Ashleigh Pryer is a Senior Strata Community Manager at B Strata, with more than five years’ experience supporting Western Australian strata communities. She holds a Certificate IV in Strata Community Management, SCA Level 2 accreditation, a Bachelor of Commerce in Tourism and Hospitality, and a Diploma of Leadership and Management.
Our owners corporation manager has blocked access to the roof for an indefinite period, likely some months, while abseilers complete maintenance and repair works on the outside of the building.
Each top-floor lot owns the area of roof above their apartment, mirroring the floor plan below. We reach it through the common property fire stairs.
Our small townhouse is connected to the townhouses on either side, and our rear courtyard garden is fenced off next to large, established trees on the estate.
For the past five years I've seen possums on our second-floor window ledge and in the tall trees nearby. Lately they seem to have multiplied. Possum droppings and urine now cover our courtyard decking every day, and there's a strong, offensive smell, even though I sweep and hose the deck daily. I've since read that possum droppings can carry leptospirosis, which can create health issues for people and pets.
We're a tier 3 owners corporation. At our AGM, we elected a committee of six: four continuing members, including a chair, and two new members.
No committee meeting was held straight afterwards to elect office bearers. The first committee meeting was held six to seven weeks later, when the existing chair was re-elected. In the meantime, they continued to perform the chair's role.
I'm thinking of putting my hand up to be the volunteer owners corporation manager for our three-lot subdivision. The only common property is a driveway, and all the houses are freestanding.
What does a volunteer manager do in a small scheme when the only common property is the driveway?
Our owners corporation finished the financial year with a massive surplus in the administrative fund. The surplus is about as big as the original budget, so we believe the budget was set far too high.
That error meant a massive increase in our levies for the year, and now there's a large surplus. Can we return it to the owners?
We bought our unit and moved in two years ago. Apart from our quarterly invoices, we haven't received any information from the owners corporation.
Our latest invoice included a large special levy, payable within 28 days. It's almost double our annual fees. A special general meeting has been called to discuss the levy. We haven't paid the levy yet. It will be overdue by the meeting date.
For our vote to count, do we need to pay the special levy before the meeting, even though the meeting is being held specifically to discuss the levy?
