Question: Water has been leaking from our front yard into the car park below for a few years without resolution. Must I use the strata’s expensive contractor for the basement waterproofing? How do I get the committee to act? Answer: You may get another quote from another contractor, however, make sure that the quote…
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…
Strata Managers are trained professionals with the thorough knowledge and expertise required to ensure proper and timely compliance with a litany of legal, notice, meeting, accounting, capital works fund and administration fund monetary requirements relevant to your strata development. One-stop-shop With licenced strata manager, all matters relating to the scheme can be directed to…
Question: How long can a strata committee member or chairperson hold positions in executive committee? Also, can the committee engage designers without lot owners agreeing to this appointment? Answer: No this is not permissible. Only one of them can seek nomination. As you may know, the number of members is determined annually at each…
Question: We are lot owners in a small 8 lot commercial strata building. What is the procedure for appointing a new strata manager? What happens if this procedure is not followed? Answer: It is critical that the termination of the current manager be effected strictly in accordance with the strata management agency agreement which…
Question: Some residents in our building use the visitor parking spaces as an additional parking spot. Is it possible to increase levies for these few residents and not all lot owners? Answer: First you need to ascertain from the development consent for the building exactly how many visitor parking spaces are required by law. Before…
Bathroom Renovation Question: One of the lot owners in our strata complex requires a major bathroom renovation and is expecting the owners to pay for it – is this correct? Answer: It depends on why the owner requires a major bathroom renovation. Presumably, it is because there is some defect in the common property slab…
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…
Unit Entitlements Q: I would like to clarify the following: 1. Does owning a garage attached to a unit entitle the unit holder to have 2 votes? I thought that garage was a utility lot designed primarily for storage of goods or cars. As a result of this I am constantly outvoted on issues as…
AGM Timing Q: What are the rules concerning the actual time of day when a AGM is held? Last year ours was commenced at 3pm with the consequence that only 7 out of 24 lot owners were able to attend? A: Though the strata legislation is silent on the point, some general rules do apply….
Question: There are a number of very vocal apartment owners in my building who are against animals of any type, including a companion animal. Answer: If you can demonstrate your animal meets the requirements of a companion animal for the specific outlined range of disabilities, the Owners Corporation cannot prohibit the keeping of your…
Question: Where will the financial responsibility lie for the fibre optic upgrade to individual units, assuming a majority of the owners corporation want direct fibre to their home? Answer: When it comes to the fibre optic upgrade, there is no hard and fast rule. There is no hard and fast rule, however, before considering…
Question: A noisy neighbour has replaced carpet with vinyl boards. This renovation was done without owners corporation approval. The increased noise transference permitted through the new vinyl flooring is unacceptable to neighbours who have complained accordingly. Answer: The Owners Corporation would need to show their reasonableness in refusing the floorboards for the benefit of…
Question: An old cooling tower in our building only services a proportion of the apartments. What are the strata committee powers? The committee is proposing to replace the tower with ducted air conditioning to the affected units at the cost of the Owners Corporation. Answer: The strata committee seems to be abusing their powers and…
Question: One family owns 61% of our scheme and use their strata unit entitlements NSW to block the committee and let the scheme run down. Would this situation be classed as dysfunctional? Answer: If the 61% family prevents the Owners Corporation from complying with its statutory obligations, then this would be a strong argument for…
Is a by-law prohibiting AirBnB accommodation lawful? After some 3 years of community and industry consultation, last Tuesday, the NSW government announced its proposed new laws to empower Owners Corporations to ban AirBnB rentals and similar online short-term letting accommodation. Residents will remain unaffected by the proposed new laws. In other words, owners and tenants…
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…
A LookUpStrata reader, who recently moved into a unit, wanted to know how he could get an entrenched and highly resistant executive committee to acknowledge their obligations under the new legislation, to have a 10 year plan, have it professionally costed and take immediate steps to raise the required funds to support it as well…
A LookUp Strata reader wanted to know what can be done about inaccurate meeting minutes. In summary, at the next general meeting there will be a motion confirming the minutes of the previous meeting. This will be your opportunity to correct any resolutions inaccurately minuted at the prior meeting. Read the full question, and our…
Leanne provided a response to a LookUpStrata reader’s question, who wanted to know whether despite a lack of meeting notice and agenda these meetings and decisions are still valid. This is a great question, and in summary the answer is that the failure to post minutes and give proper notice as required under the Strata…