Question: We’re being charged $66 for warning notices and late payment reminders. Is this legal?
We get breach notices all the time from our strata company for all kinds of things. The most recent was for having items outside my storage unit. No damage was done, just a notice telling me my items shouldn’t have been there. This is a warning notice, not a breach, yet my other carport neighbour and I have each been charged $66 for the breach notices.
Is it legal for our council of owners to charge us fees? The strata managers tell me they have the legal right to issue and charge for the notices. However, the Strata Titles Act outlines that only SAT has that authority. Which is it?
We are also being charged $66 to receive a “friendly reminder” by email if we’re late paying our strata levies. This seems extortionate.
Answer: Strata managers can generally charge for the administrative work of issuing notices, even though only SAT can make binding compliance orders.
A breach of a by-law, even a minor one, still requires the strata company to act because it has an obligation to uphold the scheme’s by-laws. Issuing notices and administering breaches takes time, and the strata manager may be entitled under its strata management agreement to charge the strata company for the time and work involved.
If the scheme has an appropriate debt-recovery or cost-recovery by-law, those costs may also be recoverable from the lot that was in breach.
The SAT does have authority to make orders regarding compliance, but that does not mean the strata company cannot issue notices when administering and enforcing its by-laws.
The same principle can apply to levy arrears reminders. Whether the $66 fee is actually recoverable depends on the management agreement and the scheme’s by-laws. The strata company or strata manager will be able to detail the specific provision in your strata scheme that authorises each charge.
This post appears in the October 2026 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.
Jamie Horner Empire Estate Agents E: JHorner@empireestateagents.com P: (08) 9262 0400
