Don't miss our comprehensive .... and growing .... list of Upcoming Strata Events - found at the very bottom of the newsletter. If you think you may be missing some of the newsletter, simply scroll to the bottom ⬇ and click 'View entire message', or click 'View this email in your browser' on the top ⬆ RHS.
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Create Your Own Premium Listing
Whether you are a Strata Management Company or servicing the strata industry, create your own Premium Listing in just a few minutes! Be part of the Strata Marketplace. Your listing is extremely quick and easy to set up. Grab your complimentary Premium Listing Promotional Package and increase your strata business exposure today.
Our Strata Services Marketplace provides a dedicated database of businesses and services for strata managers and lot owners.
Looking for a strata lawyer, financial advisor, plumber, and electrician or maybe maintenance work is required?
Australia wide - you'll find what you're looking for here.
NSW: Q&A Proxy Votes & Quorum Requirements for Annual General Meeting
Leanne Habib, Premium Strata Question: Leading up to our AGM, our Strata Manager was holding too many proxies, so divvied them up to lot owners. Can this be done? Can you also explain the quorum requirements for annual general meeting?
QLD: Q&A From Accommodation module to Standard module
Frank Higginson, Hynes Legal Question: I’m wondering about schemes changes from the Accommodation module to Standard module. Can the holder of the contract continue to apply for extensions before the 10 year term limit for Standard module agreements is reached, or can they only apply for extensions during the 10 year term period?
ACT: Q&A Why pay strata maintenance fees for facilities we don’t use?
Jan Browne, Whittles Strata Partners Question: Our complex consists of a mix of villas and low rise. Why should villa owners contribute strata maintenance fees for lift maintenance, etc that are only present in the low rise building?
NSW: Q&A Apartment With No Car Park – Can We Share Parking?
Andrew Terrell, Wellman Strata Question: I’m purchasing an apartment with no car park. Only one other apartment in the scheme is without a car space. They seem to use the Tradesman’s Parking space all of the time. Can we share this space?
SA: Q&A Strata Records: Accessing a list of all lot owners
Tony Johnson, Horner Management Question: Are unit owners entitled to a contact list of all owners? When it comes to strata records, what can be included in the lot owners list – addresses, phone numbers etc?
Peter Berney, Solutions in Engineering Question: What are the requirements for Australian child window safety? I’m located in WA and wondering whether we need to comply with something similar to the new NSW legislation.
Whitbread Insurance Brokers Question: The insurance company said our home was part of a Strata scheme and should be insured by the Strata. I have no idea which way to proceed with this problem.
Adrian Mueller, JS Mueller & Co The Supreme Court has rejected a proposal by an owners corporation to upgrade its common property in a way that would have impeded access to an owner’s car space. What are the broader implications of this case?
NSW: Q&A Pets for Units – Can strata say our dog is too big?
Leanne Habib, Premium Strata Question: Can the Owners Corporation place a limit on the size of pets for units? We have a growing, medium size dog. We are worried strata will decide he is too big to be kept in our apartment.
Aust Wide: Apps for buildings – saves money and time.
Providing a range of value adding technological services for residents living in apartments, workers in commercial buildings and Facility Managers.
NSW: Intercoms, Access Control, CCTV, Data & Phone Service & Installation
Quatrix install and maintain Intercom, Access Control, CCTV and Data/Phone cabling and systems.
News of the Week
NSW: Power to the strata: The push to ban Airbnb in apartment blocks
Jacob Saulwick,The Sydney Morning Herald Airbnb should be banned within apartment blocks unless strata committees or owners corporations vote to allow the home-sharing service in the building, Liberal MP John Sidoti says.
NSW: Joseph Pollack has car parking space court case win
news.com.au Pricey Potts Point car space purchase has ended up in a costly court case win after almost three years of disputation with the owners corporation at the 1960s block, The Chimes.
NSW: Strata Community Environmental & Engagement Award
The City of Sydney is sponsoring the Strata Community Environmental and Engagement award at the 2018 CHU Strata Community Awards.
The award recognises strata schemes that have improved environmental performance and is a great way of increasing awareness of programs and initiatives being undertaken by strata buildings.
Nominations are now open for the awards. All strata schemes in NSW are eligible to apply, including non-members of Strata Community Australia.
Award nominations close 8 am, 11 June 2018. Enter now!
State Member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, has launched a petition to have short term letting debated in NSW parliament. He needs 10,000 signatures. They must be original signatures so people need to print, sign, and mail/drop off to his office.
We urge NSW LookUpStrata readers to sign, put up in their lobbies, and share with their committees and other lot owners.
Independent MP Alex Greenwich: There has been a strong supportive response to my petition calling for owners corporations the authority to control short term letting in their building, including to place limits beyond state controls or to ban the practice outright. If you support this approach, please sign and collect signatures. Print petition HERE.
NSW: Report a scheme not complying with window safety device requirements
To report a strata scheme that is not complying with the window safety device requirements, send an email to [email protected] along with the following information:
your name and contact details
the address of the strata scheme
the managing strata agent's name and contact details (or Secretary's details, if there is no managing agent).
Quick QLD Q&A
We sometimes receive interesting questions into the site which aren't quite long enough to create a post. We thought we'd share some here. We recently received the following question: Q: We have a hoarder who has totally neglected his villa. It now suffers structural damage, is barely liveable, has termites and mould. The cost to fix is close to $30,000 and our insurance company has refused to pay out on it. He wants the Body Corp to pay to have it fixed siting a outside leak started the problem. That is very debatable. How do we stand on this? Todd Garsden, Hynes Legal replied: A: The starting point is that lot owners have a statutory responsibility to maintain their lot in good condition – which by the sounds of it, is not being complied with.
The body corporate has rights to make sure that responsibility is complied with.
However, the actual cause is important though. If the owner can prove that all the damage was caused by the body corporate’s failure to maintain something it was responsible for, some of that liability may pass to the body corporate.
