WA: Q&A Can Our Strata Company Appoint a Strata Manager Without a Meeting

This Q&A about whether half of the committee can appoint a new strata manager has been answered by Shelley Fitzgerald, Allsorts Community Strata.

Question: Some of the Strata Company have appointed a new Strata Manager without Extraordinary Meeting of owners or requesting a meeting of all members of the Council. Can this be done?

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I appears that 3 of the 6 owners of our Strata Company have engaged a new Strata Manager without either requesting an Extraordinary Meeting of owners or requesting a meeting of all members of the Council.

It also seems that the new “Strata Manager” may have encouraged this by telling them they constituted a quorum and therefore could engage him.

As no Notice of the meeting, nor an agenda were circulated it seems that the meeting was illegally convened and therefore any actions resulting from the meeting are to be taken as if they hadn’t happened. However the new “Strata Manager” is insistent that he has been legally appointed.

One of the three owners at the meeting subsequently wrote to the existing Strata Manager dismissing him.

What can one or two of the other owners do? An extraordinary meeting of owners would result in a deadlock.

Answer: The Council of the Strata Company are empowered to appoint a strata managing agent to act on their behalf.

It appears from this query that this is a group of 6 lots, of which 3 of the lots are council members, and the council members have appointed a new strata managing agent.

The Council of the Strata Company, via the (standard) bylaws, are empowered to appoint a managing agent to act on their behalf.

There is no requirement for this decision to be referred to a General Meeting of the Strata Company (or the other owners) as per Schedule 1 bylaw 8 (2)(b):

The council may —
1. meet together for the conduct of business and adjourn and otherwise regulate its meetings as it thinks fit, but the council shall meet when any member of the council gives to the other members not less than 7 days’ notice of a meeting proposed by him, specifying in the notice the reason for calling the meeting;
2. employ on behalf of the strata company such agents and employees as it thinks fit in connection with the control and management of the common property and the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of the strata company;
3. subject to any restriction imposed or direction given at a general meeting of the strata company, delegate to one or more of its members such of its powers and duties as it thinks fit, and at any time revoke the delegation.

If the 3 members (who appointed the new manager) are the council members, and they have arranged a council meeting and agreed to the change of Strata Managers for the Strata Company, then this is within their duties and responsibilities.

There may be other considerations to take into account, such as the budgeted management fees etc, however, the Council members do have authority to employ agents as it thinks fit for the control and management of the common property and performance of the Strata Company duties.

This post appears in Strata News #294

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Shelley Fitzgerald
Allsorts Community Strata
P: 0423 243 100
E: [email protected]

Note: this general information about strata council member problems is an opinion only and suitable specialists in these areas should be sort for clarification and assistance on all points.

Please note this advice was provided prior to the proclamation of the new strata title amendments and will be updated in due course.

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