I often wonder where some strata managers get their ideas – it certainly doesn’t appear to be from professional training.
Take the case of our Flatchatter who is in dispute with his strata committee over a relatively minor but deeply annoying (to him) issue, specifically that the electric motor that drives the garage gate, and which is located near his bedroom window, is excessively noisy.
This doesn’t bother anyone else in this small strata scheme so, typically, he is told there is no problem for the majority of residents so they aren’t going to fix it. The garage gate opens and closes and that’s all there is to it.
Now we’re not saying who’s right and who’s wrong in this, but we think the Flatchatter is doing the right thing by taking the matter to Fair Trading for mediation.
Sometimes you need a neutral voice to get everyone to look at the rights and wrongs of a situation rather than taking sides. That situation will resolve itself at some point.
Meanwhile the Flatchatter’s AGM has rolled around and he decides to stand for election to the committee.
Sorry, says the strata manager, because you have taken the strata scheme to Fair Trading, there is a conflict of interest and you can’t nominate for election.
Whaaaat?
Follow that logic and the committee members can’t nominate either because they are in conflict with an owner.
There is absolutely nothing in strata law that says an owner who is involved in a dispute with their owners corporation can’t stand for election.
Either this strata manager has lost a grip on strata law or he knows on what side his bread is buttered and is protecting the committee from having to explain themselves to an unhappy owner.
But, for heaven’s sake, he will only have one vote – it’s not like he’s going to declare himself chairman for life.
The strata manager need a refresher course on basic strata law. Meanwhile, what can our Flatchatter do? There are a couple of suggestions HERE.
Elsewhere in the Forum
- Owners of one half of a duplex are doing work for the building, in their area of professional expertise, and they want to be paid something for their efforts. The other owners want them to keep doing the work but don’t want to pay them. That’s HERE.
- The owners corp has decided to repair the council cross-over ramp that connects the road to the scheme’s driveway. Can they do that? Should they? That’s HERE.
- A real mess from Victoria where a scheme has been taken over by commercial interests using questionable votes. Now they are refusing to let owners see their correspondence over a number of dubious deals and dangerous developments. That’s HERE and HERE.
- I want to pave over the pebblecrete on my terrace. Do I need permission and if so, how do I get it? That’s HERE.
- An update on the resident who has attached a video camera to the peephole on the inside of his apartment door – with links to two previous Tribunal rulings. That’s HERE.
There are a lot more ongoing discussions on the Forum. Register, log in and be kept up to date with the latest posts.
