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Good day all,
A couple did a strata search in their process of buying.
They were unhappy with the very few documents they obtained as they had queries regarding some meetings in recent years which they were made aware of by a friend who then lived in the building.
My question is: who is responsible for the missing/lost/stolen documents?
My money is not on the agent as he’s relatively new. He, I suspect has possession only of those documents he was given.
I told the couple to insist on the documents from SC members, some of which have been in the job for a decade and should – if they are responsible adults – have their own hard copies of documents or at least electronic copies. So far they were told by 2 SC members that “we delegated functions to the agent including storing documents, so we don’t keep any”. Frankly I think that’s inexcusable. How on earth can those members make future decisions on the same issue w/out earlier paperwork?
Are the SC members above guilty of acting in bad faith? What action can the couple (or any current owner) take against the SC or OC to compel them to pony up the allegedly missing documents?
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This topic can be a two edge sword depending on where you sit
In my experience its not uncommon for records to go missing. The act for many years has said that minutes of meetings are to be kept in a minute book. Most schemes I found have these books. If the meetings were convened correctly and minutes recorded correctly, these will contain ALL th decisions made by the owners and the committee.
But we all know that a lot of decisions are made informally , years ago by phone or hallway conversations (or letter), these days by email.
The former were often not captured; not passed on or too voluminous to keep.
With emails , strata managers and committees use different software and storage means. So at hand over time, its often the case that email systems are incompatible. Additionally if the emails can be transferred, they are not catalogued in any meaningful way
So the moral of the story is to make all decisions at properly convened meetings, and record them and keep them in a minute repository
The double edge sword is that in an argument (whether permission was given to use common property) the source of knowledge will be the minutes.
However if you are the recipient of such a permission, then I would highly recommend keeping your own copy of the correspondence , whether it is a minute record, or just an email.
VIC – Company Title
My experience has been that the paper AGMs show that the SM company is constant with name changes on the way. The SM company does not have copies of the AGMs but it is the Owners Corporation that is meant to ensure that any Minutes and Resolutions are meant to be recorded in the Minute Book.How long are these Minutes/Resolutions meant to be kept?
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