An NCAT decision allowing a lot owner to keep unauthorised renovations was recently overturned by the Supreme Court.

In doing so, the Court confirmed that an owners corporation must act unreasonably before NCAT should overturn a decision of an owners corporation not to allow an owner to keep unauthorised alterations to common property.

Read on to find out why Supreme Court Quashes NCAT Decision to Allow Unauthorised Works

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

The Supreme Court has ordered an owners corporation suing its former lawyers to give security for the costs the lawyers will incur defending the case and has halted the case until the owners corporation does so.

In Court cases, the loser is normally ordered to pay most of the winner’s costs.  But what happens if the eventual winner is fearful that the loser will not be able to pay its costs?

Is there anything the winner can do to halt the case before it incurs substantial costs fighting the case?

This decision is a game changer.  Read on to find out why… Owners Corporation Security Costs for Building Defects

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

Did you know that the information an owners corporation has about their owners can actually make it much simpler for us to act more effectively in recovering strata levies?

To assist you with the details that can help us, the team at JS Mueller & Co has developed a handy list of items for consideration when briefing your next strata levy debt recovery instruction:

1. If you know that the unit is tenanted but the address for service of notices is at the unit, let us know, particularly if you’re aware of whom the real estate agent is.
2. When advising your levy recovery person to enter Judgment and take the next step, the following information can greatly assist:

•  Details of where the lot owner works so JS Mueller & Co can organise to garnishee their wages – much cheaper and more effective than a Sheriff.
• Details of their motor vehicle type and registration number and a time they’re normally home – this will make it easier for the Sheriff to seize goods.

Historically when matters have been difficult to serve, the information an owners corporation has access to, can assist us greatly in a successful and quicker levy debt recovery.

Here are some examples of how information has assisted JS Mueller & Co in faster recovery of strata levies… who would have thought!

 Hockey Training

We’ve successfully served a guy with a Statement of Claim (SOC) at hockey training.  All because the owners corporation advised us that he rode his bike once a week to hockey training.

Pony Club

JS Mueller & Co was able to serve another woman at Pony Club when we were advised by an owner/occupier that she stored her Pony Club stuff in the garage.

So, you can see little pieces of information an owners corporation knows about a lot owner can provide us the little piece of magic we need to get a successful result.

Keep the list above in a handy place for when you next provide a levy debt recovery instruction.

Our levy collection service is available across regional and metropolitan NSW so let us know if you need any assistance with levy recoveries, we’d be happy to assist.

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

Can an owners corporation shut down the lifts in its building to refurbish them?

If so, does the owners corporation have to pay compensation to owners and tenants who cannot access their apartments via the lifts during a lift refurbishment? And does a lift refurbishment need to be authorised by special resolution?

There are many thorny issues to navigate, to find out more Strata Building Lift Refurbishments

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

The Supreme Court has decided that structural defects under the old home building legislation do not extend to cover building elements such as waterproofing membranes and tiling attached to structural components of the building.

This is bad news for owners corporations of residential buildings who made home warranty insurance claims or defect claims against builders and developers before 2015 that are still current because it will essentially limit the scope for them to argue that defects are structural defects that are covered by a six year warranty instead of the two year warranty for non-structural defects.

For owners corporations of residential buildings, this is bad news – Strata and Structural Defects.

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

In a recent decision, NCAT has confirmed that it is business as usual and that appeals against decisions of Strata Adjudicators will continue to be dealt with by NCAT in the same manner, even though strata adjudications have been abolished under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.

Introduction

The Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 (old Act) allowed Strata Adjudicators to make orders to resolve strata disputes. On 30 November 2016, the old Act was repealed and replaced by the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (new Act).  The new Act abolished strata adjudications.

However, there were still strata adjudications pending at the time the old Act was repealed and decisions of Strata Adjudicators under the old Act continued to be made up until recently. This created uncertainty as to whether or not a party dissatisfied with a decision made by an Adjudicator could appeal against the decision after 30 November 2016.

To read the full article – NCAT Clarifies Appeal Rights Against Decisions of Strata Adjudicators

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

Adrian Mueller, partner, recently presented a paper about the most significant strata cases in NSW over the last 12 months, at the 12th annual conference of the ‘Australian College of Community Association Lawyers’ (ACCAL) – the peak body of strata lawyers in Australia.

To view Adrian’s presentation and strata cases click here 2017 Strata Case Presentation and 2017 Strata Case Papers.

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

Thank you Strata for your support in 2016, we loved sharing our knowledge on all things Strata Law.

As a wrap up here are some useful links from 2016…

• We shared our knowledge at Forums throughout the year
• We tweeted, 107 times sharing the latest in strata law
• We developed Strata By-law Templates for the new strata laws making it easier for you
• We posted, 30 times on LinkedIn with the latest updates
• We improved our Levy Collection App, thanks to your feedback
• We shared our knowledge through 54 newsletters
• We expanded our team to better service the strata industry

We’re taking a break from 23 December 2016 and returning on 9 January 2017.

We wish you and your families a safe and happy ‘Festive Season’ and look forward to working with you in 2017.

For more information check out muellers.com.au or send an email to enquiries@muellers.com.au and we’ll get back to you on our return.

The procedure for registering by-laws under the new strata legislation is completely new. Land and Property Information (LPI) NSW will no longer allow by-laws to be registered unless a consolidated version of all by-laws including any new by-laws is lodged for registration.

What Has Changed?

The new strata legislation requires any change in the by-laws for a strata scheme that are lodged for registration to be in the form of a consolidated version of all of the existing by-laws that incorporates the changes to the by-laws as well. The consolidated version of the by-laws must include any relevant model by-laws.

What Does the Change Mean?

If you attempt to register a change in the by-laws without the consolidated version of the by‑laws, Land and Property Information will reject the document you lodge.

Do I Have to Comply?

There is a limited exemption to the requirement to lodge a consolidated version of the by-laws each time you need to register a change to the by-laws.  Land and Property Information may permit a change in the by-laws for a strata scheme to be lodged separately, and not in a consolidated version, if satisfied that it would be too onerous for a consolidated version to be lodged and there are no more than five separate change of by-laws recorded on the title of the common property.

Can you get an Exemption?

The new procedure for registering changes to the by-laws for a strata scheme at Land and Property Information is untested. However, we expect that it may prove difficult to secure an exemption from the need to lodge a consolidated version of the by-laws when registering a change to the by-laws. Where that occurs, every change of by-laws will require a new consolidated list of by-laws.

Why the Change?

The rationale for the change is to ensure that a consolidated set of all of the by-laws for a strata scheme is recorded on title much like the by-laws in a management statement for a community scheme or neighbourhood scheme.

What Happens to the Existing Registered By-Laws?

Once the consolidated version of the by-laws is registered, all current notifications of by-laws appearing on the common property title will be removed and the common property title will be updated to refer to the consolidated version only.

What Happens if I Get it Wrong?

When the consolidated list of by-laws is prepared, care will need to be taken to ensure that the list is complete and accurate. Land and Property Information will not examine the consolidated set of by-laws against any existing change of by-laws recorded on the common property title to ensure that the consolidated set is complete and accurate. If the consolidated set of by-laws is wrong, for example, an existing by-law is not included in the consolidated set; a person aggrieved by the error may make a claim against the owners corporation or strata manager who registered the incorrect consolidated set of by-laws.

Where is the Change Found and What does it Mean?

The new requirement concerning the registration of changes to by-laws for strata schemes is contained in clause 24 of the Strata Schemes Development Regulation 2016.  We expect that this new requirement will create significant problems for strata managers and others who attempt to register changes to the by-laws without a consolidated version of the by-laws.

How Can we Help?

Muellers are able to prepare a consolidated version of the by-laws for a strata scheme for a fee of $750 plus GST where there are no more than two changes of by-laws dealings registered on the title of the common property.  For strata schemes which have more than two change of by-laws registered, please contact us to obtain a price to prepare a consolidated set of by-laws for that scheme.

There is Still Hope!

We will continue to provide a cost effective and efficient by-law registration service under the new regime. If you encounter difficulty registering changes to the by-laws for any strata scheme that you manage, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us so that we are able to help you.

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