Question: As a new resident, I’m concerned that we do not have a strata manager and there have been no AGMs at the building since 1999.
I am a new lot owner in a 5-lot built strata development. There is no appointed strata manager and, prior to my arrival, there had not been an AGM since 1999.
I want to have AGMs so we can discuss things like insurance, by-laws and use of the common property. The problem is, two of the other lot owners aren’t interested. As secretary of the strata council, do I need them to agree, or can I just give 14 days notice for the AGM? What happens if no one turns up?
If owners are breaching bylaws at the property, can I send out a notice on behalf of the strata company? Can one owner do that, without a resolution?
Answer: Are you certain that no “Exemption by-law” for 3 to 5 Lot schemes has been registered at Landgate and recorded on the strata plan?
I would recommend that you are certain that no “Exemption by-law” for 3 to 5 Lot schemes has been registered at Landgate and recorded on the strata plan.
This would mean that there is no need to have any meetings or books of account or mailing receptacles for the strata company.
Without knowing how everyone is currently insured, I am unable to answer the question about insurance.
All strata schemes will have the standard by-laws in the Act by default, again, without a copy of the strata plan I am unable to tell if any amendments or additions have been made to the by-laws.
How did you become elected as the secretary if there hasn’t been an AGM since 1999 ?
There would appear to be a lot of details required to answer your enquiry.
Shane White
Strata Title Consult
E: shane.white@stratatitleconsult.com.au
This post appears in Strata News #564.
My mother lives in a strata with both a strata manager and a council of owners. There are poor behaviours between residents and towards my mother. we have raised this multiple times with both the COO and the strata manager and nothing is ever done. This is not making a harmonious environment…how do we address effectively
Hi Alison
We have addressed this in a series of webinars over the past year/s. The recordings of these session should assist. Good luck!
WA: Antisocial behaviour in strata
WA: Peace in your strata: Prevent & Resolve ByLaw Breaches
NAT Bullying in Strata: The signs, the facts and some solutions
NAT: Challenge Accepted: Challenging People In Strata – And How To Deal With Them
Question – I live in a villa in a property of 3. I was told when I bought that it didn’t need a strata company because there were less than 4 properties, but not that I am trying to sell it I have an agent saying it needs it. Has the laws changed?
hi Amy
This Q&A article should assist:
Question: With the new WA legislation, can a complex of 6 lots still self managing or are there specific legislation or other laws that require us to appoint a strata manager?
Hello
I was just wondering if a person that resides overseas and owns a unit in a strata village are they able to serve in a position on the committee I understand that we can vote and attend meetings remotely via phone video link etc but can we serve on a committee if we don’t actually live in the village or the country. Perth wa
Hi Tina
Any Owner can nominate to the Committee and, usually, if you’re interested and willing to learn about your strata investment you are welcomed.
Since 01/05/2020 where electronic meetings are valid, and technology allows you to see the same as those visiting the site, it can be beneficial to have a different perspective. There can be a challenge being in a different time zone but if an agenda for the council of owners’ meeting is issued with the required minimum 7 days notice, every member’s response can be considered irrespective of whether they are present electronically, in person, or by proxy.
Good on you for retaining interest in it. As an owner of strata property and a strata manager (both as a volunteer and employed), it is the owners who need to work on a vision for the scheme as a whole (the village) and to do this means having ideas and agreement, but especially interest and working as a group to help other owners catch the vision, and with assistance from the strata manager to discover how the vision can be implemented. A vision is really only limited by legislation, funds and the willingness of those involved to keep adapting. All the best!
Hi, I’m in a very similar situation as the Questioner in this article. We’re in a group of 8 units and have a Council of 3. One resigned & there are two council members left. We’ve found another owner that is willing to join the council, but are not sure how to proceed. For the new member to join the council, do we need to call a General Meeting, or can we just notify our strata management company of the new member and carry on with our role. I’m assuming that there has to be some sort of formal notification, but I’m not sure who it should go to, or who it should come from. Could you shed some light on what we need to do to formalise our new council/council member?
Coincidentally, I asked a question about a person who is not a proprietor but holding an enduring power of attorney or power of attorney being on the Council of Owners on another thread. The link is below for your easy reference.
https://www.lookupstrata.com.au/wa-how-does-proxy-voting-work/#comment-69768
Just a suggestion…. an agenda item stating the levies are going to triple to cover the cost of strata management…. it’s amazing how many people turn up when the back pocket is affected. 😉
I’m a tenant in a block of 24 units,IV live here for 16 yrs.
Everyone got on I being younger than most loved helping other residents when asked I was very liked and everyone always talked highly of me . 2 yrs ago this woman bought a unit and I thought that she liked me and seemingly Friendly, what I noticed was that whenever someone asked for my help or if I wasn’t around residents use to say in her presence” wait for Mia she knows everything,she hated that , so she threw herself at the opportunity to be chair of COO ers , since then IV been issued with complaint for bad aggressive language (not true at all) and to dress appropriately, Im in shock ,then was ordered to remove stuff that wasn’t allowed on common property ( the stuff I removed was actually left by tenants that had left.
Think she’s jealous or envious of me for whatever reason I don’t know.
Anyway she has pot plants on the walk way ,which isn’t allowed and hangs her washing on fold away stand ,which isn’t allowed, IV taken pics and sent to strata but she seems to be allowed to break bylaws .
Please tell me who I can ask for help , I can’t see strata cos they know and don’t do nothing
OMG! I hear over and over again about ” incident i.e. someone trips over an uneven surface because maintenance has not been done” and just wonder how many cases did really happen with this type of incident in order to be wort it to have a strata manager I a first place.
Is there actually a good reason for having a paid strata manager, in the first place? What sort of major issues cannot be solved among the owners/occupiers of the lots in a strata without hiring a third party to “manage” your own properties?
I need to recognise, there are some situations created by these newly created “common living” strata, where owners prefer green titles, so they can manage themselves their own properties. Australia is not a communist country, yet the “common properties” in strata are paid by all the strata owners “in common”.
Is everyone aware what they actually purchase when buying into a strata property? Does everyone know and agrees that the external walls, and the roof above your own property, and what you call your own backyards, are actually all considered “common property”, on which everyone needs to contribute financially for their maintenance and repairs?
Would be very interesting to understand where is Australia aiming in the future with the strata legislation across the nation, and weather we’ll continue to pay for maintaining someone’s else’s backyards, damaged pipes or roofs, and all of these just because it happens to live in the close vicinity and share in reality just a driveway.
I live in a strata of 4 units… 3 owner occupied and 1 rental. Since 2006, on my arrival, they asked me to take over as secretary as our manager wanted to stop doing the role. I have been acting everything…with no assistance. The other owners are non existent with their help. I pay the bills and keep record of fees only. I have the cooperation of only 1 other owner…and she rents her unit out.
I have sussed out a strata management situation but for us it is horribly expensive and over the top for our simple setup.
I have tried to Survey strata without success.
I send out emails suggesting a meeting… with no replies!
How do you motivate people who just want to live behind their closed doors? Too expensive to opt out.
Hi Vicki. When you say “they asked me to take over as secretary as our manager wanted to stop doing the role”, did they ALL ask you to take over, and in which manner did they actually ask you? If you wish to continue in your role then try to get it in writing from every other owner (and not just “over the back fence etc.”) that they wish you to continue in your role..
I suggest that you take pains to contact the two freeloading owners in person AND by mail (hand them the letters in person if you can and keep DATED copies of everything) and inform them that unless they start to cooperate it will leave you with no alternative but to resign. Furthermore, should you wish, if you can get them to read the above article, tell them verbally and in writing (keeping DATED copies) that you will make yourself available to discuss any concerns that they may have in understanding that continued apathy on their part will only further compound existing problem$ for EVERYONE in your AND THEIR strata complex.. It’s best that these two apathetic owners come to the rapid understanding that they won’t EVER be able to credibly say to you or anyone else that they didn’t understand that it is their apathy that has been causing problems, be these problems of unnecessary and perhaps exorbitant cost ever-ready to lob later down the track and/or the smooth-running of your, AND THEIR, strata complex. Best of luck to you!
Thanks Allan for your comments…
It was done at the first meeting of owners and minuted. Correction – in 2010.
Only 1 of the owners has changed in that time but he’s been there 3 years now I think …. although doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind 🙂