Question: I have a car space and a home unit and I pay separate levies for each. Does this give me two votes at meetings when voting on motions?
I have a car space and a home unit for which I pay two sets of levies. They are classified as separate lots. I am under the impression these two lots allow me two votes at meetings when voting on motions.
Our strata committee consists of six lot owners. Three lot owners have car spaces and three do not. The car space owners want to paint the car spaces after 10 years of neglect. The other three members of the owners corporation committee refuse. We do not have an over 50% majority. If the three of us with car spaces were allowed two votes each, we would have over 50% vote. Is this the case?
Answer: In a general meeting you will have one vote per lot that you own, even if that lot is a utility lot such as a car space or storage space.
In the setting of a general meeting (one where all owners are invited to attend and vote), it is correct that you will have one vote per lot that you own (even if that lot is a utility lot such as a car space or storage space), as Schedule 1, clause 14(1) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) (‘the Act’) confirms that “A motion put to a meeting … is to be decided according to a majority in number of the votes cast for and against the motion with each person having one vote for each lot in respect of which the person is entitled to vote”.
However, when it comes to a strata committee meeting (one where only strata committee members are allowed to vote), each member only has one vote regardless of how many lots they own, as Schedule 2, clause 9(1) of the Act confirms “A motion put to a meeting is to be decided according to a majority of the number of the votes cast for and against the motion by the members present”.
If the motion cannot be passed by a majority of the strata committee members, you may have better luck putting the motion to a general meeting where you may get a different outcome due to the extra votes.
This post appears in the October 2021 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Tim Sara Sara Strata E: tim@sarastrata.com.au P: 04 8500 7960