Question: Our Strata manager has requested we pay our next due levies a month early. Can they do this?
My Strata Manager just issued our quarterly levy bill but expects levies to be paid one month early. We’ve just paid the last levy payment on 1 April. The next levy payment would normally be due 1 July but our strata manager wants it paid by 1 June so they could make sure it was paid before the end of the financial year. Is this legal?
Answer: The Owners Corporations Act 2006 says that the owners corporation may determine when annual fees are to be paid.
The annual fees are set by the owners corporation who may also determine when annual fees are to be paid. The Owners Corporations Act 2006 says that the owners corporation may determine when annual fees are to be paid. If such a decision has not been made then it might be that the manager has been delegated the power to make such a decision.
It is likely that the annual fees will have been set at the annual general meeting and at the same meeting the timing of the payment of those fees has been determined. If that is the case then the fees ought to be struck according to those resolutions. It is generally accepted practice to split the annual fees into four payments with each one being payable on the first day of each quarter but that is not a legal requirement.
If the owners corporation has not set a date or a change is needed then who decides on timing of striking annual fees will depend on whether there is a committee in place and on the delegations given by the owners corporation or the by the committee. That having been said it would be very unusual for there to be an additional payment needed towards the annual fees required at the end of the year but there might be a good reason for this and I would suggest inquiring with the manager as to why this came about.
So, given the above, it might be legal to make the fees payable on the first of June depending on what resolutions have been made and on what authority they have been struck on that date. Perhaps a more helpful question to ask, rather than “is it legal”, may be “is it reasonable, under the circumstances”, to have struck the fees on that date.
Anton Silove
MBCM Strata Specialists
E: administration@mbcm.com.au
P: 1300 777 276
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