Strata Levies in arrears, only just found out!!

But seriously, thank you to everyone for their advice and thoughts on what I should do. This place is awesome. I'll keep this thread updated on what happens if that interests any of you :eek:
 
This is the difference between a good PM and a bad PM.

My PM has his own check list. Any time he takes on a new client. After confirming with the owner that they want him to pay the bills on their behalf, he contacts Council, Water, strata and has all the invoices directed to his business.

A pm that does this is going above and beyond.

This is a checklist that every buyer should have.

Probably a good value added after service for mortgage brokers or conveyancers to provide by sending the client a checklist after the place settles.
 
It's one of those face palm moments that you wish you hadn't ignored that niggling feeling that something wasn't right.

You need a rough idea of what you should be paying for expenses, and when the bills should arrive. Next time maybe a bill just gets lost in the mail, but how will you know?
 
I prepay all my prop expenses all at once each year. It saves the headache of doing it quarterly. I also pay any repair invoices myself as, although I have good pm's, I like to manage the cash flow of the portfolio carefully. Everyone is different and some would consider what I do micromanaging. But for me, being on top of my cashflow is important, as is adding to my cash buffers.
 
Trick for young players: check what you sign. You will possibly find that the solicitor has used the address of the ip as your postal address so any and all of your mail has been sent to the wrong place. Have you (or the agent) received any of the other expenses?
 
A pm that does this is going above and beyond.

I know that some (maybe most) PM's can rather lazy.
However that's not an excuse.

If what I described is defined as going "above an beyond" we truly live in a really shiithole of a society.
 
Would've been proactive if the BC had decided to phone you to chase up the arrears. Guess they're not thinking either. :rolleyes:
Sounds like Terry's on the money (as usual).
Good luck
Cheers
thecrest
 
The strata manager would generally have no idea how to contact someone if they hadn't been notified initially. They would send out bills to the unit unless advised of another address. If the bills are not paid they would probably just assume the owner is refusing to pay.

I have done 2 recent conveyancing matters where the seller hasn't paid their strata rates in a number of years, one being 5 years.

I was also contacted by a forum member who didn't pay her strata rates, refushing for some reasons and she was actually bankrupted as a result - she had the money initially. End result was trustee in bakruptcy appointed and she was out of pocket around $50k to rectify things.
 
All of this could have been avoided with some simple communication up front. Call / send a letter / email the body corp to change your mailing address, then follow up with a call to confirm.
 
My PM sent me all the authority forms to sign to make this happen. He then took care of the rest. This was all part of the initial sign up.

We get permission from our landlords for the same but some places will not accept our notification even with written proof of management. The landlord has to authorise the change in address to our agency and then we take care of the payments.
 
Someone else has said it; you didn't realise you were not paying strata for the last x amount of months. Oh come on, how did you not pick this up?
 
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