Question: We were asked to vote on a 5-year extension but a copy of the contract was not provided. I feel we were asked to vote on something that we did not have full information on.
We live in a standard format plan and have a contractor who is responsible for taking care of gardens and common property facilities.
Should the contract be available for all owners to view on the strata manager’s portal where their contract is available for all along with other reports such as AGM, Financial reports etc.
Can an owner request a copy of the agreement from the strata manager? At the previous AGM, we were asked to vote on a 5-year extension to the original contract but a copy of the contract was not provided for all owners to view. We have many new owners in the complex who did not live in the complex when the contract came into effect. In other words, we were asked to vote on something that we did not have full information on.
Answer: There’s no legislative requirement for the original agreement to be attached and circulated with the general meeting agenda.
There are a few different components in this question, and I’ll answer all of these.
I’m not entirely privy to what documents are readily available on Strata Managers’ portals, but what I can say is that your caretaking and letting agreement, any subsequent deeds of variation or assignment, are body corporate records and should be accessible by an interested party, whether that be an owner or likewise. If you’re not a committee member, then you need to make your application to your strata manager and your committee. You’ll need to pay your prescribed fee. You can either obtain a copy by post, email etc, or you can go in there and inspect as well. Most certainly the original agreement should be accessible by interested parties and do form part of body corporate records.
The second question in relation to the deed of variation and whether the original agreement should also be attached to that. I briefly commented on this in the webinar. Unfortunately, there’s no legislative requirement for the original agreement to be attached and circulated with the general meeting agenda. That’s why the importance of the BCCM form 20 comes into play because it acts or is meant to act as a summary of the nature of the amendment being sought and it’s meant to be able to give owners a snapshot, a one-page idea about ‘Okay, this is what is being requested. Do I agree with this or don’t I agree?’.
I appreciate the frustration when you get a three-page deed. Owners just think ‘Okay, that should be fine’. Again, it comes down to you as a committee or your committee members, making sure that owners are educated about what is being agreed to.
My opinion with any type of deed that is presented is that a committee should be getting legal advice. Even if you have a harmonious amicable relationship with the caretaker where you want to give them the five years because they’re doing a fantastic job, so you want to retain them. Even if that is the case, you need to get some advice about the legalities of the deed that’s being presented. Are you asking to acknowledge or ratify previous options that you, as a committee member that was just elected a month ago, has no idea whether they were ratified or whether they were exercised correctly? Getting legal advice doesn’t mean it has to be a dispute. Getting legal advice is just making sure the body corporates interests are protected in the deed as well.
Jessica Cannon Cannon + Co Law E: jessicacannon@cannonlaw.com.au P: 07 5554 8560