Does anyone have any experiences to share about a strata manager
that they didn't like, and trying to replace them? Most articles
that I've read talk about the "owners corporation" (i.e. all owners
in a block of units) being able to do certain things, but it
makes them sound like a cohesive unit - what's the best way
to get to know the other owners?
(I like to provide details so this post covers quite a few questions.
Please feel free to answer only some of them if needed ;-) . Any help
would be better than none.
)
I own a flat within a block of units. What is a way of finding
out the contact details of the other owners, and will that
include their phone numbers and whether they live in their unit
or are renting it out?
I'd like to find out their experiences with our strata manager.
Is there any way of finding out the above details without contacting
the strata manager? They'll suspect something is "up" if I ask
for them.
Can the strata manager charge a fee for providing owners' contact
details, and how much might it be?
They enjoy charging fees. E.g. for taxation purposes, I wanted to
find out information about the original builder of the units and
about repairs that took place 10 years ago before the units were
sold off to people like me. But no, these are 'professional' people:
they say giving me that information isn't a normal part of their
normal 'services' and that I would be charged almost $200 an hour
just for this privilege. And if they have to look into the 'archives'
there will be another (unspecified) fee on top of that.
Is this really the market rate for this kind of "work"? It seems
way too excessive for this kind of basic information.
I told the strata manager that I'd require this information for my
taxes (to work out depreciation) and whether he doesn't use
depreciation in his own taxes. I was pompously told that he doesn't
own a unit in our block because that would be a conflict of interest.
And yet, the owner of this strata managing company DID own a unit
in our block initially 10 years ago and had it for at least a few
years. I'm not sure when they sold it. Is there a law actually
stating that they can't own a unit in a block of units that they
manage - if so, did this law come into existence in the last 10 years
or was the strata manager breaking it?
In any case even if they did sell it, they have always been buddies
with the subsequent owners of that unit. Naturally this unit always
has repairs that are paid for by others (typically leaking shower
floor, sealing shower, and burst pipes).
In every Annual General Meeting for a long time, only the owner of
that unit and myself have been present, with no other owners
casting any votes. That's a mere two people, and of course the owner
of that unit always pulls with what strata manager wants and it's
not possible to pass any agenda item that they don't want to.
Please let me know of any experience you have with other contacing
other owners of a unit and how you organized a meeting (over the
phone? over a cup of tea?). I don't know how many of the owners
actually live in their unit - I think most rent it out which makes
it more difficult, and of course they haven't been interested enough
so far to even attend AGM's.
To dismiss a strata manager, my understanding is that you need to
get a majority vote at a meeting. Importantly, is that the majority
of the owners voting, or of all owners? E.g. if there are 15 units
in the block, and there are 5 owners in the meeting, do you
need 8 yes votes, or 3?
My understanding is also that this meeting doesn't have to be the
AGM, but can be an EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting), which
can be called by the majority of the Executive Committee, or by
at least 1/4 of the total owners of the units.
That now brings the strata manager's contract into play - it
wouldn't do to break the contract. At the moment, I don't know what
the contract terms are because the flat was bought by someone else
and given to me. We've had the same strata manager for 10 years
and no details of their contract ever appeared in any agenda item
at an AGM. Is it possible that they could have a clause in their
contract stating that they can't be dismissed for x years after
any AGM?
Every year they increase their yearly fee of course - is there any
requirement that this fee be voted upon?
In every AGM there's a vote on who will form the Executive Committee,
and since only two unit owners are ever present, we vote ourselves
in. I wonder what would happen if each of us refused to vote for
the other person?
Now, what is an Executive Committee actually for? In the beginning
I didn't really do anything - the strata manager (or the other
person on the Executive Committee) was approving repairs for
other units, e.g. emergencies or damage to the
common property. As an Executive Committee member I asked if I
could also be involved in this. For a while, they did mail out
details of repairs and asked if I would approve of them.
But then this stopoed so that now I don't do anything.
They seem to go solely to the secretary for approval. Is this
something that should or must go to the Executive Committee instead?
Is there actually anything that the Executive Committee MUST do?
On the internet I read a lot of information about strata living and
that one can't do certain things without getting approval from the
"owners corporation", but in my case I find it's the
strata manager or the owner of the other unit who get to decide
everything.
E.g. the strata manager has to employ contractors to various things
of course (like cleaning). Sometimes these
are too high-priced and the manager usually makes an effort to
reduce them after I tell them this. But of course I don't get
invited to approve any fees in the first place - I only find out
about it annually when they send out the AGM notices.
Finally, can anyone recommend a good strata manager? If you've
managed to appoint your own strata manager, what questions
did you ask them before doing so? I guess it would be preferable
if the strata manager had their own website with contact details -
it's easier to read about them first before contacing them blind.
that they didn't like, and trying to replace them? Most articles
that I've read talk about the "owners corporation" (i.e. all owners
in a block of units) being able to do certain things, but it
makes them sound like a cohesive unit - what's the best way
to get to know the other owners?
(I like to provide details so this post covers quite a few questions.
Please feel free to answer only some of them if needed ;-) . Any help
would be better than none.
)
I own a flat within a block of units. What is a way of finding
out the contact details of the other owners, and will that
include their phone numbers and whether they live in their unit
or are renting it out?
I'd like to find out their experiences with our strata manager.
Is there any way of finding out the above details without contacting
the strata manager? They'll suspect something is "up" if I ask
for them.
Can the strata manager charge a fee for providing owners' contact
details, and how much might it be?
They enjoy charging fees. E.g. for taxation purposes, I wanted to
find out information about the original builder of the units and
about repairs that took place 10 years ago before the units were
sold off to people like me. But no, these are 'professional' people:
they say giving me that information isn't a normal part of their
normal 'services' and that I would be charged almost $200 an hour
just for this privilege. And if they have to look into the 'archives'
there will be another (unspecified) fee on top of that.
Is this really the market rate for this kind of "work"? It seems
way too excessive for this kind of basic information.
I told the strata manager that I'd require this information for my
taxes (to work out depreciation) and whether he doesn't use
depreciation in his own taxes. I was pompously told that he doesn't
own a unit in our block because that would be a conflict of interest.
And yet, the owner of this strata managing company DID own a unit
in our block initially 10 years ago and had it for at least a few
years. I'm not sure when they sold it. Is there a law actually
stating that they can't own a unit in a block of units that they
manage - if so, did this law come into existence in the last 10 years
or was the strata manager breaking it?
In any case even if they did sell it, they have always been buddies
with the subsequent owners of that unit. Naturally this unit always
has repairs that are paid for by others (typically leaking shower
floor, sealing shower, and burst pipes).
In every Annual General Meeting for a long time, only the owner of
that unit and myself have been present, with no other owners
casting any votes. That's a mere two people, and of course the owner
of that unit always pulls with what strata manager wants and it's
not possible to pass any agenda item that they don't want to.
Please let me know of any experience you have with other contacing
other owners of a unit and how you organized a meeting (over the
phone? over a cup of tea?). I don't know how many of the owners
actually live in their unit - I think most rent it out which makes
it more difficult, and of course they haven't been interested enough
so far to even attend AGM's.
To dismiss a strata manager, my understanding is that you need to
get a majority vote at a meeting. Importantly, is that the majority
of the owners voting, or of all owners? E.g. if there are 15 units
in the block, and there are 5 owners in the meeting, do you
need 8 yes votes, or 3?
My understanding is also that this meeting doesn't have to be the
AGM, but can be an EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting), which
can be called by the majority of the Executive Committee, or by
at least 1/4 of the total owners of the units.
That now brings the strata manager's contract into play - it
wouldn't do to break the contract. At the moment, I don't know what
the contract terms are because the flat was bought by someone else
and given to me. We've had the same strata manager for 10 years
and no details of their contract ever appeared in any agenda item
at an AGM. Is it possible that they could have a clause in their
contract stating that they can't be dismissed for x years after
any AGM?
Every year they increase their yearly fee of course - is there any
requirement that this fee be voted upon?
In every AGM there's a vote on who will form the Executive Committee,
and since only two unit owners are ever present, we vote ourselves
in. I wonder what would happen if each of us refused to vote for
the other person?
Now, what is an Executive Committee actually for? In the beginning
I didn't really do anything - the strata manager (or the other
person on the Executive Committee) was approving repairs for
other units, e.g. emergencies or damage to the
common property. As an Executive Committee member I asked if I
could also be involved in this. For a while, they did mail out
details of repairs and asked if I would approve of them.
But then this stopoed so that now I don't do anything.
They seem to go solely to the secretary for approval. Is this
something that should or must go to the Executive Committee instead?
Is there actually anything that the Executive Committee MUST do?
On the internet I read a lot of information about strata living and
that one can't do certain things without getting approval from the
"owners corporation", but in my case I find it's the
strata manager or the owner of the other unit who get to decide
everything.
E.g. the strata manager has to employ contractors to various things
of course (like cleaning). Sometimes these
are too high-priced and the manager usually makes an effort to
reduce them after I tell them this. But of course I don't get
invited to approve any fees in the first place - I only find out
about it annually when they send out the AGM notices.
Finally, can anyone recommend a good strata manager? If you've
managed to appoint your own strata manager, what questions
did you ask them before doing so? I guess it would be preferable
if the strata manager had their own website with contact details -
it's easier to read about them first before contacing them blind.