Question: As part of the renovation approval process, is the Body Corporate legally entitled to ask an owner to pay for an EGM?
Answer: The rationale here is that it is the owner benefitting from the meeting rather than the body corporate so they can be asked to cover the costs. If the owner doesn’t want to pay, they can wait.
There is no reason why not and this would be fairly common if the EGM was being held for the benefit of that lot owner.
Consider a renovation application that exceeded $3000. In this case approval should be granted at a general meeting. The owner has made a submission and has the option of waiting until the next general meeting for a response. However, this meeting could be many months away. In that circumstance the owner could be asked to pay the costs of the EGM if they wanted it to be held sooner. The rationale here is that it is the owner benefitting from the meeting rather than the body corporate so they can be asked to cover the costs. If the owner doesn’t want to pay, they can wait.
The same theory can be applied to items such as holding a VOC to approve a pet application. The application benefits the individual owner, who usually wants an answer quickly, so the costs of holding this vote should be paid by the applicant.
This post appears in Strata News #527.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924