Question: Our building insurance is due mid 2019. Is the Owners Corporation able to renew this themselves or must it go through the Strata Management Company? We would prefer not to pay our Strata Manager insurance commissions. Answer: You need to check what your contract states with regard to strata manager insurance commissions. If…
Question: Can I have a political sign displayed on my apartment? I own the apartment. Does this rule also apply for ‘For Sale’ signs on apartments? Answer: Some buildings have specific signage by-laws prohibiting any signage whatsoever, with an approval process even in case of real estate ‘For Sale’ signage. Yes, buildings can restrict…
Question: Our neighbour has recently been playing their piano for hours every day. Is this a breach of the peaceful enjoyment bylaw and how can we make this stop? Answer: Fortunately, the strata manager has issued a notice to comply with the peaceful enjoyment bylaw as the owners corporation should be enforcing the by-laws. Fortunately,…
Question: My apartment is west facing and the balcony and bedrooms are almost unliveable in Summer. My Strata Committee has declined my request to approve outside awnings without giving reasons. What redress do I have please? Answer: Because the awning will be affixed to the exterior of the building and because the awnings will change…
Question: After calling our new strata management company for information, I have personally been charged a sum. Until the invoice is paid, I am unfinancial. Are strata management companies authorised to act as a “debt collector” for the owners corporation? Answer: No, the strata manager is not authorised to act as “debt” collector. Write to…
Short-term Letting Update The Fair Trading Amendment (Short-term Rental Accommodation) Act 2018 (NSW) was recently passed by both Houses and assented to. It has introduced a new Section 137A to the strata legislation which states that a by-law may prohibit short-term letting for non owner-occupiers. In other words, a by-law cannot prevent an owner-occupier…
Intercom Systems Question: Hi Leanne, I’m a regular reader of your weekly Strata News and I had a query for you: Does the Owners Corporation have an obligation to provide an Intercom system for the building that it supervises? Answer: We are pleased to hear that you are regular reader of our articles! While there is…
Question: Are there rules concerning the actual time of day when an AGM is held? Answer: The timing should not “intentionally” be selected to prevent certain owners from attending. Though the strata legislation is silent on the point, some general rules do apply. While the timing of the AGM is at the discretion of…
New Combustible Cladding Laws Introduced On the 22nd October 2018, new laws commence. These laws are the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Identification of Buildings with Combustible Cladding) Regulation 2018 and State Environmental Planning Policy Amendment (Exempt Development – Cladding and Decorative Work) 2018. Owners of certain buildings with external combustible cladding will now be required to register…
It’s the law! Owners Corporations are required by law to repair & maintain the common property. The new legislation allows individual lot owners to sue the Owners Corporation and recover any damages suffered by an owner as a result of the Owners Corporation’s failure to properly repair & maintain the common property. Preserving and…
Owners Corporation & Animals Question: I was under the impression that there was legislation that said an Owner Corporation could not make laws to prohibit animals on any lot. However, it is important to have rules around common property and other sensible rules around owner and pet behaviour Could you please advise? Answer: An Owners…
Mediation Since the introduction of the new strata legislation, Strata Schemes Management Act, 2015 (NSW) (“SSMA”) it is no longer the case that you may automatically have legal representation at mediation. In fact, under Section 220 of the SSMA, you have no entitlement to legal or other representation, unless all the other parties to the…
Can parking offenders be towed from the common property? Under the new strata legislation, the Owners Corporation has finally received new powers to tow vehicles in breach of by-laws. On the downside, the Owners Corporation must tolerate the offending vehicle for at least five (5) days before it may take any action. Upon service of…
Medium density housing approvals to become faster and cheaper from 6th July 2018! From 6th July 2018, developers proposing to erect new terraces and other medium-density housing will fall under the umbrella of a new housing code and design code to be adopted by the NSW government, which aims to increase the number of medium-density…
Question: Leading up to our AGM, our Strata Manager was holding too many proxies, so divvied them up to lot owners. Can this be done? Can you also explain the quorum requirements for annual general meeting? Answer: For the quorum in your scheme – at least ¼ of persons present or ¼ of unit entitlements….
Commencing on 1st July 2018, GST withholding obligations will be shifted from the developer to the purchaser of affected properties. The new laws only affect contracts which settle on and after 1st July 2018 and according to the REINSW the transitional provisions exempt contracts for sale entered into before 1st July 2018 provided that the…
A while ago J.S. Mueller & Co Lawyers published an interesting article about access to strata titled buildings for disabled residents. The article dealt with the important question whether an Owners Corporation must modify common property to accommodate the less able residents. “These residents may not be able to pass to and from their lots unless…
We have previously posted on the new window safety requirements, which come into effect in NSW on 13 March 2018. “To prevent children falling from windows, all strata buildings in NSW must be fitted with devices that enable their windows to be locked at 12.5cm when the devices are engaged. Owners corporations must have devices installed…
Following the commencement of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) the secretary of an owners corporation must keep a consolidated up to date copy of the by-laws for the strata scheme. (You can read more about the new Act here) One large change is that since 30 November 2016 the LPI has issued a…
A LookUp Strata reader in NSW wrote about their Strata Committee who pay themselves an undisclosed amount for activities performed, which is never itemised in the financial statements. The reader wondered whether the Strata Committee can pay themselves these undisclosed sums, and ignore Section 46 of the Act, and overriding the committee decision making process? In…