Forum: How SM snaffles frequent flyer points

Casting my eye back over the past two decades of writing about strata, I was reminded of how a simple question on an email led to strata law being changed here in NSW and eventually across Australia.

You can read all about it HERE. And that’s my way of saying, it doesn’t matter how trivial you think your questions are, they can lead to all sorts of discoveries about the way strata schemes are managed and occasionally mismanaged.

Sometimes the responses you get here may not give you the definitive answer – we’re not lawyers, after all – but they can lead to the right questions being asked of the right people.

But there are some fun what-the..? moments too.  Like the reader this week who has discovered that her strata manager has in their contract that they get the frequent flyer points from credit card payments.

There is a simple answer but it’s not as straightforward as it seems at first.

Or the Flatchatter who has realised that every year there’s a motion on their AGM to renew the strata manager’s contract – which is weird because the standard contracts are, by law, one year initially then a maximum of three thereafter.

What’s going on?  We reckon we know, it could be a dodge around the legislation, and we think we know how to stop it. By the way, these topics get an airing in this week’s podcast too.

And if you are in any way offended by my descriptions of the Warriors, Worriers, Quiffers and Carers in this post, be assured we love you all – you are the lifeblood of this website.

New in this week’s Forum

• Why should our strata manager get the Frequent Flyer points when we pay by card? That’s HERE.
• How come our strata manager’s contract is on the agenda for renewal every year? That’s HERE.
• Can I be paid for keeping the common property garden clean and tidy? That’s HERE.
• Can commercial agreements with service providers be seen by ordinary owners? That’s HERE.
• Was the threat of a special levy just a bluff. That’s HERE.
• Will landlord insurance cover my leaking balcony? That’s HERE.
• Can the AGM rescind permission to park on common property? That’s HERE.

How to ask and answer questions

Anyone can read our posts at any time, but you have to be registered to ask or answer questions. However, there are so many easy ways you can search, access, ask questions and reply to others’ queries once you have registered using the green “register and sign in …” box on this page.
The best way may be to click on “Forum: Your Qs & A’s” on the top menu bar or on the drop-down menu (three lines) on the screen on phones and tablets, under the Strata Choice ad. Then click on the topic title that interests you, and off you go.
Alternatively, you can click on the new “Latest Qs and As” Forum button on the top right of a computer screen or the link on the “hamburger” menu on a phone.

Or look at the list of “Your latest questions and answers” under the ads on the right of the page on a computer screen. Or at the bottom, after the ads and stories, on a tablet or phone.
finally, you can go “old school” and go to the Forum Home Page and work your way through the topics there.

Whichever route you take to get there, the best way to keep up to speed with what’s happening is to register (if you haven’t already done so), then login and subscribe for free to the topics that interest you most.
That way you’ll get an alert whenever the discussion moves forward, and you can also chip in with your own comments and questions. Have a look HERE at our instant guide to getting online.