This ACT article is about making an application to ACAT.
Question: I need to make an ACAT application against another lot owner. My strata manager has refused to provide me with the lot owner’s address from the corporate register. What can I do?
Answer: We suggest requesting access to the information under section 116(2) of the UTMA.
We assume that you have attempted to ascertain if the occupier of the unit is the owner and, if they are not, sought the owner’s contact information from the occupier of the unit. If the owner is the occupier, we further assume you have exhausted other means of resolving the dispute directly, noting that if this is the case, the documents can be served on the owner personally. Additionally, if the dispute pertains to a breach of a rule of the owners corporation (OC), we assume that this has been raised with the executive committee so they may take steps to issue a rule infringement notice (if this dispute relates to a breach of a rule, then we suggest you consider this approach).
Two essential questions need to be addressed, being whether this is a dispute being brought under the Unit Titles (Management) Act 2011 (ACT) (UTMA), and if yes, whether you have a right under the UTMA to access another unit owner’s personal information from the corporate register to serve documents.
Dispute
Section 125 of the UTMA allows a party to a dispute to apply to ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT), which includes two or more owners or occupiers of a unit. Therefore, as this dispute is between two owners (or occupiers) in the same units plan, it is a dispute under the UTMA.
Access to Information
Section 116(2) of the UTMA, an applicant for an ACAT order under the UTMA may request access from the OC to inspect and take a copy of the name and address of a unit owner on the corporate register. The note under this subsection also states ‘this is to enable the applicant for the order to comply with the requirements for service under the [UTMA]’.
In the first instance, we suggest requesting access under section 116(2) of the UTMA and bringing this note to the OC’s attention, including providing information about the ACAT order being sought. We note that the OC has obligations in relation to using, disclosing, and storing personal information in the corporate register in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which may be why there is some hesitation in allowing you access. If this avenue is unsuccessful, under section 129(1)(i) of the UTMA, you may apply to ACAT for an order allowing you to examine records of the OC. We note that under section 121 of the UTMA, failure to comply with a request for information under section 116(2) is an offence and attracts penalties against the executive members of the OC.
Dylan Glover Clayton Utz E: dglover@claytonutz.com
This post appears in Strata News #675.
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