Question: Can an owner take the strata management company to SAT for dispute resolution?
Our Strata management company is slow to act. If they act, they rarely help solve council of owners'(CoO) conflicts.
Ongoing mould issues have not been resolved by the strata management company despite numerous requests for action. As a member of the CoO, I know we have requested the manager find contractors to fix the defects.
I have lodged a SAT application against the strata management, but they say they are not the responsible party, and I should take action against the CoO. Can I take the strata management company to SAT for dispute resolution?
Answer: The strata manager has a contract with the strata company and obligations under the Act to the strata company, not each individual lot owner.
Whether or not there are grounds for a SAT application is very difficult to say from the information provided. The Tribunal does have jurisdiction in relation to some disputes between a strata company and the strata manager. Still, the application would ordinarily have to be commenced by the strata company because the strata manager has a contract with the strata company and obligations under the Act to the strata company, not each individual lot owner.
It is also not clear from the information provided whether the strata manager is in breach of any of its obligations to the strata company under the Act or the strata management contract, particularly because we do not have a copy of the strata management contract. This is, therefore, an issue about which I would recommend specific legal advice.
This post appears in Strata News #714.
Carolyn Meighan
Bugden Allen
E: carolyn@bagl.com.au
P: 08 9254 6304
I’m having an ongoing problem with our strata company and the responsibilities that they are not doing. I keep asking, but get no answers.
Hi Shane
This Q&A should assist with your question:
Question: Our strata manager is not performing the functions that we believe the management company should be doing. We are getting no response from the Director of the Management company.
I recently enquired how much replacement fobs would cost as they’re 14 eyars old and depsite having new batteries, don’t work properly. Strata quoted me $300 per fob. I need 2 fobs as both aren’t working properly. I’ve looked everywhere and can’t find any information on costs however a locksmith said they are only about $70 and replacing them shouldnt be anywhere near that price. Is there anything I can do? I can’t afford $600
Can the property manager give you a bad review if have 2 breaches & make it to the end of your lease & dont get evicted ? Will effect you getting another rental after ?
Hi Kyle
This question is outside the scope of this site. You would be best to direct your question to a real estate professional or your property manager.
It would be great if the answer to this question could be updated since the strata act changes. I’d love to know if the industry is now regulated and if it is possible to make a complaint about a poor strata manager. The new act provides more responsibility to strata managers and with that comes accountability, along with a requirement to hold suitable qualifications. Does the SAT deal with it at all?
Can a strata put their fees up by over 100%.
Hi Zoe
There are a variety of WA questions and responses about levy increase, including this Q&A, here:
Question: Our latest strata fee notice shows an increase from $197 to $279 a quarter. Can the strata company increase our strata fees by any amount they want?
Hi I am a tenant in a strata complex. I am being harassed and bullied by the unit opposite me who is a member of the strata council. She has been making fictitious and spiteful complaints that I am being charged an invoice fee of $55 for each breech, so far 4 breeches. I have tried a misconduct restraining order, told i was in the wrong forum. Property manager doesn’t want to know and the Strata company will not communicate with me.
I want to know how to resolve this issue without being forced to move and I do not know how to do it. Any suggestions?
Hi Sharon
The following documents may be of assistance to you. Please check the following suggestions with a strata lawyer but this is my understanding.
A tenant cannot be breached by the Council of Owners (via the strata manager), only an owner can be breached under the Strata Titles Act. The owner can then breach a tenant under the Residential Tenancies Act if you are not complying with the by-laws. I’d suggest they’d need to be able to substantiate that claim in order to pass any costs onto you.
You do not have to pay the $55 fee that comes with the breach notice. This is likely an admin fee imposed by the strata manager. in order to enforce the breach and can only be billed to an owner. If you believe the breaches are unfounded, don’t pay this fee and only the SAT (State Administrative Tribunal) can force you to pay once the Council of Owners have filed an application to enforce the breach to the bylaws.
The conduct of your neighbour/council member may be in breach of Conduct bylaw 4 as detailed on page 59 of this publication. If you think it is, file an application with the SAT to have it dealt with properly. It will cost approx $250 to submit the application but may be worth it if you can put a stop to the behaviour. You may need your owner’s support to do this, I’m unsure.
https://www.strata.wa.gov.au/assets/documents/Landgate_Guide_to_Strata_Titles_Rev_May2020.pdf
This is a guide about helping to solve disputes in strata from the website strata.wa.gov.au
https://www.strata.wa.gov.au/assets/documents/Landgate_Guide_to_Resolving_Disputes.pdf
Hope this helps. some legal advice as a starting point will not be costly, particularly as the Strata Titles Act changed recently.
Good luck!
Today, 20.05.2020, I attended the Annual General Meeting 2020 via online conferencing due to COVID19. There were five owner (including me) in the meeting and the meeting was chaired by the strata manager. Two things concerned me at the meeting, First, two of the owners had invested assignment to some of the works that needed to be carried out in the property (e.g building fence, investigate and treatment for spider/terminates in the building, clearing rubbish bins, painting of the building). The chairperson raised the concern of conflict of interest, however, due to not getting quotes and quotes being expensive in the past, they agreed on the owner to continue to complete the tasks as per the year plan 20/21. Everyone seems to know each other in the meeting, however, since its my first after many years attending a meeting, I raised in the meantime, the option to get quote should be considered. The manager claimed that there will be reviews of the work done and if owner are not happy then this can be looked into. Then she stated it will be highlighted in the minutes that all attendees have consented to hired these owners to do the task, which I did not say ‘yes’ whilst the rest did.
The second is when I raised by concerns that with the letterbox change in November 2019, I had to get my daughter to collect the letterbox keys since I was away from Perth, working in Kununurra. When I returned to Perth on 24.02.2020, I was not able to access the letterbox with the new keys given. I reported it to the Strata Manager prior to the meeting, and she claimed that since it has been more than 4 months I have to get the key changed at my cost. This was the same answer given in the meeting by all the rest, stating that I should have got my daughter to check that keys when issued, that it will only cost $15.00 to get it down, time lapsed and so forth. I believe that when a service is delivered there should be no defects and since I was away during the time (I did not want my daughter to check my personal mails and it is not a responsibility to check the keys were working) I disagreed and wanted strata to pay for the change of keys. I was advised to get legal advise as strata was not willing to pay for the cost
Hi Mabel
You are entitled to express your concerns about the way work is carried out at the strata scheme. It sounds like your concerns are not being acknowledged and that must be frustrating too.
It’s likely that as this is your first AGM for a while, you may have missed out on what’s been developing there during this time.
Too often in small schemes there is an underlying problem with levies being inadequate to manage the level of maintenance, repair and renewal that is really required. This leads to lack of funds being available leading to cheap work or well-meaning owners who become pseudo ‘caretakers’ but without trade skills.
It’s important to educate yourself on the reading of the financial statements that accompany each AGM notice so you can assess whether these are realistic…. if expenditure is higher than levies received then there is a problem. If there seems very little in each area of budgeted expenditure that indicates that cheap work is being done.
It’s difficult to assess without knowing the State, number of lots, their age, etc, but the record of what work has been undertaken and the cost should give you a fair idea of whether it is realistic.
You could ask for a committee member to contact you, and ask questions with that fellow owner – a fact-finding exercise – what’s been happening recently or over the period you’ve been away – be interested and care about what the vision is for the future… a committee member is more likely to be receptive and open to enquiries if there’s no criticism involved.
Second item: Just been through a similar situation with some owners. Generally, the strata company provides the letterboxes and the owner is responsible for locks and keys. Often when letterboxes are changed, there’s a new lock which comes with the box and there are a couple of keys that are issued that are supposed to fit… haha. However, there is a relatively inexpensive solution. Take a clear photo of the lock and the writing on it, take the key you were provided with that doesn’t work, go to a real locksmith (not a key cutting place), show them the photo and keys and ask what they charge to provide a key to suit. You may need to provide ID.. Depending on type of lock, it could be less than $20 for a solution. Good luck.
There is an elderly couple who have been living in their apartment for the past 17 years. In the past 3 years there has been an issue with mould. In the last year they have been unable to manage this due to ill health. I came across them one day in the walkway with the gentleman (both are 74 years old) leaning up against a wall being supported by his wife. I called an ambulance and he has been in hospital for the past 3 weeks due to be released this week. I became aware of the mould issue when helping the wife and invited into their home. The level of mould is definitely dangerous for the health. I contacted the strata as based on the accounts of the occupants, this only started in the last 3 years. The strata had a building inspector come in and talking with him he advised that there were issues with the silcone sealing the roof. They live on the 1st floor of a 3 level (ground, 1st and 2nd) building. From the account given by the building inspector he was sure it was due to this. However, the strata has just advised that they WON’T provide a copy of the inspectors report and that the issue is due to lack of ventilation. I am trying to help this elderly couple as much as I can but need to know what can they do now. As I said, the apartment would be dangerous to their health and need URGENT attention. Can you please tell me where they can go for assistance?
Hi Gary
If the couple are owners then they are entitled to see a copy of the builder’s report – any owner is entitled to see it as they (owners) have paid for it through their levies.
Mould is a serious issue, and it is very likely that ventilation (or lack of) is contributing to its growth. I’d recommend that you contact the local authority (City or Shire council) and request assistance for this couple. . . initially help to kill the mould then help to remove and treat the surfaces to prevent it returning. The senior’s activity department and the health department will probably assist and provide additional resources. It’s good of you to care enough to enquire and want to assist them.
Give us an update on what success you have.
Hi Gary, did you get any replies? I am having an almost identical issue with a unit I own as well
SCA would be worth joining IF it provided WRITTEN and RELIABLE responses to queries but it does neither.
More significantly SCA has failed to ensure that the industry accepts that:
1. all correspondence received or sent by strata managers or council members are strata record
2. no strata record is private