Strata Disputes – Under the Ground up in the Air and Everywhere in Between 

Strata disputes and common property come in all shapes and sizes, especially when dealing with neighbouring property owners.

As owners of real property, owners corporations find themselves dealing with the owners of neighbouring land in a multitude of circumstances.

Neighbouring Land Disputes

• Easements
• Ground Anchors
• Cranes
• Scaffolding
• Trees, Fences and Walls
• Law of Nuisance
• Damage and Liability
• And even, landslides

You’ve probably had reason to deal with one or more of the above – but if you haven’t, then get ready, because you almost certainly will at some point in time!

Read on… Common Property and Dealing with Adjoining Owners

DEALING WITH NEIGHBOURING PROPERTY – DO YOU NEED AN EASEMENT?

Warwick van Ede I BEc LLM I Lawyer

Since 1990, Warwick has specialised in strata law, property law and litigation. Recognised for his expertise, he is also a NSW Law Society Accredited Specialist in Property Law. In 2021 he was selected to serve on the Property Law Committee of the Law Society of NSW. Profile I LinkedIn

Contact Us

For all strata law advice including by-laws, building defects and levy collections contact our specialist NSW and Sydney strata lawyers here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist. 

In last week’s newsletter article, we reported on a recent NCAT case in which an owners corporation was ordered to repair damage to lot property caused by a common property roof leak.

Our article generated considerable interest. The NCAT decision begs the question: Is an owners corporation responsible for repairing lot property?

In this article, we take a closer look at that issue and consider whether the NCAT case we reported on last week (Mastellone v The Owners – Strata Plan No. 87110 [2021] NSWCATAP 188) was correctly decided.

Read the full article Is an Owners Corporation Responsible for Repairing Lot Property?

For all NSW strata legal advice including by-laws, building defects and levy collections contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

The strata legislation contains a number of requirements which must be met for any AGM.

These include requirements for the AGM agenda to contain certain motions and for the AGM notice to be accompanied by various documents.

So, what happens if these requirements are not met? Is the AGM invalid?

A recent decision of the Supreme Court provides helpful guidance on this issue – Supreme Court Strata AGM Guidance.

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

NCAT was recently presented with a unique insurance problem concerning the insurance policies for a strata scheme in the snowy mountains region of NSW.

The strata scheme contains 100 lots and common property with free standing houses and outbuildings that are situated on acreages.

The common property also includes a free standing community hall, roads and paddocks occupying 806 acres of rural land.

Confronting the owners corporation for many years was a unique insurance problem. The strata legislation required the owners corporation to insure all of the buildings in the strata scheme, even the homes and outbuildings that were situated entirely on the lots and did not contain any common property.

How did NCAT resolve this unique Insurance Problem?

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

Thanks strata for attending our recent forum. In the busy and hectic world of strata, we appreciate you taking the time and effort to join us.

We hope you enjoyed the forum as much as we did presenting and sharing our knowledge.

As promised, please find below copies of all presentations and papers.

If there is anything we can assist you with please do not hesitate to contact us here or one of our lawyers below.

How have the New Laws Shaped Up?

Warwick van Ede 
The Dawn of a New Era  I  Strata Renewals  and Collective Sales  Presentation and  Paper

Daniela Terruso 
How to Avoid the Pitfalls and Correct the Mistakes  I  By-law Reviews  Presentation and Paper

Faiyaaz Shafiq
The New Procedures and Traps for Young Players  I   Levy Recovery  Presentation and Paper

Adrian Mueller
Goodbye, Thoo  I  Novel Compensation Claims Against Owners Corporations Presentation and Paper

Adrian Mueller
How to Make You Look Good  I  The 5 Most Useful By-laws Presentation and Paper

Helen Amanatiadis
The New Regime  I  Building Bonds and Inspection Reports  Presentation and Paper

Adrian Mueller
The Good, Bad and Ugly  I  The New Strata Laws Presentation and Paper

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

Did you know a person involved in a strata dispute in NCAT must get permission from NCAT to be represented by a strata lawyer?

Under the previous legislation, legal representation at NCAT was allowed. However, all of that changed with the introduction in 2014 of the NCAT and in 2016 the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.

This has created problems and questions for many owners corporations which require legal representation in NCAT such as:

• When and will NCAT grant permission for a party to be represented by a lawyer?
• What happens if NCAT refuses to allow a strata lawyer to represent an owners corporation – who will present the owners corporation’s case?
• Can the strata lawyer still help if they cannot provide representation at NCAT?

So, what role can a strata lawyer for an owners corporation play when NCAT does not allow the lawyer to represent the owners corporation?  What is The Right to Strata Legal Representation in NCAT?

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

After four sets of legal proceedings, the Supreme Court has finally given the green light for a lot owner to keep his outdoor spa and decking installed on an external area in a lot in a residential strata scheme.

This case highlights the restrictions that apply to appeals to the Supreme Court against decisions made by NCAT in strata disputes and the difficulty winning those appeals.

Read the full case here; After 4 Years, Mr Nicholls Gets to Keep His Spa

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

The deadline for owners corporations to review their by-laws has passed and most owners corporations have now completed their by-law reviews.

So what lessons can be learned from the by-law review process? And, more importantly, what mistakes have been made during that process and how can they be fixed?

Read this paper to find out common mistakes and how you can fix them  By-law Reviews – How to Avoid the Big Mistakes.

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

Thanks Strata, as a wrap up here are some useful links from 2017…

• We shared our strata knowledge through our new resource library
• We listened to you and launched our new brand and website
• We developed strata by-law and meeting templates for the new strata laws
• We tweeted, 54 times sharing the latest in strata law
• We posted, 45 times on LinkedIn with the latest updates
• We collected for over 600 new levy debt recovery matters plus our regulars
• We expanded our team to better service the strata industry

We’re taking a break from 5.30pm 21 December 2017 and returning on 15 January 2018.

We wish you and your families a safe and happy ‘Festive Season’ and look forward to working with you in 2018.

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

Owners Corporations and strata managers in NSW sometimes wonder how they can recover outstanding strata levies from owners of strata units who have disappeared and are nowhere to be found. Well, do not be disillusioned.

Muellers has now given hope to owners corporations and strata managers and has proved the naysayers wrong acting in what has been widely reported as the first ever sale of a strata unit by the NSW Sheriff.

In the recent case of The Owners-Strata Plan No. 7396 -v- Siak Hong law (unreported), in which Muellers acted for the successful owners corporation, the Supreme Court of NSW ordered that documents be served on a unit owner who was unable to be found, via substituted service orders.

More importantly, the Supreme Court also ordered the NSW Sheriff to sell the owner’s unit by a certain date to ensure the sale of the unit and recovery of overdue levies was not delayed.

This case shows that overdue levies can be recovered from an errant unit owner and that it is possible to force the Sheriff to sell a strata unit to ensure that overdue levies are paid to an owners corporation.

The outcome we achieved in the case was the result of much hard work, sheer determination and a never say die attitude to demonstrate that even in the most difficult cases it is possible for overdue levies to be recovered.

Setting a precedent, the case was also picked up by mainstream media:

• Sale of apartment owned by monk who disappeared overseas sets legal precedent
• Merry chase for mystery Malaysian monk who renounced his ‘worldly possessions’

At Muellers that is the approach we take to all our levy collection matters and that is why we are widely regarded as the leader in strata levy collections.

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.