How can an owner protect themselves from bullying and defamation in a body corporate?

By admin,

I am an individual lot owner in a Queensland body corporate, and I feel that some committee members are targeting me. Their behaviour includes defamation, aggressive verbal attacks, bullying and what I believe may amount to criminal conduct. The body corporate manager has ignored my concerns and failed to act on any of them.

Are bollards an unreasonable restriction on visitor car parks?

By admin,

In our complex, the body corporate committee installed bollards on allocated visitor car park spaces as part of a manual “reserved visitor parking” scheme used during holiday periods. The committee installs the bollards at least two days before the reservation begins, which prevents genuine visitors from using spaces even when they are vacant.

Can our committee prevent short term rentals with minimum rental term bylaws?

By admin,

I own a two-bedroom apartment in a 12-lot building on the Gold Coast, Queensland, and I have lived here for five years. I am not currently on the committee. About five months ago, the committee adopted a new CMS bylaw prohibiting owners from renting their units for less than three months. I was unaware of this change until recently.

This is my home. I plan to live here from time to time and holiday let intermittently to help offset my body corporate costs. Two owners have Airbnb units in the complex, and there are two permanently rented apartments.

How should bodies corporate classify short-term renters for by-law enforcement?

By admin,

Our body corporate committee is divided about how our by-laws apply to short-term renters.

Some committee members say that short-term renters are "occupiers" under the by-laws. They rely on the BCCM Act definition of an occupier as "a resident owner or resident lessee of the lot, or someone else who lives on the lot", and argue that short-term renters fall into the "someone else who lives on the lot" category.

Can extending levy due dates at the AGM make an unfinancial owner eligible for committee election?

By admin,

At our December AGM, a lot owner nominated for re-election to the committee had overdue body corporate levies on the day of the meeting. During the AGM, the body corporate unanimously passed motions to extend the due dates for levies to the end of the levy period, effectively giving the owner extra time to pay. On that basis, the strata manager advised that the owner could be re-elected to the committee.

Understanding insurance disclosure rules for AGM notices

By admin,

Could you please clarify an aspect of the Regulations (Accommodation Module) concerning insurance? Section 186 refers to “each policy of insurance held by the body corporate under this part and in force when notice of an annual general meeting is given”.

Our AGM is held at the end of October each year, but the insurance policies that are in place when the AGM notice goes out in September all expire at the end of September, according to the certificates of currency.

Committee rights to convene an AGM in a self-managed strata

By admin,

We live in a self-managed strata complex and have ongoing disputes with an owner who was not elected to the strata committee. This owner has made repeated claims about us as lot owners and about the committee chair, and has taken us to mediation over issues that the majority of residents support.

Are owners corporations required to install safety glass during sliding door repairs?

By admin,

My sliding doors currently contain float glass, and the doors are faulty and need repair. If strata arranges repairs to the doors, can they carry out basic repairs, or do they need to upgrade to safety glass as part of the work?

Can residents use the fire door to access the garage during a power outage?

By admin,

I own an apartment in western Sydney. The only access to the garage is via the lift, the electric roller door, or a fire stair located on the outside of the building next to the driveway entry. The fire stair is just one flight of stairs, separate from the main stair shaft.