Commissioner’s lifeline on new-build defects
Owners corporations in relatively new buildings deciding whether to fix building defects themselves or take recalcitrant developers to court – at huge expense and with no guarantee of success –…
Forum: Space invader demands squatters rights
It’s amazing how often this old chestnut comes up and it reminds me of friends who had a “creative” young chap move into their small 1930s walk-up and announce he…
Podcast 91: Crackdown on dud developers hits home
We have one of our longest ever Flat Chat Wrap podcasts this week, but it’s all good so brace yourselves, pace yourselves and buckle up for some interesting material from…
Your email address and the myth of privacy
Imagine you’ve noticed a proposal in your strata scheme to spend too much money on the wrong project or with a contractor you’ve heard overcharges and is unreliable. Strata committee…
Nonsense on both sides of the latest pet debate
There’s a lot of nonsense being spouted on both sides of the pet debate these days. The issue was been stirred up most recently by the Animal Liberationists adding a…
Flatchatter saves $25k on fire safety ‘blackmail’
A Flatchatter has just saved his strata scheme $25,000 – 70 per cent of their fire safety inspection bill – after responding to what they felt were threats and blackmail…
Forum: Window repair costs don’t add up
This week a Flatchatter doesn’t understand how her share of the cost of having all the windows in her building repaired is more that the quote she received for having…
Podcast: Email privacy & Afternoons radio with JV
This week’s podcast takes a look at an area of strata life where strata managers could be breaking the law … because apartment-owning clients want them to. We’re talking about…
Wins for Vic residents as lockdown renos halted
There have been two pieces of very rare good news for Victorian strata owners and residents, in the past week. The state government has extended the defect claims period for…
‘Dream’ bathroom project: the nightmare begins
There comes a point in the life of every apartment when you have clear-cut choices – renovate your kitchen or bathrooms, or leave them exactly as they are in the…
Forum: Security Vs safety behind locked doors
When we moved into our current building 20 years ago, there was a spate of mystery break-ins with minor thefts, but no signs of visible forced entry. One of the…
Strata lawyers scramble to plug Airbnb loopholes
A couple of stories have shone a spotlight on Airbnb and other short-term letting platforms this week. Firstly, we have discovered (by chance) that strata lawyers in NSW are looking…
Podcast: Pet laws, Airbnb fears and political fashion
We have a bumper edition of the Flat Chat Wrap podcast for you this week with a ton of material and some new voices too. You might want to ration…
Should we pay strata committee members?
There’s a truism in strata that the people you want on your committee – smart, informed and energetic – are often too busy making money to pay their mortgages (and…
Strata law change would expunge no-pets by-laws
OK, it’s not quite making pets compulsory in strata schemes, but if an amendment to strata law passed by the NSW Upper House last week negotiates its final hurdle, no…
Unit blocks where renting is a sign of success
“You gotta own a piece of dirt,” the man said. No, he wasn’t a farmer. In fact, what made this noteworthy was that he was in the business of selling…
Forum: $100k in the kitty no window of opportunity
Here’s a problem a lot of strata schemes would love to have. A frustrated Flatchatter has written to us about her pre-1974 apartment block that has about $100k in the…
Podcast: mind your Ps as we call for your Qs
It’s a case of too many Ps on the pod this week when we discuss your participation, the Hyperbole Towers podcom, pet petitions and payment for strata committee members. Let’s…