) A requirement for information by an owners corporation under this Division must be made by notice in writing served on the strata managing agent.
(2) The notice must specify a member of the executive committee to whom the information is to be delivered.
(3) The strata managing agent must comply with the notice by providing a written statement, containing the information required, within 7 days after service of the notice.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.(4) A person is not guilty of failing to comply with a notice under this section if reasonable cause for the failure is shown.
(5) A strata managing agent must not knowingly provide information that is false or misleading in a material particular in a statement delivered in response to a notice under this section.
Maximum penalty (subsection (5)): 20 penalty units.If you haven’t already done so, follow the procedure above, sending the letter by recorded delivery. Inform them that if they don’t comply with seven days you will apply to NCAT to impose a fine of up to $2200 under paragraph 3. And you will be raising a complaint at Fair Trading.
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.
This is not relating to a change of Managing Agents but rather a change of the manager of the Agency managing our building.
One of our Owners, on his own , contacted a family member of the principles of the Managing Agent firm of our Strata Plan to appoint a different manager of our scheme. The family member is an employee of our Managing Agent.
Our Owner, who asked for a change, was not a member of the EC at the time.
The change was made by the Managing Agent but a lot of our Owners wanted a more senior representative for our Strata Plan but the Owners had no say in the matter and we have a new manager with less time with the company than our previous manager.
Can anything be done about this or are we stuck with this arrangement, bearing in mind those who disagree may not have the numbers.
Generally, you are stuck with whoever the company gives you. However, in this instance, I would say the EC could point out the potential for the appearance of a conflict of interest and ask to have a different staff member appointed to manage your property. You could note that this would be in the interests of both the management company and the OC. It might be courteous to note that you do not suggest that the staff member has acted inappropriately or that you are dissatisfied with that person’s performance.
Once the EC has gathered quotes/services of say 3 strata managing companies, then lodged it as an item at the AGM with the current strata manager attending? Do we then need to get the strata roll and inform all owners of the 3 choices and ask everyone to approve?
Or is it like when the EC was given the quotes comparison of strata building insurance companies by our SM and simply asked to make our choice.
The EC or any owner can put forward a new strata company, as long as it is recorded at a AGM or GM, just the EC can approve the choice and proceed with the changeover?
Is there possibly an EC in the ACT who is at least satisfied with their strata company, any recommendations of perhaps a smaller outfit or even independent manager to look after a 36 unit complex? I read Transparent Facilities Mgmt was perfect for a small NSW complex, wonder if they do the ACT.
We have strolled around our complex with 2 companies so far but it’s good to ask everyone one meets if they know anyone!
With thanks!
The decision to engage a new manager or renew the contract of the old manager is a decision for a general meeting, not the EC. However, it is the job of the EC to do the homework and legwork and make a recommendation and put a motion to the OC at a general meeting. The resolution of the meeting authorises the EC to sign the new contract.
You could put a motion to change to a particular new manager. If it fails the contract with the old manager probably has a clause to go month to month, but you should check.
It is a long time since our OC changed managers but we are about to go out into the market ourselves to see what it is like. We were very pleased with the particular manager we first had at Independent in 2008-9 but she moved to a different position then retired. We had some others who varied from so-so to pretty good. My main complaint is that we seem to have manager changed on us a bit too often – 7 in 8 years. It takes a while for each to get to know how our EC likes to do things. We are quite hands-on so the managing agent really only deals with the mechanical matters of keeping the accounts, paying bills etc.
I suspect that Independent are realising that their customers don’t like the turnover and so have recently moved to having us managed by ‘teams’ albeit with one main person still.
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