Owners corporation manager problem

[Burramys]

A Victorian Owners Corporation manager is causing grief. The insurance renewal date is the same as for our FY, which means that by the time the AGM happens the manager has renewed the policy. The manager gets a cut of renewed policies. I wanted the insurance to fall due just after the AGM so that the AGM could meaningfully consider the policy. The manager took no action.

Accounts paid on time and in full are not recorded on the manager’s books. The manager then charges an admin fee for non-payment. There was a fairly hefty levy, which the manager declined to itemise.

A VCAT mediation was dismissed as the member determined that the above matters were best raised at an AGM. I sent a proxy to the manager with advice that I wanted the above raised. The proxy was not cited in the minutes. This loss in the post is very convenient for the manager.

The minutes mentioned some of the above, but not having the insurance renewal date changed. The minutes state that the VCAT decision vindicated the manager. This is not true.

Section 159(2) of the Owners Corporation Act says that the complainant must not be identified. The minutes give my unit number, which may be a breach.

There was no quorum for the meeting, so the decisions are interim for 29 days. The next day an invoice was prepared showing an increased quarterly fee. The due date is inside the 29 day period. Is this another breach? This invoice may not be legal, even after the 29 days has elapsed.

Unfortunately there is no agency charged with investigating such matters. It’s up to the owner to take action. When dealing with such managers it’s quite hard for most owners to make headway.

I’m wearying of this manager, who is not evidencing good practise and may be in breach. Advice as to what to do would be appreciated.

 

[vaughan]

I've had no experience with strata, but have been involved with sporting associations and clubs.

1) Your competitors are using the rules to THEIR advantage, you have to know the rules too. Learn all the legislation, rules, constitution etc. You won't get past Go unless you do.
2) Work out what you have to do, using the rules, to get what you want. There may be a time period involved, so make sure you do everything in the right order. (Eg, you might need to get an agenda item tabled at the next meeting BEFORE it can be discussed at the meeting after that.)
3) Get support. If you do not have support then move on. Know how many votes you need, and in what format. (Watch out for gotchas: no point in having 10 proxy votes if half of the owners are behind in their strata payments, because they may be ineligible to vote.)
4) Be methodical and patient, and always work to the rules.

 

[The Y-man]

Raise a motion to change the manager through the committee (not the OC manager).

Are you on the committee? If not, maybe get yourself onto it.

How many units total?

The Y-man

 

[Burramys]

Thanks. I’m fairly conversant with the law surrounding owners corporations. The manager tricked me by not following the rules. Other owners are not really interested in the situation, and lack skills. For example, within a few days of buying my unit I had identified asbestos, dangerous plumbing, termites or the like that were placing the roof in danger of falling down, no CFL lights, OHS breaches, and a few more issues. The manager and committee were not even interested in putting in roof supports, so I did it.

In this property and another that I own there are laundries with washing and drying machines supplied by contractors. In both places the contractors use our water and our electricity and pay us nothing. This was made known to the other property manager and committee, but no action was taken. I organised a contract, but the manager stopped collecting the money.

There are 18 units, with only a handful attending AGMs. There are usually only a few proxies, never quorum. I’m not on committee, and am perhaps viewed as a trouble-maker. The OC Act is fundamentally flawed, with problems that I identified before it was passed being sadly true.

I may buy houses henceforth.

 

[MRO]

I may buy houses henceforth.

Good idea. Lack of control of your own property would make me angry too.

 

[jayg]

I recently had some similar issues with a body corporate management company in VIC. Everything I requested was never received, missed and any other excuse you could imagine.

In the end I requested the lot owners details (which you may pay for depending on the OC company) and requested a special meeting to remove the management company. The letter included all the proxy documentation etc that needed to be filled in and was able to get quorum between me and another owner.

At the special meeting it was decided to remove the current management company so things are starting to look up.

 

[Peterw]

I think either getting yourself onto the committee, or arranging for a special meeting to remove the current manager. You may need to think how you can "sell" the idea to the owners. For example, have a cheaper as well as more proactive manager already lined up, include proxy forms in the material, nominating yourself. Check how many you can have. Here in QLD I think its 5 or 6. In a complex where we managed some 30 units, I shared the proxies amongst staff. Which also raises the question, find out which units are owner occupiers as well as rented units. You may get support from the managing agents, to bring the owners around. The electricity issue could be affecting tenants. Then consider what loss of income and or value the current manager is causing to the owners. That may help them realise that they should not be uninvolved. Good luck.

 

[Burramys]

The best, the very best way to resolve these sorts of issues is legislative or regulatory change. For example, having managers and committee report to the AGM with the notice of meeting would be good. ATM there is a requirement to report but there is no requirement to minute.

Making owner details readily available would greatly assist owners staying in touch with each other. ATM you have to attend the manager’s office or maybe pay for street addresses. If privacy is a consideration, then owners can use email addresses that are not the main one. For example, suppose my main email is [email protected] (it isn’t) my property-related emails could go to [email protected]. Using this strategy would enhance privacy as the street address need not be disclosed.

Make it a requirement that insurance *shall* fall due three months after the AGM. Make it a requirement that any commercial entity using common property *shall* pay the OC for the use of that property. This would catch laundry contractors. Make it so that individually metered water shall be invoiced to the tenants, instead of the average which is the case when there are multiple units and just one water meter. I’m aware of one block that has a difference between the lowest and highest water users of about 50 times. The people that are economical with water subsidise those that are not. This individual metering shall apply to owners who live in their own property.

Set out mandatory fines for breaches that are applied when breaches are found to be so. If this involves a court hearing then the costs of the hearing shall be borne by the respondent. Make these rulings a matter of public record for five years. A better way would be to have state and territory government consumer agencies charge with such investigation and prosecution. This would mean that expertise would be with an agency, not a bumbly lot owner.

If these are set out in legislation, and to a lesser extent regulation, then there is far less wriggle room for managers, and there would be a higher standard of management, with less costs for everyone, and greater transparency.

 

[Burramys]

This seems to have got lost in a sea of words and troubles. In the first post I advised:

There was no quorum for the meeting, so the decisions are interim for 29 days. The next day an invoice was prepared showing an increased quarterly fee. The due date is inside the 29 day period. Is this another breach? This invoice may not be legal, even after the 29 days has elapsed.

Any views on the legality or otherwise of the invoice would be valued.

 

[badcliq]

There was no quorum for the meeting, so the decisions are interim for 29 days. The next day an invoice was prepared showing an increased quarterly fee. The due date is inside the 29 day period. Is this another breach? This invoice may not be legal, even after the 29 days has elapsed.

Yeah, it is fine and it is normal practise to send the levy notice together with minutes anyway?

However, the decision can be challenged provided u can get 25% of owners to object it if not mistaken. Otherwise, it will be final decision.