Do small strata schemes need a committee and shared insurance?

By admin,

I am the owner in a group of 3 units. We have a shared driveway for the middle and back villa).

We have always paid strata community insurance by all being sent the invoice and splitting the bill by 3. I have now been told by the insurer that we need to have a strata committee and he can only speak with the strata chair, and we should all be paying it together. If there are less than 4 villas, is it a requirement the have strata meetings, committee, AGM's, etc.

In a group of 3 villas, do we need to:

Is a duplex considered strata for home insurance purposes?

By admin,

I own a rear duplex that shares a garage firewall with the front duplex on the block.

I own my lot including the driveway to the front of the block. The front duplex and I have no common areas.

The Certificate of Title states "Lot of 2 of Strata of strata plan XXXXX ..... together with a share in property (if any) as set out on the Strata Titles Plan".

When I'm applying for home insurance, multiple insurance companies state they don't insure strata-title buildings, however, they do cover contents.

Who can vote to increase committee members in a principal scheme?

By admin,

Who is entitled to vote to increase the number of committee members for a principal scheme to up to 12 as allowed under the new regulation changes? Then how are the members voted in if there are more nominations than positions? Who is entitled to vote then?

For Example, our layered scheme subsidiaries, 6 lots, 24 lots and 1 undeveloped lot. Currently, the PBC committee consists of 1 representative from each subsidiary scheme.

Are AGM votes valid without signatures or lot numbers?

By admin,
  1. When owners are voting at an AGM, is the vote valid if the individual pages do not have a signature or a lot number? Also, the last page is not completed with the Owners name, signature and lot number.
  2. When a voting paper has two lot numbers written on the front page i.e. 1 and 7, is the owner entitled to two votes or one? Shouldn't two forms be filled out to have two votes? Also, as above each page was not signed.

Do I need body corporate approval to remove trees on my lot

By admin,

After checking with our immediate neighbours in our townhouse complex first, we cut down the trees so more sunlight could reach our lot. The committee of our townhouse complex said that body corporate approval was required to remove trees within our lot boundaries because we’ve altered the lot's appearance.

Our understanding was that "altering the lot appearance" referred to things like changing a door or repainting a wall, not trees within the lot.

Can committee members vote on decisions that benefit their own lot?

By admin,

Our body corporate has to replace some unit's windows which are in common walls. These windows are a body corporate maintenance responsibility. They are currently either awning style or fixed panes and have to be replaced as part of a maintenance project.

Some unit owners on the committee would like to have some of their unit windows replaced with more expensive louvres while others want to keep the same styles.

It is a general principle that body corporate maintenance projects replace like for like (or a modern equivalent).

Can a resident manager influence votes against a committee candidate?

By admin,

Leading up to our AGM, the Resident Manager spoke to and also called Lot Owners and advised/encouraged them to not vote for my motions or for my nomination as a Committee Member. The basis was that I was a trouble maker.

Over the past five years, as a Lot owner I was successful in forcing the Committee to replace missing street signs, raised motions to stop Committee Members from claiming up to $1,000 for attending meetings and I'm in the process of stopping payment of $8,400 annually to the Resident Manager for reading 168 water meters every six months.

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