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If you want to understand why FT is limp-wristed, one only needs to look at the industry as a whole and who provides them advice.
Spend 5 minutes looking at the CVs of the directors of SCA and compare them with the board of OCN. One organisation is made of up of those who profit from the status quo, the other is made up of individuals with a diversity of industry experience but notably not in industries that benefit from the status quo.
Not all “industry associations” have the same goals, the NRA (National Rifle Association in the USA) comes to mind.
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I think the easiest solution is to check the bylaws in relation to the sharing of security devices. If the commercial lot owners are sharing / duplicating swipes/ fobs, take action against them in NCAT. It is often much less effort to just make things expensive and difficult for those who try to circumvent being a good compliant resident.
As an EC/SC member for many years and a dog lover and owner, I still take exception to new owners who present proposals for larger dogs in strata without first clarifying bylaws or seeking approval as a condition of sale.
People forget that strata committee members don’t make the bylaws yet they are tasked with enforcing them and it is pretty much impossible to keep all owners and residents happy. We also don’t get paid!
When a new owner moves in and then seeks approval for their pet that does not comply with existing bylaws, it puts committee members and all owners in a very difficult position. Any prospective purchaser has a responsibility to ensure that their requirements vis-a-vis pets, parking, parties etc will comply with exiting bylaws. If they do not then they need to structure their terms of purchase such that they can achieve required approvals or otherwise void the contract of sale. We call that “taking responsibility” and “making informed decisions”. Old fashioned ideas to be sure.
If the door is really in a bad state you could go to NCAT and argue that the OC is failing to maintain common property.
While this is a creative plan, in the case of Sydney City Council their policy is to limit the number of available parking spaces, the idea being to encourage people not to bring cars into the council area. If you allow residents to use visitor parking you have effectively increased the number of resident vehicles within the complex, which is not in line with council’s policy.
I enquired with the City of Sydney abount managing our parking space. Looking at their terms and conditions, you can have no existing issues with parking and parking must have unrestricted access. Try ticking those 2 boxes. I guess it is just easier to ticket cars for expired tickets on the street.
If you look at the Strata Schemes Management Act and associated regulations, Strata Committee member really don’t have any “Power” they have responsibilities. So if you feel that a chairperson is not reasonbably considering your propoosal, consider if they are fulfilling their responsibilites and following the correct processes. In my experience most Strata Committees do not correctly follow correct processes and are poorly advised by inexperienced strata managers
While I agree the stata’s fine is not legal, I do not agree that imposing a fine is a form of bullying. As the secretary of a large strata for many years, the law is woefully inadequate in this area. Building management and volunteer committee members spend a significant amount of time dealing with a small minority of residents, typically tenants, who consider that they are not required to comply with bylaws. This is time we should be spending on productive works. Making life uncomfortable for a tennant who considers themselves somehow exempt from bylaws is often a a more productive use of our time.
If a tennant stops paying rent for whatever reason, evict them and get a tennant who pays their rent.
As an alternative to imposing fines on late levies, one of the strata in which we own has a discount system. So if your levies are due on 1st May, you get a 10% discount if you pay by COB 31st April. So if we pay our levies on time we save nearly $600! We always pay on time 🙂
Strata committees can be a nightmare with some members more intent on attaining “power” than actually achieving anything. I wonder if the reason other owners don’t want to join the committee as they already know how things are working (not) and prefer to just keep out of it.
In my experience with strata committees and committees in general, you can always use the “lazy” strategy. Create work for the committee that requires members like the secretary to have to use their time to take care of strata work, or keep asking the treasurer to clarify things like expenditure, how contractors were selected, did they sight licenses etc etc. A lot of these power mongers are basically lazy and full of insecurities, give them a bit of work to do make them embarrassed because they don’t know what to do and they’ll scurry away like cockroaches.
Of course you can always ask the non-participant owners join the committee and appoint you to act for them at each meeting (NSW), that way you will hold more votes than just your own.
Your best tool is knowing the legislation and bylaws. Read the SSMA and the bylaws so you can quote them at meetings, it will often shut up people who have used the ignorance of other members in order to gain control.
These tactics have worked for me in the past so might be worth a shot.
I should point out that I don’t see that there is any “Power” in being on a strata committee, it’s just a lot of work, but it’s your best way to protect your property.