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You really need to check on what compulsory strata management means. Under compulsory management there are NO CONDITION that you can set for them.
The manager is the BOSS. They set levies, decide on what gets done and when. They do not need to tell you their decisions, but usually send a notice informing you what their doing anyway. They do not hold meetings as there is no need you don’t get a say in the property.
Their there to save the sinking ship, which is your property. If they are appointed; get ready for some tough love.
Hi Katanakid
You need to check the meeting records. the levies are set by the owners at the Annual General Meeting. Its ONLY owners who decide the levies; so the other owners must be picking them.
Check what the proposed levies were they may have been a lower recommendation, who voted to have the current levies that high. It maybe that the levies are high because no one goes to the meeting and just send a proxy to the strata manager and the manager can’t change levies.
Go to the meeting, vote for the levies you want to have, you may get them or not but you do get a vote.
dwa is right get involved in the running of the property, after all its part yours.
The Committee can be voted on by Poll.
STRATA SCHEMES MANAGEMENT ACT 2015 – SCHEDULE 1 14 Decisions at meetings
(3) Value of votes to apply for [Image Can Not Be Found] poll [Image Can Not Be Found] If a [Image Can Not Be Found] poll [Image Can Not Be Found] is demanded by a person present and entitled to vote on a motion or for the election of officers of the owners corporation or members of the strata committee at the meeting, the motion is to be decided according to the value of the votes cast for and against the motion and the value of a vote cast by a person entitled to vote in respect of a lot is equal to the unit entitlement of that lot. However, the value of the vote of an original owner is to be calculated in the same way as for a special resolution.
the main reason locks do not comply is because the lock could hold the door open. If you have a lock that you could use so that the door will not close then it needs replacing. Typically its the type of dead lock that has pins that drop down into slots, you can lock the pins down when the door is open and the door will then not close.
Fire Doors must only be fitted with door hardware fire rated in accordance with AS1905.1
Fire Door locks must be self-latching and are not permitted to have a hold open feature.
Remember the lock is to allow the door to close behind you when you need to get away from a fire.
Sorry to tell you but if the fire inspector says change. Then you change the locks. Go to a reliable locksmith and they can put in replacement locks that are also very safe for the residents. I would contact NSW Fire Brigade and they are more than willing to tell you what locks you should have.
I had the similar situation of a committee member being the reason managers resigned. The owners decided to deal with the issue by. Always voting at each AGM for the number of committee positions to be One less than the number of nominees. So if 7 people wanted on the committee then they voted for there to be a committee of 6 members. Unsurprisingly the painful owner never made it onto the committee. Its legal and I think fair, as it shows that the owners don’t want that person on the committee.
If you can’t get the owners to reign in the member because they can’t be bothered to. Then I am sorry to say welcome to the nightmare of owner apathy. It is the one single hindrance to the effective running of a property.
Well I work in the industry but am uncomfortable putting out the company I work for here; as this forum is really for advice and not scouting for business. I know Jimmy would not put out a company he did not have faith in (no not mine). So I have absolutely no issue with that.
My best advice is find a company with a good rep from people you trust. Ask people who they have. Don’t relly on star ratings as I find that a lot ( Strata, Resturant, Hotel etc) just don’t make sense unless the rating comes with a reason why and so many don’t.
If you get a good company but bad manager, the company will change them if they are a good company. Sometimes its that the manager and the Committee are just not a good fit. Personalities always play a part in the feel of a relationship.
Firstly if the Owners Corporation or the Committee say get more quotes then the manager is to get more quotes. The only issues are 1) is there time to get the quotes before the insurance must be renewed. 2) it needs to be a decision of the owners not one or two owners when the majority don’t want to.
For the fire audit question its a bit of the same, does the owners/committee want more then they get more. If not you may just have found yourself out voted.
A question with Fire is the dangers of not proceeding swiftly. If the council demand action then do it asap, fire orders get Very expensive to deal with and they could order the residents out if deemed unsafe. Also if there is a fire and the owners have not proceeded swiftly then you could be in big trouble. The insurer could walk away from any claim and the owners/committee facing legal action.
I know it sounds doom and gloom, but the possible ramifications could be huge.
The Bankstown unit fire is close to the worst case outcome.
There is no set rate for Strata Management. Basically its an open market. Each strata management company decides what they want to charge in fees. The owners decide if they accept the fees or not. The thing to do is to seek management proposals from other companies. That way you can compare fees. Just make sure you take into account, size of company (do they have the ability in house to manage your property?) or would they outsource a lot which adds to costs.
Even though there is no agreement between strata managers as to standard fees. We all lose and pick up properties from other management companies so there is a general feel as to what is being charged. So its not absolutely random amounts.
Also you need to take into account is there anything about your property that may demand extra and more demanding work.
Well this has kicked up a hornets nest.
I think the simple points are a new owner wanted the names and contact details of the committee.
The SM should have sent him their names and postal addresses straight away. There is no reason to withhold what any owner is entitled to. But emails and phone numbers should only be sent if the member is willing to share them. Yes a full strata search would have them in it, as all records are available.
Personally I think that emails should be part of the contact details on strata rolls as that’s the way most people correspond. But it was not included in the act when it was changed in 2015.
The remainder as to the workings of the committee or the owners corporation. Will not be known unless the original poster sends an update.
Just to clarify.
– I didn’t say it was preferable NOT to communicate. They can BUT they no not have to give out phone numbers or emails. Its just not in the SSMA 2015 or previous Acts.
It does not come with the territory; that an owner can start stalking you because you don’t provide personal information. What next the committee members get calls and messages at all hours because the other person has a sudden thought bubble. (Yes I have seen that happen and when the SC member got sick of the 1.00 am messages and blocked the number the owner got abusive because they were being ignored).
– IF an OC has built up savings? We just do not know do we! But what if they have built up saving? It could be they need to treat concrete cancer, address a fire notice order, install a security upgrade as they have had break ins and vehicles stolen? Again we do not know.
I think the new owner is looking to do the best for the property, but like everyone they need to work within the Law. If the committee is not responding because they are useless and only on it to be in control. Then remove them at the AGM. Do a Strata search, find the money trail. What have they raised , what do they spend it on whats in the Capital Works Report. Any issues such as the ones I listed above being discussed?
Get information and then you can proceed with confidence with your ideas. I have seen committees that never want to do anything to the determent of the property. So a new owner with a vision may be the best thing to happen to the property.
Sorry i’m a bit late on this topic. But I don’t see the problem with the SM. They did exactly what the should, they asked the committee member for permission to pass on information (email) that is not required to be on the strata roll.
If the SC does not want to they don’t have to. They must provide name and Postal address, but that’s it.
The SM should have come back to you with their response, depending on how long you gave them. What if a committee member had just sent them a thank you email for a meeting that was recently held. Your saying you should have that?
If the SC members don’t want to give out their emails or phone number they don’t have to.
Seriously the first question I would ask if you emailed me would be who gave you my email without my permission?
Also your first issue is lets spend money that the OC has been raising over the years; that you a brand new owner wants to spend without discussing the financial situation, the budget expected upcoming expenses. Landscaping that’s your priority.
Sorry you don’t get what you want (not entitled but want) and your reaction is to start title and council searches.
How many emails have you sent to them? 1 or 20.
The reason I am so passionate on this is that I have seen so many people buy into a property and want to spend, spend, spend to make the place look (nice) and use up the saving that have been built up over years and if they don’t get their way, they harass the SC constantly to force them off the SC so they can be the only one making decisions. If that’s not you great I hope you do get on the SC and help the property be run the best way it can. If you’re that, then you are in the minority based on many years of dealing with these situations.
Hi Sammi
As a Strata Manager this situation smells. There are two things you must do.
1. Do a strata search, your an owner so they can not stop you. All records including the Agendas , Minutes, Financials and the Strata Roll must be made available to you in an inspection. There is a fee involved but it just over $34.00. its set in the strata reg’s.
2. Get a lawyer. You can seek leave from NCAT to be legally represented. They can give it or not, but with the money your talking about, I would.
Make sure the lawyer has had dealings at NCAT on Strata issues. A quick google search will get you a list of them. If the lawyer is a sponsor of any strata industry awards/conferences etc all the better as that usually means that Strata is their bread and butter business so they don’t need to read the Act or regulations to know whats the way to proceed.
Hope that helps.
A really good view of the no pets by-laws is given by a law firm specializing in Strata.
- By-laws must not be harsh, unconscionable or oppressive. If they are, they may be ignored
Section 139(1) provides:
A by-law must not be harsh, unconscionable or oppressive.
This is a new requirement. If a by-law is harsh, unconscionable or oppressive, then owners and occupiers may (depending upon its terms) be entitled to simply ignore it entirely, or at least ignore those parts that are harsh, unconscionable or oppressive.
- Absolute prohibition on pets
A by-law prohibiting pets absolutely may be considered harsh, unconscionable or oppressive. For example:
- If a lot is a townhouse with its own garden or courtyard, it may be harsh, unconscionable or oppressive, to prohibit that lot having a pet; and
- It may be harsh, unconscionable or oppressive to prohibit a pet of any species if for example the specific breed proposed by a lot owner is known for being small, quiet and innactive, or possessing traits which mean that it is unlikely to impact on other owners or occupiers.
- Changes to restrictions on pets – Do you know if that pet is an assistance animal?
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Under the current legislation, by-laws restricting or regulating the keeping of pets are of no force or effect to the extent they prohibit or restrict the keeping on a lot of a dog used as a guide or hearing dog by an owner or occupier of the lot or the use of a dog as a guide or hearing dog on a lot or common property.
Under section 139(5) of the SSMA 2015, guide or hearing dog has been expanded to anassistance animal(as referred to in section 9 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)). This is a much wider category of animals and you may not know if a pet in your scheme is an assistance animal. Whilst section 9 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) contemplates some manners where an assistance animal can be certified, it can extend to (s. 9(2)(c)):
a dog or other animal trained:
- to assist a person with a disability to alleviate the effect of the disability; and
- to meet standards of hygiene and behaviour that are appropriate for an animal in a public place.
In this regard, there are currently no requirements for certification, or limiting who the training must be performed by, or even that the trainer be a professional trainer.
I work as a manager and have had a number of discussions with strata lawyers over the new SSMA 2015. Owners can’t make a by-law that is unreasonable or harsh. A no pets by law is considered harsh, as for not needing a reason for not allowing pets is very harsh. Basically the by-law would not be enforceable. A motion can be deemed as out of order, if it is unenforceable or would be in conflict with other legislation. Also any motion put by someone who can to vote at the meeting, needs a explanation noted with it and the name of the person proposing the motion. If they are not with the motion then it is out of order and may not be considered.