It’s the Gold Coasts crumbly ‘faulty tower’ with almost 1,000 building defects. Building experts have described the building as life threatening.

Only seven years old and the apartment block may have to be demolished. Literally sick of living with leaks, rust and mould the long-suffering residents of the Silverstone apartment complex are taking ASX-listed property developer Villa World, seeking $20 million in damages.

View the full article here Silverstone Apartment Defects

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

In May 2016 the JS Mueller & Co team presented a forum to the strata industry on the new strata laws ‘Out with the Old and in with the New’. This followed the recent announcement that the New South Wales Parliament passed the new Strata Schemes Management Bill 2015 and the Strata Schemes Development Bill 2015.

JS Mueller and Co senior lawyers presented:

• James Moir: Works By-laws – How will they operate under the new laws?
• Adrian Mueller: Meetings – What are the changes under the new laws?
• Faiyaaz Shafiq: Levy Collection – Procedural changes under the new laws?
• Bruce Bentley: Termination & Renewal of Strata Schemes – What impact will the new laws have?

Please click here to view papers and presentations:

JS Mueller & Co Forum Presentations_May16
JS Mueller & Co Forum Papers_May16

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

Late last Friday the NSW Government released consultation drafts of the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 and Strata Schemes Development Regulation 2016, with their accompanying Regulatory Impact Statements (RIS).

To read the new proposed draft regulation please click below:

1. Consultation draft – Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016
2. RIS – Strata Schemes Development Regulation 2016
3. RIS – Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016

To read the current legislation please click below:

1. Strata Schemes Management Act 1996
2. Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2010

If you have any comments after you’ve read through the regulations, please send them directly to SCA’s General Manager, Rachel Lynn (rachel.lynn@stratacommunity.org.au) by Monday 11 May 2016.

Rachel will ensure a response is sent to meet the Government deadline of 27 May 2016.

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

From the entire JS Mueller & Co team we wish you a Safe and Happy Festive Season!

We are taking a short break from the 23rd December 2015 and returning on the 11th January 2016.

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266 and we’ll get back to you following our break.

Bruce Bentley, Partner JS Mueller & Co presented recently at a Legalwise Seminar ‘Review of Strata Title Reforms’.

To view a copy of Bruce’s paper please click the link below.

Strata Renewal Reforms

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 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.

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.

According to a recent survey, 85% of new strata buildings suffer from building defects.

Sometimes the builder responsible for the defects wants to return to repair them.

But do you have to allow the builder back particularly if you don’t want to?

To view the full article click here – Building Defects and Your Builder

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

Disputes between neighbours take many forms. This paper will consider the law relating to some of the most common and challenging types of neighbourhood disputes that affect owners corporations and strata managers. These are: disputes about access to neighbouring lands; hazards such as collapsing retaining walls, landslips and rock falls; dividing fences and tree disputes.

In modern cities, neighbourhood disputes involving strata schemes are commonplace. And these disputes are likely to increase as the drive towards urban consolidation literally pushes neighbours closer together and into greater conflict.

It is therefore important that participants in strata schemes, from owners corporations to strata managers, have a basic understanding of the most common types of disputes and the laws applicable to them.

Click here to download the full paper – Neighbourhood_Disputes

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