Does not look good to send notice to comply?

Tell them having the committee/strata manager taken to NCAT under a section 232(2) for failure to exercise their responsibilites under the Act looks even worse.

As a compromise, your strata manager could send out a general warning letter that rogue parking is in breach of the by-laws and failure to comply will lead to NTCs and possible fines.  That’s one notice.

Prospective buyers will look more favourably on a scheme that has had a problem and dealt with it than one that’s clearly pretending there is no problem.  I think your biggest issue may be that you have a lazy strata manager and/or committee.

If no one else is doing the job, get yourself elected chair and/or secretary (a simple vote at your next committee meeting) then the dog can start wagging the tail, rather than the other way round.

Even if powers have been delegated, they can be resumed by an elected office-bearer whenever they want.

But talk to your fellow committee members first about the money being wasted on this do-nothing SM to make sure they are onside before you put it on the agenda.

Just a few technical points. In NSW the strata committee has to be elected every year at the AGM.  Ths committee then elects that office-bearers (if any).  That means that unless you have had a proper election at a proper AGM in the interim, rather than having the same office-bearers and committee, you have none.

I would say that alone suggests that your committee is in disarray and the one person who should be fixing this – the strata manager –  is doing nothing.

If I were in your shoes I would gather up all the complaints about everything, call an informal meeting of owners and propose that you be Chairman and secretary until such times as everything is on an even keel.  After that, it’s up to you how much or how little you do – considering that nothing has been happening for years, the bar isn’t set terribly high (you just have to resist the temptation to fix everything all at once).

As chair, you don’t have executive or presidential powers … all you can do is chair meetings … but you will become a figure-head for the building and at some point a focus of discontent. But it’s worth the effort because just by making your scheme run as it’s supposed to, you are enhancing the value of your property.

Doubling up as secretary means you can see everything that’s going on and actually get things done.  And if you were looking for help to get this all rolling, our sponsors Strata Answers are fantastic.

Oh, and the book is out of print (and out of date) and the publishers rejected a proposal for a new one because “you can get it all on the internet”. Ironic, or what?

Just to reinforce one of JT’s points: The strata manager works for you and the committee can and should make decisions and direct the strata manager. Don’t let the tail wag the dog. If you have sent two nice informal parking notices around, it is time to get serious. Don’t ask. You direct the SM to issue notices to comply. Make it a decision of the committee taken at a properly convened meeting with minutes. Let the minutes record that the decision to issue notices to comply was made after having sent the previous circulars. Make sure the text of the notices to comply contains all that is required by the Act for a proper notice.

It is right and proper for the SM to give advice, but the committee makes the decision on behalf of the Owners Corporation and does not have to follow the manager’s advice. The SM is your employee and does have to follow directions. The only exception is if you were telling them to do something that would be illegal.