Our strata company notified residents after car break-ins, stating that CCTV footage retrieval costs would be passed onto owners. Is this reasonable?
Owner's items were stolen from our parking bay area. The council of owners, via the strata manager, notified all owners of the incident and reminded them not to keep valuables in the car park area.
The notification also states that "any associated costs (such as retrieval of CCTV footage) will be passed onto the responsible lot owner in such cases - even if the request has been made from the WA Police". Is this allowed and/or reasonable?
Reviewing and downloading footage is an expense, and the scheme can pass these costs onto those requesting the footage.
A strata scheme must understand that there are Privacy Laws regarding accessing CCTV and how the data is retrieved and disseminated. If a scheme has CCTV, the footage should be accessed via a licensed contractor and, ideally, a company/individual with a security license and provisions. Reviewing and downloading footage is an expense, and the scheme can pass these costs onto those requesting the footage. For example, an overnight vehicle break-in can require multiple hours of footage to be reviewed and then downloaded, which the scheme is not required to cover regarding costs.
Any person requesting footage should complete a form with as much detail as possible, including police report numbers, and be willing to pay the costs of access and retrieval.
WA Police do not pay for footage. Therefore, the strata company may request the party pay the cost for retrieval. In addition, the scheme may allow the police to attend and access the footage themselves.
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Jamie Horner is the Licensee of Empire Estate Agents, Licensed in 1997 she has over 25 years’ experience in Strata and Property Management. A trainer at the Real Estate Institute of WA and member of the REIWA Strata Committee and a firm believer in continuous education and building better ‘communities’ in strata and property. Jamie has a Masters Degree in Property, a Degree in Business/Commerce, a Diploma in Management (Real Estate) and a Cert IV in Strata Community Management and Cert IV in Training and Assessment and passion for property. Jamie is a regular contributor to LookUpStrata.
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