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Could anyone enlighten me if it is usual to be charged a “software licence fee” ($360), by a Strata manager? Our strata managers do not provide us access to any kind of online portal, so I’m struggling tojustify this.
Similarly, fees for “trust regulatory costs” ($1500)…does anyone know what this would cover?
By way of background, we a are a block of 12. Thestrata manager has not responded to my queries re the above.
Thank you.
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Your Owners Corporation (i.e. the 12 Owners) has entered into a Strata Management Agency Agreement (SMAG) with its Strata Manager, that in addition to it’s legal framework sets out what services will be provided and at what cost.
You need to obtain that SMAG from your Strata Manager or from the Secretary of your Executive Committee, who should have been provided with a copy at the time of signing, and have a very thorough read through the document.
There will be a number of attached Schedules, and to answer your question you’re looking for one titled something similar to “additional charges” or perhaps “associated fees” where as that title implies, there will be a number of listed services and their associated fees. Sorry for the vagaries, but our Plan’s self-managed and I haven’t see a SMAG for almost 10 years.
The two (2) fees to which your post relates appear (logically) to be for your Plan’s use of some strata management software for which your Strata Manager’s purchased a License, and for their fee to keep and report upon your Owners Corporation’s Trust Accounts (the Admin and Sinking Funds) in accordance with the provisions of the NSW Property, Stock and Business Agents Act (2002).
Whether those fees can be justified is a whole other question, but if they’re not listed in one of the Schedules to the SMAG then you have a case to have your Strata Manager reverse them, and if they are listed, then like a lot of other Owners Corporations yours will have to live with it until the date that the SMAG may be reviewed; that date too will be shown within the document.
Here in the ACT our manager charges several fees on a per lot basis, in addition to the management fee. All are listed in the managing agreement.
They include
Photocopying and Printing
Postage and stationary
Accounting services
Document Storage
Computer license fees
You could argue they are all part of the costs of being a strata managing agent , and so should be in the management fee, especially as there is no option to opt out. My opinion is they break them out so the “management fee” looks smaller. When you add them all up about 20% of our total budget is paid to the managing agent. We are a 19 unit townhouse complex in the ACT.
However the strata manager presents things, you (IE the OC) either agrees to the contract or it doesn’t and goes elsewhere.
It does make some sense to calculate a fee based partly on the number of units. Some things a managing agent does would be fixed tasks and the same amount of work whether there are 10 units or 100. Some other tasks might be expected to increase with the number of units. So, a base fee plus a per unit fee does not seem unreasonable to me.
PS. Welcome ‘Strataact’, another from the ACT.
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