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Some Executive Committees do not bother to hold formal meetings and just discuss issues and E-mail the Strata Manager instructions authorising work.
Without formal & documented meetings (minutes) does the Executive Committee have any personal legal liability?
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If they’re acting negligently. Negligent actions aren’t usually covered under office bearers liability insurance.
But who is going to make the ocs decision to ‘sue’ the Exe-Commies for negligence… themselves?
Not likely, I believe the question was about liability, with the OC being held liable for the actions of a committee… office bearers insurance is paid for by the OC covering the Exe-Commies for their actions, be they in good faith or not, regardless!
Do we have consensus on how ‘autocratic’ exe members can be held to account by either individual owners or the authorities, rather than trying to get uninterested owners involved who have already given their proxies to the bullies, without understanding what is going on?
It seems to me the simple answer is to hold Exe-Commies personally accountable for conduct under a fiduciary owed to individual owners, exponential by those persona (or residents) affected!
Good faith actions can be determined on merit, but purposeful actions… what has case law (such as Meriton v SP72381) decided?
I am of the opinion they should be thrown to the wolves if they have acted in self-interest, but others may say no one would ever join a committee if this was the case. Heck, if they joined under this pretence, they have done so out of self-serving interests in the first place.
Winston – clearly your Executive Committee’s actions are contrary to Schedule 3 of the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act (the Act), and particularly with regard to the entirety of Part 2, so if you can’t bring them to heel at the next General Meeting with the assistance of like-minded Owners, then you alone have the option to have the matter mediated and if necessary adjudicated under Sect 138 (i.e. not holding meeting in accordance with the Act).
As a less-favoured alternative, if you and any like-minded Owners feel strongly about the actions of your Executive Committee member/s, then you could yourselves initiate legal action against any of those as individuals.
I’m neither a legal nor insurance expert, but to the best of my knowledge your Owners Corporation would not be able to pay (using owner’s funds) for any action initiated in that way, and whilst its Office Bearers Liability Policy would cover members’ legal costs and settle any claim negotiated by the Insurer up to the maximum amount specified in the Policy, the latter would not apply if any dishonest, fraudulent, criminal, or malicious act or omission of the member/s (including those involving self-interest) was proven. Perhaps you should make your Members aware of that!
I had a similar problem some years ago with EC members purporting to make decisions without telling other EC members. They stopped doing that when I refused to authorise a $10K bill they had run up.
Just in reference to the above post by scotlandx, are EC members required to tell other EC members of their plans and/or actions?
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