Hi all,
Hoping for some guidance here. I'm in Sydney and the IP is an apartment in the inner west.
I'm a fairly hands off IP owner and bought my first unit in December 2012. Today I received a letter from my strata company saying I owe $5000 in levies + debt costs. What upset me was the fact that there were two arrears notice charges of $33, Debt Collection - Letter of Demand of $77, Statement of Claim $440 and Statement of Claim lodgement fee of $218.
Now this is the first time I've actually received a letter from my Strata Company. I called them up just before and they said they have been sending it to the tenanted property since January 2013. Apparently someone changed it in May 2014 to my correct home address. I suspect it was either the property agent or the new tenant that came in April that corrected it.
My property agent is the same company that I used to purchase of IP (because they offered a letting fee discount). I checked my Management Agreement and it states in there that I "authorise" and "direct" the property manager to pay the strata fees on my behalf.
Question is, do I have any recourse to recoup the arrears and debt notice costs totaling $801 from my property manager?
Or does anyone know of any means I can apply for those costs to be waived? I spoke to the Strata Company and they were certain they would not do anything to make it easier.
I understand I must pay the standard levy amounts, but the arrears and debt charges are ridiculous considering I never got them in the first place.
I know it's mainly my own fault for being complacent and thinking the agent was taking care of it all, but hey, there's a lesson here I guess.
Any thoughts or advice much appreciated. Thank you guys
Hoping for some guidance here. I'm in Sydney and the IP is an apartment in the inner west.
I'm a fairly hands off IP owner and bought my first unit in December 2012. Today I received a letter from my strata company saying I owe $5000 in levies + debt costs. What upset me was the fact that there were two arrears notice charges of $33, Debt Collection - Letter of Demand of $77, Statement of Claim $440 and Statement of Claim lodgement fee of $218.
Now this is the first time I've actually received a letter from my Strata Company. I called them up just before and they said they have been sending it to the tenanted property since January 2013. Apparently someone changed it in May 2014 to my correct home address. I suspect it was either the property agent or the new tenant that came in April that corrected it.
My property agent is the same company that I used to purchase of IP (because they offered a letting fee discount). I checked my Management Agreement and it states in there that I "authorise" and "direct" the property manager to pay the strata fees on my behalf.
Question is, do I have any recourse to recoup the arrears and debt notice costs totaling $801 from my property manager?
Or does anyone know of any means I can apply for those costs to be waived? I spoke to the Strata Company and they were certain they would not do anything to make it easier.
I understand I must pay the standard levy amounts, but the arrears and debt charges are ridiculous considering I never got them in the first place.
I know it's mainly my own fault for being complacent and thinking the agent was taking care of it all, but hey, there's a lesson here I guess.
Any thoughts or advice much appreciated. Thank you guys