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.

There are new rules an owners corporation must follow before appointing a lawyer or taking legal action (legal services).

If legal services:

• will not cost more than $3,000, or
• are urgent and will not cost more than $15,000, or
• relate to obtaining legal advice before taking legal action, or
• concern the collection of overdue levies,

the strata committee is able to approve those legal services: see section 103 Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 and cl 26 Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016.

If the above applies, there is no need for an owners corporation or strata manager to send a lawyer’s costs agreement or costs disclosure to owners and committee members under section 105 Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.

The above assumes the power of the strata committee to obtain legal services or spend money has not been restricted at a general meeting and owners who hold 1/3 of the unit entitlements do not block a proposed decision of a strata committee to obtain legal services.

In all other cases, the owners corporation must approve of the legal services by passing a resolution at a general meeting in accordance with s 103(1) Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.

The new rules will reduce the scope for a strata committee to approve legal services as a result of the threshold amount to avoid general meeting approval reducing from $12,500 to $3,000 in most cases.

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

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.

Under the new strata regulations, proxy voting will prevent any individual attempting to control owners’ decisions by obtaining a majority of proxy votes.

The number of proxy votes able to be held by one person will be limited to:

1. Schemes – 20 lots or less

For schemes with up to 20 lots, a person will be permitted one proxy vote.

2. Schemes – more than 20 lots

For schemes with more than 20 lots, a person will not be able to hold proxies for more than 5% of the total number of lots in that scheme (rounded down to the nearest whole number).

There is also an introduction of remote voting meaning owners need not be in the same country, let alone the same room, to cast a vote.

Telephone, video conferencing, email voting and even a voting website will all be permissible, with the approval of the owners corporation or strata committee.

Click here to read the full article – New Rules on Meetings and Voting

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

October 2016 the JS Mueller & Co team presented to the strata industry on the new strata laws ‘Are you Prepared for the New Strata Laws?’ This is in preparation for the new Strata Schemes Management Bill 2015 and the Strata Schemes Development Bill 2015 due to commence 30 November 2016.

The JS Mueller and Co team 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?
• Anna Minassian: Building Defects – What impact will the new laws have?
• Trish Smith: LevyCollect – How can it benefit you?

Please click below to view presentations and papers:

JS Mueller & Co New Strata Laws Forum Presentations_Oct16
JS Mueller & Co Forum Papers_Oct16

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

There has been considerable recent media coverage concerning proposed changes to laws regulating short term lettings in apartment buildings in NSW.

Many in the media are saying that owners corporations are going to lose the right to prohibit short term lettings in their buildings. Is that right? What does the NSW Government really have in store for short term lettings?

To read the full article – Short Term Lettings – Changes in the Air

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

Is the NSW Parliament about to legalise short term holiday lettings?

It’s proposed that some types of short term holiday lettings should become legal in NSW without needing the approval of the local council or the owners corporation if the City of Sydney has its way.

View the full article here now – Short Term Letting Changes

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

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 a surprising move, the Supreme Court has just upheld a decision made at an informal executive committee meeting.

Click here to read the full article – Supreme Court Rules Executive Committee has Power

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

Come November 2016, throwing a snag on the barbie or having a puff on a ciggie could be considered a ‘nuisance or hazard’.

Under the new strata reforms owners corporations will be able to enforce a ban by issuing a notice to comply with smoke drift, such as that from tobacco and barbecues, under the by-law changes.

Fines

If the barbequer or smoker fanatic fails to comply the matter could be taken to NCAT, who has the power to issue fines of up to $1,100 (double that of the old laws) and if the offender repeats the offense within 12 months, double it again – $2,200.

The owners corporation will be able to take action against offenders rather than leaving this to individual owners.

By-laws

The proposed model by-law provides 3 options:

1. Smoking in a lot is permitted but there must be no smoke penetration into any other lot or the common property.

2. Smoking in a lot is permitted but there must be no smoke penetration into any other lot or the common property. Smoking on the common property is also permitted but only in either designated smoking areas or with the written permission of the owners corporation.

3. Smoking in a lot is permitted but there must be no smoke penetration into any other lot or the common property. Smoking on common property is expressly prohibited.

It’s also important to note that there are currently no options in regards to the complete ban on smoking in schemes.

Also, any new model by-laws generally do not apply to existing schemes. They’ll only apply to strata schemes registered after the commencement of the 2015 Act if and that’s if the developer chose the option to go with model-by-laws.

For more information visit NSW Government Fair Trading.

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 here to assist you every step of the way.