This article discusses whether owners and the body corporate can actively oppose a top-up motion during a caretaking agreement extension vote in Queensland.
Question: I applied for a 5 yr extension of the Caretaking Agreement. The motion was denied. The body corporate had written to all the lot owners asking them to vote no. Is this allowed?
As a caretaker of a strata building in Queensland, I applied for a 5 yr extension of the Caretaking and Letting Agreements as shown in my purchase contract. At the AGM, the motion was not passed.
The body corporate had written to all the lot owners asking the lot owners to say no to the motion because they want to change the caretaking and lettings.
Can the body corporate act against me in this way to refuse an extension? What is my position in this matter?
Answer: Providing the body corporate hasn’t been defamatory in the information it has presented to owners, there isn’t an issue with people talking to each other
It sounds like the body corporate process is working well here.
Extensions aren’t automatic – as you say, you have to apply and all applications can be accepted or rejected.
When you submit a motion for an extension there is a vote and owners will vote according to what they believe is in their best interest. There are lots of arguments about the pros and cons of caretaker extensions but if people don’t think an extension is beneficial to them, they won’t vote for it. Providing the body corporate hasn’t been defamatory in the information it has presented to owners, there isn’t an issue with people talking to each other.
What can you do next? Presumably, you are able to present extension motions again in the future so the matter can be reconsidered. If so, then you will have to think about what is required to change voters’ minds moving forward.
This post appears in Strata News #636.
William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au
P: 07 5609 4924
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