Is your owners corporation likely to be subject to claims that it is discriminating against disabled persons?

A recent decision of the Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division of NCAT has determined that an owners corporation “provides services” to owners and occupiers within a strata scheme. As a result, owners corporations are potentially subject to the provisions of the Anti Discrimination Act 1977, in relation to the way that owners corporations manage and control common property and the finances of the strata scheme.

This raises the prospect that owners corporations may face increasing burdens to manage common property with the needs of disabled persons in mind.

Potential Implications for Discrimination in Strata Schemes

Potentially, this decision widens the possibility that claims under the Anti Discrimination Act can be brought against owners corporations for issues such as:

• providing alternatives to stairs
• installation of lifts
• installation of other lifting mechanisms
• broadening of doorways to enable wheelchair access
• providing non-slip devices
• providing access ramps
• accessibility of garbage facilities
• accessibility of recreational facilities

Owners corporations would be well advised to take great care, and even to seek advice, when issues of discrimination are raised by lot owners and residents .

Read the full article here: Owners Corporation and Discrimination Legislation.

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

Did you know there are 81,717 strata schemes registered in NSW and every year this number grows by more than 1,000 across Sydney and regional NSW?

That’s why the NSW government has recently recognised the importance of strata living laws and the need to ensure that they stay relevant and address some fundamental issues that have arisen since the laws were re-written in 2015.

An online survey has been developed and the NSW Government is asking you to ‘have your say’ here now.

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

How will you respond to the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in the Cooper case which says that a by-law prohibiting pets is invalid?

Will you wait for the dust to settle before deciding what you will do?  Or will you act now and change any by-law that prohibits pets?

Any owners corporations that wait for the dust to settle following that decision before changing their pets by-law may well live to regret that decision.

In this article we take a closer look at each of different approaches and recommend why playing the waiting game could be your undoing.

Read the full article here: Why is it important to update your pets by-law NOW?

CONTACT US HERE TO REVIEW YOUR ‘NO’ PETS BY-LAW

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

As combustible cladding is fast becoming a major focus for multi-storied buildings in New South Wales, lot owners and owners corporations are now facing a major bill and headache to replace combustible cladding.

The problem with combustible cladding has been further exacerbated by the current pandemic as a number of lot owners are unable to afford a special levy due to having lost employment. Some are even facing bankruptcy.

Despite these difficulties, some relief for combustible cladding costs has now arrived from the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

In this document we explain the recent ATO ruling to assist in rectifying combustible cladding defects… ATO Provides Relief for Combustible Cladding Costs

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

The NSW Court of Appeal has overturned a by-law banning pets in the Horizon building in Sydney.

This decision means that “no pets” by-laws are unenforceable.

This will require owners corporations with “no pets” by-laws to now rethink their approach to the keeping of pets in their buildings and likely result in the replacement of “no pets” by-laws with by-laws that restrict (but do not ban) the keeping of pets in strata buildings.

In this paper we discuss the case and ramifications of “no pets” by-laws and more… Pet Owners Rejoice

Do you need your “no pets” by-laws reviewed’? Contact us here now!

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

New building defects laws which commenced in June 2020 received considerable media attention.

Those laws are contained in the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 and impose on builders and others involved in the construction of apartment buildings a statutory duty of care to avoid loss caused by defects.

The new laws give owners corporations greater powers to make defects claims against builders and others.

However, a recent case which dealt with another statutory duty of care highlights some of the issues that will confront an owners corporation which makes a defects claim under the new laws.

In this article we take a look at that case and explain what relevance it has to defects claims that will be brought by owners corporations under the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020.

The full case can be read here Building Defects Claim Duty of Care

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

NCAT’s Appeal Panel has decided that strata records are not protected by privacy laws and that an owner is entitled to inspect strata records that relate to other owners.

Here we share the following case confirming that a strata manager or owners corporation cannot refuse to make available for the inspection of an owner records which the owner is entitled to inspect under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 on the grounds of privacy and that those records are not protected by privacy laws.

Read the full case here: Strata Records not Protected by Privacy By-laws

For all NSW strata legal, by-law, building defect and levy collection advice contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

What would you think if you were told that NCAT could not order an owners corporation to carry out repairs to common property or order a lot owner or tenant to comply with a by-law?

No doubt you would think that could not be correct.

However, recent decisions by the Appeal Panel of NCAT have cast doubt on NCAT’s power to resolve most types of strata disputes.

So where does that leave us?

Read the full article here: Is NCAT’s Ability to Resolve Strata Disputes Unclear?

For all NSW strata legal, by-law, building defect and levy collection advice contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

On 10 June 2020, the New South Wales Government made new laws regulating the construction of apartment buildings.

Those new building defect laws commenced on 1 September 2020 and will have a significant impact on all owners corporations and the strata industry.

In this paper we discuss the new laws and how they will impact the strata industry including:

• Occupation Certificates
• Stop Work Orders
• Rectification Orders
• Delegation of Powers
• Retrospectivity

Read the full paper here: New Laws that will have a significant impact on the Strata Industry.

For all NSW strata legal, by-law, building defect and levy collection advice contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

There have been two recent court cases involving “squatter’s rights” over parcels of land in Sydney.

In both of those cases, people have acquired ownership of parcels of land they did not own through adverse possession by exercising “squatter’s rights”.

Both of these cases raise interesting questions for strata schemes:

• What are “squatter’s rights”?
• Can “squatter’s rights” exist in a strata scheme?
• Do the rules for “squatter’s rights” make it impossible for a person to claim ownership of part of the common property in strata scheme?
• Do those rules make it difficult for an owners corporation to claim ownership of a lot even if it has been abandoned?

Abandoned houses, “dunny lanes”, car spaces, storerooms and more: here we explain this complex area of law and share some recent cases – Squatters Rights in Strata Schemes.

For all NSW strata legal advice inclusive of by-laws, building defect and levy recovery advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.