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Our OC is in NSW. Our OC’s financial year has always started on 1 January and ended on 31 December. Quarterly levies are due on 1 Jan, 1 April, 1 July and 1 Oct. Under the previous SSM Act our AGM was held in either February, March or April each year but that did not occur in 2019. It’s now October and the AGM still hasn’t been held and no notice of AGM has been received. Under the new SSM Act can you please advise us on the following:
1. Who decides when to hold an AGM, the strata manager(SM) or strata committee (SC)?
2. No levies have been struck for 2019 and no levy notices have been sent out by the SM during 2019. Is the SM liable to send out levy notices in the same amounts as were payable for 2018?
3. Most owners have not paid quarterly levies during 2019. Under these circumstances will they be considered unfinancial when the AGM is held? Can they be elected to the SC? Or, in order to stand for election to the SC, should owners pay outstanding levies up to 31.12.2019 in the same amount as for 2018?
4. OC insurance premiums must be paid before the end of October 2019. But as the AGM will not be held before then, can the SM just pay premiums without making any disclosures to the OC and/or to the SC? One worried owner asked the SM in an email if the OC has sufficient funds to pay premiums and the SM has assured owners via email that it does.
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This question sounds familiar – have you posted it before? – but here goes anyway.
1. The Secretary sets the AGM unless that function has been delegated to the strata manager by the Owners Corp. Under the new strata Act, the AGM only has to be held every financial year, not on or near the anniversary of the previous meeting, so it is theoretically possible to have a gap of 22 months between meetings. In the above case, the next AGM can be held any time up to June 30, 2020.
2. The strata manager only has to make sure there is enough money in the funds to pay the bills. If you have enough in your admin fund, you could be getting a levies “holiday”.
3. I think you could only be considered unfinancial if a levies notice had been sent out and you hadn’t paid it.
4. By law, the Owners Corp must have insurance. That would supersede just about any other consideration .
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.
I think the Secretary can still set the date of the AGM even if a SM is appointed, that’s what I was recently advised anyway.
Anybody able to confirm this is actually correct?
Yes, that is correct. All powers delegated to the strata manager revert to the elected office-bearers of the committee as soon as they choose to exercise them (unless the SM has been appointed by NCAT to take over running the show).
I wasn’t saying that secretaries could no longer set the date of the AGM once that it has been delegated, just that there was an alternative available (and one that is commonly employed).
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.
Yes thanks, i was told it was a common misconception by strata managers but it seems the norm in smaller blocks. Its very annoying if you miss out on getting motions in, but im sure thats more a strategy thing.
In relation to insurance the sm MUST get 3 quotes to the Owners Corporation and NO the sm can’t just renew it.
Normally in this case there is a motion from the previous AGM that the commitee will review the quotes and choose if it’s due before the next AGM.
In this case the question is; does the commitee have hold a meeting to accept a quote? Not according to my SM. Email approval is just fine thanks.
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