In a recent case in which JS Mueller & Co Lawyers acted for the successful owners corporation, the Supreme Court took an interesting journey back in time to land dealings in the early days of the British penal colony in New South Wales, and clarified one aspect of cases where easements are sought pursuant to section 88K of the Conveyancing Act 1919.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of easements over land created in 1839 and the validity of easements over the same piece of land ordered by the Supreme Court in 2003.

This highlights the difficulty a party will have in challenging property rights that have existed for almost 200 years.

So, what iconic Sydney buildings did this involve? Supreme Court Upholds Validity of Easements

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

The Supreme Court has recently delivered a very firm warning to all owners corporations and litigants that the Court will not easily grant a litigant permission to use an expert’s report that is prepared very late in the case.

The Court will not assist an owners corporation if it has failed to take steps quickly and efficiently in preparing its experts’ report for use as evidence in a building defect case brought against a builder or developer under the Home Building Act.

In a recent case involving AV Jennings the Supreme Court refused to grant permission for an owners corporation to rely on an expert’s report that was prepared very late in the day Building Defects Experts Reports Case.

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

The NSW Court of Appeal has handed down the most important decision concerning building defects in many years.

This decision means that builders and developers can be held liable for design defects.

This is a positive decision for owners corporations as it extends the scope of the statutory warranties concerning the quality of residential building work that is given by builders and developers to owners corporations under the home building legislation.

The case concerned defective residential building work that was undertaken to convert a warehouse complex originally built in 1928 into a mixed use strata development in Camperdown, Sydney.

So, what was the case about? Building Defects Case Important Decision

For NSW levy collection or strata legal 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.

We’ve been receiving a few enquiries in regards to the rules for levy recovery and payment plans under the new strata legislation.

You may recall late 2016 the new laws came into play giving lot owners the specific right to request an owners corporation to agree to a payment plan for any levies in arrears.

However, before a levy recovery payment plan can be put into place,  the owners corporation must accept the payment plan at a general meeting.

Therefore any lot owner who wants to pay their levies by instalments through a payment plan has to do the following:

1. Make a request (supported by owners who hold at least 25% of the unit entitlements) to the owners corporation to hold an EGM at which the owners corporation will consider the request of the lot owner to enter into a payment plan.
2. Pay the costs of holding the EGM at which the owner wants the payment plan to be approved.
3. Explain to the owners corporation why the payment plan should be approved to convince other owners why they should be given more time to pay their levies.
4. Have the payment plan approved at the EGM or alternatively, wait until the AGM for the plan to be approved.

Important

It’s important to note that by holding an EGM it is not guaranteed that the request for the payment plan will be approved as the entry into a payment plan is a discretionary matter for the owners corporation and it is not a mandatory requirement that such a plan has to be accepted.

Conversely, an owners corporation in a deserving and genuine case may decide to accept a request for a payment plan provided the owners corporation is of the view that the plan is likely to be adhered to and is fair and reasonable.

If a request for a payment plan is refused the lot owner may decide to take legal action in NCAT to ask for more time to pay their levies (but this would be unusual) or seek orders from the Local Court to permit the levies to be paid by instalments.

Any payment plan approved by an owners corporation cannot extend beyond 12 months and still does not prevent the owners corporation taking legal action against the lot owner to recover overdue levies.

For the full details of the new levy collection laws read our paper – Levy Collection New Laws

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

JS Mueller & Co has been serving the strata industry for almost four decades, since 1979, and as our business grows, so does our team of strata experts. As such, we’re proud to announce the addition of three new strata lawyers to our team.

Adrian Mueller partner JS Mueller & Co said “our team of strata lawyers is growing fast and we pride ourselves on recruiting experts with the right mix of experience and knowledge helping us to continue to expand our presence as a leader in the strata industry. We’d also like to thank our existing clients for their ongoing support.”

“In my 40 years as senior partner of our firm I have not experienced a team of lawyers as proficient as the team we have today. I am proud that we are able to provide unparalleled service to our clients from the best strata lawyers in NSW”, said Jeffrey Mueller.

Please join us in giving a warm welcome to our newest team members.

Warwick VanEde I Lawyer I 28 Years I Strata Law I Property Law I Litigation
Warwick is a NSW Law Society Accredited Specialist in property law who has significant experience advising on strata and community title developments. He has a focus on providing assistance to developers and owners corporations including drafting by-laws, community and strata management statements, conveyancing and all aspects of strata law. He is also an accomplished litigator having appeared as advocate in most senior courts in NSW. Full profile.

Helen Amanatiadis I Lawyer I 20 Years I Strata Law I Property Law I Litigation I Construction
Helen has extensive experience acting for owners corporations, particularly in relation to construction related matters. Her experience includes building contract negotiations, preparing payment schedules and adjudication responses in security of payment claims by contractors against owners corporations, and acting in building contract and defects disputes. Helen also advises on insurance claims, easements, compulsory acquisitions, strata disputes and by-laws. Full profile.

Daniela Terruso I Lawyer I 15 Years I Strata Law I Property Law
Daniela has significant experience in providing legal services to owners corporations and developers in a wide variety of areas. Her background includes working on the acquisition of development sites and preparation of off the plan contracts, by-laws and management statements for vacant land, housing and strata and community title developments. Daniela also specialises in drafting complex by-laws. Full profile.

Our Team
We are continuing to build our team. In our view, there is no substitute for experience and that is why we have assembled a team of lawyers that have real expertise in strata law. As our firm further grows, you can expect that we will continue to keep you up to date with all of the latest developments in strata law.

If you are interested in working for JS Mueller & Co Lawyers please send us a covering letter and resume.

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

NCAT has recently changed the rules that apply to expert evidence in most strata cases.

These changes relax the rules relating to expert evidence and make it easier for opinions to be given by experts in a quicker and cheaper way.

Previously, if a person such as a building consultant, engineer or valuer, wanted to give expert evidence in a strata dispute in NCAT, they had to comply with certain rules before their evidence would be accepted.

These included rules that required the person to follow an Expert Witness Code of Conduct to ensure that they act as an independent expert and not as the “hired gun” of one of the parties.

Often, an expert’s report would be rejected by NCAT if those rules were not followed.

However, those rules no longer apply to most strata disputes. This means that experts will now be able to give evidence in most strata cases in NCAT without having to comply with every aspect of the Expert Witness Code of Conduct.

This is intended to ensure that opinions for strata disputes, given by experts, are able to be obtained in an easier and cheaper way although those opinions will still need to be soundly based and reliable.

So, what are the new rules for giving expert evidence? NCAT Changes the Rules for Strata Disputes.

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice 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.

Must strata lot owners pay, as part of their levies, maintenance of the common property they do not use?

Are all strata owners responsible for paying for the maintenance of every part of the common property even if some owners cannot or do not use part of the common areas?

Is it possible for an owners corporation to raise a differential contribution that is levied on some but not all owners or is levied in shares that are not proportional to the unit entitlements of the lots?

Here are some typical examples where owners often query if they should pay for maintenance of these areas:

• A strata scheme that contains multiple stages – should they pay for stage 2 if they’re in stage 1?
• The owner of a ground floor lot who does not use a lift servicing the upper levels of the building
• The owner who does not use recreational facilities such as a swimming pool, gym or tennis court

Are these exceptions or are common areas in strata residential blocks treated as a whole?

Read this paper to find out the true position – Common Property Use and Differential Levies in Strata Blocks

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

Illegally parked vehicles taking up visitor parking spaces in strata blocks are becoming more and more of an issue as the Sydney community grows and creates more demand for parking. 

It’s reported that residents and non-residents are taking up visitor car parking with their extra cars, strangers dumping unregistered vehicles and apartments near major centres or transport hubs being targeted by commuters, all ignoring the rules and causing grief across Sydney’s high-rise strata communities.

So, what can be done?

Are owners corporations powerless to remove illegally parked vehicles from visitor parking spaces in strata blocks? A recent article in SMH Domain suggests this is the case.

But what is the true position? Download to find out what can be done about Illegally Parked Vehicles in Strata. 

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