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  • #8606
    Felix
    Flatchatter

      Have recently been talking to someone at Fair Trading and others.

      There seems to be a disagreement as to who is able to lodge an application to the CTTT.

      Some people say it should be done by an Owner. Yet Fair Trading advises that a  person having an estate or interest in a lot of the Strata Scheme concerned may make an application

      Can someone please advise how you interpret this?

      It could be a common law partner perhaps or a partner or spouse of a lot Owner who is an Occupant or even a Mistress or whatever you call the men.

      We’re having trouble trying to figure this out .

      Help!!

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    • #17429
      Jimmy-T
      Keymaster

        A complaint can be raised by an owner, co-owner, tenant, director in a company that’s an owner and (I think) a mortgagee and a ‘convenant chargee’ (whatever that is).

        If a wife*, lover, ex, bestie, parent, sibling or child isn’t on the Strata Roll, then they would have to establish their proprietorial status through another court first.

        In NSW, even the co-owner who is named second on the roll has slightly less standing that the co-owner who is named first, so someone who isn’t named at all, either on the roll or contractually (like a tenant) has Buckley’s chance.

        *I’ve actually corrected this in a more recent post (above) – a spouse who is also an occupant of the lot is probably considered an “Interested Person” under that Act and therefore has the right to take action related to the management of the strata scheme.  But someone in an informal relationship and, especially, who is not an occupant of the scheme, would have to prove by some other means that they had a right to be heard – JT.

        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.
        #17458
        Felix
        Flatchatter
        Chat-starter

          When Jimmy says one would have to go to another court first to gain a favourable status, what does he mean?

          There is a situation in our strata where an occupant has been an occupier for 40 years with their spouse,  and has served on the EC for more than half that time, and an officer of the EC for most of that time.

          The ownership of the apartment is in the spouse’s name.

          The occupant would like to make an application to the CTTT for a compulsory strata manager without other Owners being involved, including the spouse.

          The occupant is having difficulty trying to understand how a tenant can make an application to the CTTT, who may have been a tenant for a very short time, while it doesn’t appear that the occupant , with their long history of the Strata, cannot.

          Can some one please advise on this and can the occupant do it another way?

          #17460
          Jimmy-T
          Keymaster


            @Felix
            said:
            When Jimmy says one would have to go to another court first to gain a favourable status, what does he mean?

            What I meant to say – and would have if spellcheck hadn’t led me up the garden path – was that if there is a claim of co-ownership on a property by someone who is not clearly a co-owner (such as anyone in an informal relationship with the owner of the lot)  that has to be determined elsewhere before it can be considered for inclusion on the strata roll.

            However the strata Act does allow for an “Interested Person” to run cases related to the management of a building at the CTTT. Included in the definitions of  ‘Interested Person” is this:

            interested person, in relation to a freehold strata scheme, means … an owner of a lot in, a person having an estate or interest in a lot in, or an occupier of a lot in, the strata scheme.

            So I was wrong to say that people had to be on the strata roll to be able to run a case at the CTTT.  If they are an occupier and, as a spouse, a co-owner by default if not actually registered on the strata roll, I would think they would be an “interested person” on two counts.  Apologies for the bum steer.

            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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