JS Mueller & Co partner and strata law expert, Adrian Mueller, shares the following case  Frankel – v – Patterson [2015] NSWSC 1307 with LookUp Strata Newsletter.

For more information read – Pet By-laws

JS Mueller & Co Senior Lawyer and strata law expert, Adrian Mueller, discusses home warranty insurance in REINSW Strata Management Chapter News.

Adrian strongly expressed that knowledge is essential, especially when it comes to home warranty insurance and understanding what rights you have.

Click here now to view this case study which outlines the importance of  Home Warranty Insurance

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

About JS Mueller & Co

JS Mueller & Co has been servicing the strata industry across NSW for almost 40 years. We are a specialist firm of strata lawyers with in depth and unmatched experience in, and comprehensive knowledge of strata law and levy collection. We are there to assist you every step of the way.

JS Mueller & Co Headquarters
Level 1, 240 Princes Highway
Arncliffe Sydney Australia 2205
www.muellers.com.au

Media inquiries: Contact Julie Schoneveld on 02 9562 1266 or 0435 939 491

JS Mueller & Co Partner, Bruce Bentley, comments on ‘Sunset Clawbacks’ in the Sydney Morning Herald Domain.

Top strata lawyers have called for NSW property protections to be brought into line with other Australian states after it was discovered that the owners of seven apartments in a single new block sold off the plan had been victims of “sunset clawbacks”.

Click here to read the full article – Top Lawyers Call for Changes to Sunset Clawbacks

About JS Mueller & Co

JS Mueller & Co has been servicing the strata industry across NSW for almost 40 years. We are a specialist firm of strata lawyers with in depth and unmatched experience in, and comprehensive knowledge of strata law and levy collection. We are there to assist you every step of the way.

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

JS Mueller & Co Headquarters
Level 1, 240 Princes Highway
Arncliffe Sydney Australia 2205
www.muellers.com.au

Media inquiries: Contact Julie Schoneveld on 02 9562 1266 or 0435 939 491

Did you know that a new register for homeowner warranty insurance policies now exists in NSW?

On 15 January 2015, the new amendments to the Home Building Act 1989 introduced a new register for homeowner warranty insurance (‘HOWI’). The register records homeowner warranty insurance contracts entered into after 1 July 2010.

For further information on ‘HOWI’ see – Home Warranty Insurance Register

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

Some good news…

Home warranty insurance generally protects an owners corporation from being out of pocket for the cost to repair building defects where the builder has been made bankrupt.

But what happens when an owners corporation makes a home warranty insurance claim after the builder’s bankruptcy ends. Is it then too late for the owners corporation to make the insurance claim?

The answer is “no” according to a very recent decision of the NSW Supreme Court.

For further information Strata Home Warranty Insurance Rights

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

Senior Lawyer, Adrian Mueller reminisces…

“In 1980 my parents took me to the Gold Coast for a holiday. It was my first adventure in Queensland. I was 2 years old. We stayed at the (in)famous Iluka hotel.

The Iluka was built in the 1970’s. It was an iconic building – one of the Gold Coast’s first high rises. It had 72 luxury apartments and was a stone’s throw from Cavill Avenue.

It held fond memories for me and, I imagine, many families who enjoyed wonderful times together at the Iluka.

You can imagine my horror when I recently discovered that the Iluka has been demolished. Why? Because of concrete cancer.

You see the owner of the building was faced with a dilemma. Repair the concrete spalling which had been left untreated for decades at exorbitant cost or demolish the building. The owner chose to demolish.

A leading architect Professor Holden, Head of Architecture at the Griffith University in Qld, has said that high rises built in the 1970’s have an average lifespan of 40 years.

That is a sobering thought for apartment owners many of whom cannot afford special levies to repair widespread concrete spalling.

So what is the solution? For some buildings, it may simply be too late. The Iluka is a case in point.

For other buildings, the key is preventative maintenance. As unpalatable as it might be, apartment owners need to realise that spending a little to detect and treat concrete spalling at an early stage saves money in the long run.”

Adrian Mueller also acknowledges that the challenge for strata managers and other stakeholders is to convince owners to invest in proactive maintenance to protect their investment by spending a little in the short term to save big money down the track.

Says  Adrian “Convincing owners to spend now to save later is no mean feat. But it is achievable. And doing so can avoid potential disasters.

I will miss the Iluka.”

Adrian specialises in strata law and those areas of the law that particularly deal with building defects.

“An apartment is someone’s home and most valuable asset. That is something worth protecting and knowing where you stand is vital” says Adrian.

For more information on concrete cancer, visit the following websites – Concrete Cancer or Remedia Structural Repairs

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

Short term lettings might void strata insurance policies leaving no cover for property damage caused to strata apartments and common property by unruly tennants.

This issue came to the fore again last month when a Canadian couple returned to their property to discover it had been wrecked by visitors who had booked the property via the popular Airbnb site.

Unfortunately, short term lettings of strata units are becoming a major contributor to building disharmony with the current law not providing effective solutions.

At JS Mueller & Co we believe each building is different and that the problem of short term lettings can only be dealt with properly by way of specific by-laws giving owners corporations greater powers to deal with the problem.

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

Strata law reforms in NSW will be further delayed with changes now not due to come into place until July 2016.

The plan to reform the state’s 50-year-old strata laws was first flagged in 2011 but a series of ministerial changes have hampered the process.

For further information see – SMH and Strata Law Reforms

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

Bruce Bentley, partner JS Mueller & Co presented recently at a Legalwise Seminar ‘Strata & Community Title Law Reform’ and Complex Group Title.’

For more information read the paper here – Strata & Community Title Law Reform and Complex Group Title

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

Cantonese speaking, JS Mueller & Co Lawyer, Clifford To, talks Strata Law with SBS Cantonese Radio, nation-wide.

If you understand Cantonese and/or have Chinese Cantonese speaking clients listen to the full radio interview here – Chinese Property Owners in Australia

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

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About JS Mueller & Co

JS Mueller & Co has been servicing the strata industry across NSW for almost 40 years. We are a specialist firm of strata lawyers with in depth and unmatched experience in, and comprehensive knowledge of strata law and levy collection. We are there to assist you every step of the way.

JS Mueller & Co Headquarters
Level 1, 240 Princes Highway
Arncliffe Sydney Australia 2205
www.muellers.com.au

Media inquiries: Contact Julie Schoneveld on 02 9562 1266 or 0435 939 491