landlord questions about Body corp

[sacraven]

Hi all,

I hope you can lend your advice on this matter and answer a few other somewhat related questions.

I've recently had my PM contact me regarding the vents on the central aircon not blowing air into the bedroom and kitchen area. She has advised me that it will cost $100 to get one of the techies whom originally installed the aircon when the building was originally built to have a look at it. she also advised that all related costs in repaired shall be covered by myself. I questioned this as I thought the BC should pay for this as I thought it fell into the same realm as the lifts etc. She then sent me the attached minutes which show a ruling that the aircons will NOT be covered by the BC, instead the owners would now be liable.

My questions are:
1) Is this change listed in the minutes legal?
2) Is it within my rights to find a tradesman to have a look and quote for free? or would it be best to use the original techies.
3) If the fault is found to be found outside of my walls, would the BC have to cover this?
4) Is there anything else at all I can do or should I just bite the bullet?

I simply don't understand why i'm paying seemingly ridiculous BC fees when i only own a small studio. What the hell is the point if the central air is not covered??

The breakdown of the B/C fees are
$1300 administrative fund
$950 sinking fund
$50 Insurance Levy
thats $9200p.a! which is just shy of 50% of my gross rental.

For my future reference - would landlord insurance have covered this if I had it?

Also another unrelated question - I've been asked by my PM (on behalf of the tennants) to build a balconny cover as my unit has one of those large alfresco style balconys which tend to collect rubbish from the wonderful tenants above. I orginally agreed to this as I thought all it would involve is essentially polycarbonate roofing on a couple of sticks (yes i know I am oversimplfying, but you get the picture). However when the PM came back with a quote, the cover was going to cost just shy of 10k. Isn't this a little excessive? Is there a cheaper way? surely some polycarbonate would be sufficient?

Thanks for taking the time to read.
S

 

[Collector]

Sorry to hear about all your problems...

In regards to the costs of repairing the air-conditioner - it seems that the Executive committee (4 people) have decided that a lot owner is responsible for repairs to individual lots.


If they have had a meeting and as the result of that meeting have changes the "By-Laws" then you will be liable for the cost of the repair.

Is this a serviced apartments or a hotel conversion?

Sounds to me (refering to the meeting minutes) that this has been an ongoing problem with this building - i would doubt they would have a meeting just for 1 repair to your unit.

 

[travelbug]

The breakdown of the B/C fees are
$1300 administrative fund
$950 sinking fund
$50 Insurance Levy
thats $9200p.a! which is just shy of 50% of my gross rental.
S

WOW!!! There are some serious levies. Were they that high when you bought. Why buy something like that is it's 50% of your rent. How is that going to make money? Sell it (if you can). $950 sinking- Do they have massive problems to fix? or are they stockpiling money? How many units? That's a lot of money.
The first thing I look at are strata fees.

Friend of mine last year paid $90,000 special levy. His fees are over $2,000pq but the place is worth millions. Is yours? I'm hoping so with those fees.

 

[marg4000]

How old is the air-con system? Would this be covered under warranty?

Any cover on the balcony will require BC approval, and they may dictate the style needed. Just imagine the effect if every balcony had a different cover on it.
Marg

 

[James Allen]

Sounds like the issue with the a/c is to do with the zoning, either tenant doesn't know how to operate it or it got a problem. If it is broken, nearly every zoning system on the market for resi has at least a 5 year warranty. Find out the brand and I'll tell you who to call.

 

[Alabex]

it is not uncommon for a by law like this to be passed. I know of a building in my area where they have passed bylaws to remove their responsibility of heaps of things... front door locks, balcony door rollers and locks and airconditioning to name a few.

with regards to the overhead cover - regardless of the cost and style you will more than likely require body corp approval to attach anything like this to the outside of the building.

 

[badcliq]

If the problem only affects your unit and not others, even though it's a central system, they're deemed to be under your responsibility to fix because the problem would have been on your side or because it's only to service your unit that's having the problem.

If they fix it and found the problem actually relates to the central system, not "spefically" for your unit, then you can claim the costs back against the body corp.

Btw, 50% of the gross rent is too much!

And no insurance would cover for such maintenance (i think). Even if they did, they would have really high excess.

 

[sacraven]

Thanks all,

I was 19 when I bought it and it was my first investment property. Yes the strata is high, but I had no idea what strata at that time, and just thought it was part of what needed to be paid. (One of those learning mistakes I guess). It is a large inner city apartment building in brizzy.
On the upside, I had the property refinanced just recently and the banks valuer valued it at a 45% increase in just over 3 years.

Sounds like the issue with the a/c is to do with the zoning, either tenant doesn't know how to operate it or it got a problem. If it is broken, nearly every zoning system on the market for resi has at least a 5 year warranty. Find out the brand and I'll tell you who to call.

James - The building was complete at end of 2005, would it still be under warranty? I'll get you the details of the aircon when I have the chance.

Thanks guys for all your help.

 

[James Allen]

Seeing as the building is in Brisbane I can recomend a excellent service tech if you want one, a lot of the guys used by PM's don't have a clue.

Also seeing as it is a large building there are a number of scenarios, it's could have one central a/c plat and this is feed into all the units, but seeing as the problem is affecting only you than this is probably not the case.

Chances are that it is a either one ducted unit with zoning or there are a few small ducted units. The main problem with units like this is access to the ceiling cavity, generally a problem that requires the changing of parts means you have to remove part of the ceiling.

System is probably still under warranty but if it's the zoning then it'll be parts only warranty and you'll still be up for labour.

 

[sacraven]

James,

The PM has called in a tech from Dalkia and they charge $100 to have an initial look. Would your guy do the same?

thanks

 

[Collector]

James,

The PM has called in a tech from Dalkia and they charge $100 to have an initial look. Would your guy do the same?

thanks

The building is only 3 years old, as such all item in the building should be covered under the builders waranty, i would find out why this is not the case with this issue?

 

[James Allen]

He would probably charge you very much the same, he used to be service manager for Trane/Dalkia and he is who they call when they have something to hard for them to figure out.

As I said earlier you should still be under warranty so I would be calling the manufacturer out to look, even if they come and identify the problem as not being thier's they will charge you about the same amount as Dalkia, if it is there problem you are going to have to call them regardless and you will still have to pay Dalkia.

 

[sacraven]

Hi guys,

Just to close off this thread.

The techie went in and had a look. Turns out the previous tennant simply shut off the vents

Apparently the job took a total of 30 seconds to investigate and fix - all for a nice sum of $100. I glad it wasn't anything else major, but boy that's a fantastic hourly rate!.

Cheers all!

 

[dezbroatch]

Landlord Insurance

When you’re a landlord, normal house insurance simply won’t do. Over and above the buildings and contents you’re responsible for the health and safety of the people on your property too. Like anyone operating a business it’s essential that you protect yourself against potential lawsuits for accidents, injuries or even fatalities on your property, as well as the damage to the building or its contents. You can get more info on all sorts of different cover for landlords at http://www.simplelandlordsinsurance.com/ Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[Spectre]

ne building i'm in with, we have about 20 units and each meeting you'll get 1 or 2 owners.
The rest just whinge when we spend money on repairs. Really amazing that more owners dont take an active role in body corp and let others manage their affairs

 

[sacraven]

When you’re a landlord, normal house insurance simply won’t do. Over and above the buildings and contents you’re responsible for the health and safety of the people on your property too. Like anyone operating a business it’s essential that you protect yourself against potential lawsuits for accidents, injuries or even fatalities on your property, as well as the damage to the building or its contents. You can get more info on all sorts of different cover for landlords at http://www.simplelandlordsinsurance.com/ Hope this helps and good luck!

thanks Dezbroatch - appreciate the link!

ne building i'm in with, we have about 20 units and each meeting you'll get 1 or 2 owners.
The rest just whinge when we spend money on repairs. Really amazing that more owners dont take an active role in body corp and let others manage their affairs

It's not convenient for me to attend any of the meetings.

 

[Kris77]

I wouldnt say that $100 was excessive. When you think about it theres more time involved than 30 seconds. It could take the tech 1/2 hour to and from the property (thats 1 hour), 15 minutes at the property, plus he has to take time to bill it out, has to pay an admin girl to do the invoice etc etc. The only way you could have done it cheaper would be to have done is yourself, and would you have been able to find out what the problem was? We need to remember $100 doesnt go directly into their pockets, the government, staff, insurance, all take a cut of that $100.

 

[Nth Brisbanite]

ne building i'm in with, we have about 20 units and each meeting you'll get 1 or 2 owners.
The rest just whinge when we spend money on repairs. Really amazing that more owners dont take an active role in body corp and let others manage their affairs

Totally agree. I was chairman for 2 body corps but got sick of spending time maintaining and improving other owners' units. I've just sold one of the units, vowing never to buy another unit. I've resigned as chairman for the other body corp but have stayed on as a committee member.

I'm amazed at how disinterested owners are in their own property. The majority never turn up to any meetings, never vote, never do anything except whinge when levies go up.