Question: Is appointing an administrator the best option if a chairperson avoids meetings, withholds information, and neglects maintenance?
Our chairperson controls what happens in the scheme but does not communicate decisions to other owners or committee members unless requested. Despite this, the building has ongoing leaks in multiple areas and long neglected maintenance, and there is reluctance to take action.
The chair avoids meetings, and the building’s condition continues to deteriorate. Three owners want to sell but are having difficulty due to unresolved maintenance issues. What options do owners have if the chairperson will not hold meetings or progress with repairs? Is seeking the appointment of an administrator a practical solution?
Answer: By ordinary resolution, the chairperson and indeed any committee member can be removed from office.
By notice signed on behalf of the owners of at least 25% of the lots in the scheme, an extraordinary general meeting can be called. By ordinary resolution, the chairperson and indeed any committee member can be removed from office. This is a self help remedy that an Adjudicator would want to see has been tried before agreeing to appoint an Administrator, assuming the chairperson is the problem!
If a simple majority of lot owners support the chairperson such that he cannot be removed (and this is tested on a vote), the hard work of proving that the body corporate is dysfunctional has to be done. That typically means looking at each decision that is made, each action that is undertaken, which appear to be unlawful or inappropriate, and then taking the expected steps to address them, whilst making sure that the underlying complaints are real, substantial and have impact, as opposed to being technical noncompliances, that have no real impact. When a sufficient body of evidence has been assembled, typically over many dispute resolution applications, then an Adjudicator will be more minded to appoint an Administrator.
This post appears in Strata News #789.
Michael Kleinschmidt Bugden Allen E: michael.kleinschmidt@bagl.com.au P: 07 5406 1280
