It’s becoming increasingly common for strata meetings to be recorded.
So what happens when a person announces that he or she intends to record a strata meeting and some of those present object to the meeting being recorded?
Is it legal to do so? The answer might surprise you.
To read the full article click here now – Recording Strata Meetings
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.
In September 2015 the JS Mueller & Co team presented at a forum to the strata industry the new proposed strata laws.
Since the forum, it has been announced that the new strata laws will come into operation on 1 July 2016.
On 29 Oct 2015, the New South Wales Parliament passed the new Strata Schemes Management Bill 2015 and the Strata Schemes Development Bill 2015.
Papers and presentations are available to view here:
JS Mueller & Co Forum Presentations_Sept15
JS Mueller & Co Forum Papers_Sept15
For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.
The recent media attention concerning smoking in strata buildings reached a fever pitch when NCAT ordered the landlord of a strata unit in Potts Point to pay compensation to his tenant.
The NSW Government said that the new strata laws would make clear that smoking and second-hand smoke exposure could constitute a nuisance that could be outlawed.
So, what can be done about smoking in strata buildings? Can smoking be prohibited? Perhaps a smoking by-law, let’s find out.
For more information read – Smoke Drift By-laws
For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.
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
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 tenancies have long posed problems for community living. The problem most commonly arises in communities where there is a mixture of permanent residents and short term tenants. Issues of noise, damage to common property and inappropriate behaviour are often attributed to short term tenants. Short term tenants vary from backpackers to holidaymakers to short term workers.
Strata schemes have tried to both regulate short term tenants and prohibit short term tenancies by use of by-laws.
Effectively regulating the behaviour of short term tenants has proved difficult. Short term tenants are exactly that, short term, and are not generally around long enough to be effectively subjected to the laborious and lengthy procedures set out in the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 (“the Act”) for enforcement of by-laws.
Click below to download the presentation and full paper on Short Term Tenancies from our April 2015 seminar:
For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.
Owning a home once remained a priority within the hearts of Australians, recent societal findings reveal that it is no longer a requirement for many.
Demanding lifestyles including raising children, working, studying and fulfilling many other daily routines has created a culture where time is of the essence.
As the shift to apartment living increases, strata title developers are increasingly creating convenient, cost-effective and aesthetically pleasing designs for consumers. With developments such as Barangaroo and the Toga Group apartments within Chatswood and West Ryde, increased apartment style living is inevitable.
Please click here to read the full article – Satellite Cities will be the Future for Metropolitan Areas