Question: Our AGM will be held by electronic voting thereby negating any opportunity to debate motions on the Agenda. Is this considered fair and reasonable under current NSW Legislation? The Strata Manager and Strata Committee have orchestrated the AGM to be held by electronic voting thereby negating any opportunity to debate motions on the…
From 1st July 2020, new laws regarding the disposal of goods abandoned on the common property came into effect. The regulation of the treatment of abandoned goods in strata schemes has been transferred from the Strata Schemes Management Act, 2015 (NSW) (“SSMA”) to the Uncollected Goods Act, 1995 (NSW) (“UGA”). The process for the removal…
Question: I’m an elderly woman who needs a mobility stool outside my door. The strata manager denied my request and issued me a notice to remedy the breach. What Can I do? I am a 68-year-old woman renting a unit on the first floor of a block of seven units. I have an autoimmune disease…
Rectification of building defects amendments to the Strata Schemes Management Act, 2015 (NSW) (“SSMA”) commenced on 1st July 2020 pursuant to the Strata Schemes Management Amendment (Building Defects Scheme) Act, 2018 (NSW). These are welcome new laws which increase the rights of owners corporations to make claims against builders, developers and others to have…
Question: We live in a high rise apt block and a few years ago we voted against a no smoking building, but we are not allowed to smoke in all common areas. That is fair enough. I’m not a smoker. But living in the western suburbs with a reasonably large amount of tenanted apartments, most…
Question: For the past 10 years, I have been sticking down loose and drumming tiles in my bathroom. I now feel the time has come to renovate my bathroom, laundry and toilet which all have damaged and or broken tiles. Should the body corporate pay for the removal of the old tiles and waterproof and…
Question: To undertake major and minor renovations, do we need a separate by-law submitted for each item or can it all be included in one special renovation by-law? When an owner wants to renovate to undertake major and minor renovations does this need a separate by-law passed for each bit of work or can it…
Question: Do sub-committees have the same legal responsibilities as Strata Committees under By-Laws and NSW Legislation in terms of issuing agendas and recording (and distributing to lot owners) minutes of meetings. Lot owners here suspect the committee is avoiding discussions with residents and committing to expenditure by declaring that they are meeting as a “sub-committee”….
Question: Our secretary only records the Strata committee minutes, including what she wants our owners corporation to hear. What can we do to get our processes back on track? Our NSW strata committee members are frustrated and concerned that our secretary only records (in Strata committee minutes), what she wants our owners corporation to hear….
In a recent decision of The Owners Strata Plan No 2245 v Veney [2020] NSWSC 134 (Veney Case), the Supreme Court of NSW was asked to consider: whether they could make a declaration implying an additional term into an exclusive use by-law, being a by-law which gave the relevant owner the exclusive use of a common property car…
Question: Due to complaints from one neighbour, our strata is trying to take us to court over our small dog. Other neighbours confirm the dog is fine. Do I have any right to keep the dog and not get taken to court? Our strata is currently trying to take us to court over our small…
Question: Does a resident’s right to peace and quiet in a lot (as stipulated in a bylaw) mean that people using a carpark area right outside a lot must keep their noise to a reasonable level? Does a resident’s right to peace and quiet in a lot (as stipulated in a bylaw) mean that people…
Question: Can you hang your bicycle from the ceiling of the balcony in a strata apartment? We have nowhere else to store the bike. Answer: You should check your by-laws in case there is a “storage” or “balcony” by-law which might prohibit such storage. Not without the permission of the Owners Corporation because hanging things…
Question: I suspect my committee is meeting secretly and calling themselves a sub-committee, for the purpose of keeping proceedings of a significant matter away from residents. For a Community Scheme in NSW, does the legislation state that an agenda must be sent to all lot owners prior to a committee meeting being held, and that…
Question: How do we handle the other duplex lot owners who smoke outside their lot. Smoke drifts over the dividing fence and into my aging father’s lot. We are looking for information about how to handle the other lot owners who smoke in the back yard of their duplex. The smoke drifts over the dividing…
A quick reminder about the AirBnB changes to the strata legislation which commenced on 10 April 2020 and the new smoke alarm requirements which commenced 23 March 2020. New Smoke Alarm requirements for landlords and agents From 23 March 2020, NSW landlords and agents are required to ensure that smoke alarms installed in rental premises…
Question: We’ve never received approval for an air conditioner. We’ve recently been told to move the exterior unit as it is not keeping with the appearance of the lot. We own a strata unit in NSW and back in 2017 we installed an air conditioner with the outside unit mounted high on the balcony and…
Question: Now the evenings are getting cooler, we are wondering if we can set up a small fire pit on our apartment balcony. We have units and balconies both above and below us. Since we’ve been in lockdown, we tend to spend quite a bit of time on our apartment balcony to get fresh air…
Question: I’d like the noisy tenants in the apartment above me to be aware of the disturbance they are creating and the lot owner to change the flooring and comply with sound proofing requirements. Is this achievable? The lot owner upstairs changed their flooring from carpet to timber floor without approval from strata. Since then,…
Question: We get up to 4 taxis a day in the complex. The taxis blow their horn, park on common property and block the driveway. How can we control this? I own a townhouse in a complex. What can we do about taxis on common property areas like driveways? We get up to 4 taxis…