Many strata owners complain that their neighbours have too much control over their lives … and then you get someone who feels there’s way too little.
QUESTION: My owners corporation is non-existent. In our group of eight townhouses, everybody does what they want.
One owner has converted their garage into a playroom for their kids and now parks cars on common property. Another ripped out an aircon unit and filled the space with cement blocks. There is a steady stream of short-term residents in “reduced circumstances.”
Meanwhile, the other owners refuse to get involved and they won’t have a strata manager because it’s ”too expensive.” They also won’t put money into a sinking fund because they don’t see the point in paying for repairs that might benefit someone else. Is this legal and is there anything I can do about it? Rula, Blacktown
ANSWER: You’d have a very good case to take to the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (NSW only) to ask for a strata manager to be put in charge, for the simple reason that it is not being run in accordance with the act. Changes made to common property have to be approved by 75 per cent of owners. You have to have a sinking fund plan and common property has to be maintained. That’s the law.
Things such as parking and other by law breaches should be policed by your executive committee (if you have one.) Failing that, they can be raised at Fair Trading by owners (NSW only.)
Your neighbours may think they can let things drift but there will be no documentation to show what’s been approved and what hasn’t.
There are plenty of schemes that don’t have strata managers but have active committee members and vice versa. Having neither is just storing up problems that will have to be addressedwhen somebody realises their investment is being devalued.
Source: Jimmy Thomson, Sydney Morning Herald 26/6/10