Two years ago, our strata manager distributed biographies written by committee nominees to all lot owners and also circulated a how to vote guide written by the committee secretary. There was no formal committee motion authorising the strata manager to do either of these.
If a committee can amend a maintenance plan at any time, does this create a loophole in the legislation that allows committees to make significant changes—normally requiring a special resolution—by first approving those changes through an updated maintenance plan?
The minutes from our last AGM list members present, proxies received, apologies, and other attendees, but there’s no section showing the names of proxies present. Eleven proxies were given to people who weren’t lot owners, and that omission changes the voting outcome. After inspecting the records, I confirmed that two of those proxy holders attended online, but there’s no record of the third person (who held eight proxies) being present.
Our owners corporation property consists of 10 apartments across two buildings connected by open car parking. Two of the 10 apartments don’t have their own internal laundry. Each building has a shared laundry room with troughs and cold taps for washing machines.
The buildings date back to the 1980s, and the laundries have been locked for years after vagrants began using one. A tenant recently asked to use a laundry.
I am a disabled resident with a valid disability parking permit. Our building has a visitor car park with one accessible parking space, but I’ve been told I’m not allowed to use it because it’s for disabled visitors only. The problem is that the sign doesn’t clearly state it’s for visitors, and there are no accessible parking spaces allocated to residents.
Is the owners corporation required to provide an accessible parking space for residents, or at least allow me to use the visitors’ disabled space when it’s vacant?
In Queensland, can a body corporate consider and approve renovation requests, such as for an apartment bathroom renovation, only at the annual general meeting, or can these types of approvals also be decided at other meetings held during the year?
In our complex, one owner wants to install privacy panels on or around the common property pool fence permanently for personal comfort. Are owners allowed to add privacy screens to common property, or would that be considered taking privacy too far?
In my strata plan, the strata committee and strata manager have delegated the authority to engage contractors, such as electricians and plumbers, to the building manager. I’m concerned this arrangement could create opportunities for corruption or secret commissions. What safeguards are in place to prevent this between the building manager and contractors, and does the legislation address these potential conflicts of interest?
We have a three-lot strata scheme with one resident parking space and two visitor spaces. The tenant of one unit regularly uses the resident space and, when it's occupied, parks in a visitor space. Sometimes, unit 2's visitors use both visitor spaces. During these times, one lot fills all available parking spaces.
We've asked the tenant politely to have at least one visitor park on the street, but they've ignored this. What would be an amicable and practical way to resolve this ongoing parking problem?
I own one side of a duplex. Our roof covers both sides, and I've recently noticed water damage on the other side's fascia. When I raised this with the other owner, they were dismissive, saying it looks ok and they'll 'get around to it later'. I'm worried this delay will cause further damage or affect our insurance.
If we don't fix the issue quickly, could the insurer reject a future claim or even refuse to renew our policy next year because of the unrepaired defect? If the repair is not done before we renew, do we need to disclose this to the insurer?