This article discusses strata manager mediation representation, explaining whether owners can prevent a strata manager from representing the owners corporation at Fair Trading mediation and how owners can appoint an alternative representative.
Question: Can owners prevent the strata manager from representing the owners corporation for a mediation session run by Fair Trading?
Without any consultation with the owners corporation, the office bearers of our strata committee appointed our strata manager as the main representative of the owners corporation. Most owners don’t have confidence in the strata manager and seriously question their impartiality. Can owners prevent the strata manager from representing the owners corporation for a mediation session run by Fair Trading?
Answer: Decisions of the owners corporation overrides that of the strata committee.
Yes, a strata managing agent may represent the owners corporation at mediation, and irrespective of whether this is expressly itemised/authorised under the Strata Management Agency Agreement (SMAA), we recommend that a motion is passed to delegate to the strata managing agent the duty and function to attend the mediation session on behalf of the owners corporation. This usually attracts Schedule B charges under a SMAA.
However, if owners have enough support, they can convene a general meeting to appoint their preferred representative because decisions of the owners corporation override that of the strata committee.
This post appears in Strata News #652.
Leanne Habib
Premium Strata
E: info@premiumstrata.com.au
P: 02 9281 6440
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