This article discusses what to do if body corporate spending exceeds AGM approval in QLD and how to seek access to invoices and records.
Question: Can a strata manager refuse an owner access to invoices and committee records? What can an owner do if spending exceeds an AGM approved amount?
Our owners corporation passed an AGM motion to allocate funds to refurbish a common property area, based on a design submitted by a design consultant. The consultant provided a formal fee proposal to the committee, but the committee did not share it with the owners.
The consultant later issued two invoices for the work, and the committee voted not to pay them. I then submitted a Form 12 records request to the strata manager seeking the committee resolution, if any, to engage the consultant, copies of the invoices, and related financial transaction records.
The strata manager refused to provide these documents and said only committee members can view invoices. I suspect the committee never passed a resolution to engage the consultant. I also have an email from the committee changing the consultant’s fee terms and requesting an amended invoice for about a quarter of the amount owed.
Records obtained show the committee spent more than the amount approved by owners, with no itemised record. What further action can I take to access the records and address the unapproved expenditure?
Answer: The decision to access records is not the strata manager’s to make; it is the committee’s.
Your further action is, we think, wholly dependent on what your objectives are.
If you are most concerned with transparency and access to records, your next step is to take this matter to the Commissioner’s Office for dispute resolution and seek access to the records. The statement that only committee members can view invoices is not at all correct, we think. Also, the decision to access records is not the strata manager’s to make; it is the committee’s.
If your concern is about the engagement of the contractor and whether the spending was correctly authorised, that would still need to be resolved in the Commissioner’s Office, although you’d probably need to make a further attempt at resolving it now (e.g. submitting a motion to rescind, if appropriate).
If you’re concerned about what the committee is doing generally – and there are a few red flags here, for sure – then you may want to consider whether to submit motions to remove committee members. There may also be a question about looking for a new strata manager, depending on how far into the contract the current manager is.
Think about the above and proceed as necessary.
This is general information only and not legal advice.
Chris Irons
Strata Solve
E: chris@stratasolve.com.au
P: 0419 805 898
This post appears in Strata News #779.
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