357. Electronic signatures on proxy forms?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Strata manager Reena Van Aalst and I cover:
- whether by-laws that force owners to receive their meeting agendas by email are legal,
- the electronic signing of proxy forms,
- the “democratic” compulsory management, and
- an unexpected win for the minority owner in a 2-lot plan.
Where do Stationery Cost by-laws land given it is a function of the OC to send a ‘hard copy’ should no email address be provided for the purposes of service?
This was written by a well known strata brief for a ‘snooty’ inner city strata plan, and it is registered.
Recovery of Stationery Expenses
Intention
i. The intention of this By-law is to provide the Owners Corporation with a fair and equitable mechanism to recover the costs of reasonable stationery expenses incurred by the Owners Corporation for the distribution of serving notices on lot owners via post or other non-electronic means.
ii. The Owners Corporation recognise that the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 enables the Owners Corporation to issue notices to owners and tenants via email and that this medium of communication is far more cost effective and environmentally friendly than non-electronic means.
A) Definitions
i. Terms used in this By-law which are defined in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 have the same meaning given to them in that Act
ii. The following terms are defined to mean:
‘Stationery Expense’ means the costs incurred by the Owners Corporation for serving documents on lot owners by post or other non-electronic means;
‘Administrative Fee’ means an amount of $20.00 per quarter (or other such amounts that may be determined by the Owners Corporation or Strata Committee from time to time acting reasonably) commensurate with administrative costs charged to the Owners Corporation
‘New Owners’ mean any owner/s that purchases a lot in the scheme after the date this By-law is registered.
‘Notice’ means any written correspondence that is issued by the Owners Corporation by post or other non-electronic means ‘the Act’ means the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015
B) Rights and Obligation of Owners
i. Where a lot owner has not provided the Owners Corporation with an email address for the service of notices as prescribed by the Act, the Owners Corporation may impose upon that lot owner an Administrative fee for reimbursement of serving documents via post or other non-electronic means.
ii. A lot owner has 6 months from the date this By-law is passed to register an email address for the service of notices before the Owners Corporation is entitled to charge an administrative fee.
iii. In the case of ‘new owners’, they shall have 3 months from the date the Owners Corporation is furnished with a Section 22 notice pursuant to the Act before the Owners Corporation is entitled charge an administrative fee
iv. Where an administrative fee has been applied pursuant to this By-law, a lot owner may apply to the Owners Corporation or Strata Committee that the Administrative fee be reduced or waived.
v. In the event the Owners Corporation rejects a request made by a lot owner pursuant to sub-clause B)(iv) above, all charges imposed by this By-law shall stand.
C) Rights, Powers and Obligations of the Owners Corporation
i. The Owners Corporation shall have the following additional powers, authorities, duties, functions and obligations;
ii. The Owners Corporation shall have the power to recover all costs outlined in clause B) above from a lot owner as a debt by way of a levy charged to the lot;
iii. The Owners Corporation must serve upon the owner a written notice of the contribution payable;
iv. The Owners Corporation may charge interest upon any contribution payable under this By-Law pursuant to section 85 of the Act;
v. The Owners Corporation may initiate debt recovery proceedings for any contribution payable under this By-Law pursuant to section 86 of the Act.
Stationery By-law.
The SP in question is 830 Bourke St Waterloo and their by-laws are encyclopedic in volume.
Google will get you there and it is a pdf file
The agent said the SP has used Grace and Bannermans and could not recall which drew up the Stationery by-law.
The agent could not see a problem with the by law because “the owners passed it”. The good old ‘mob rule’ mentality.
If one has the time to look at some of the other by-laws it seems whoever is drafting the by-laws feels that the OC can empower itself beyond what the Act envisages via by-laws.
For someone like me a set of by-laws like these are a deal breaker.
I am heading for the exit and looking for a more ‘civilized’ strata plan. I wonder if owners at 830 appreciate that?
Thanks Amanda and Reena for the information!
I would like to ask: What happened to the Strata Hub where Strata Owners were going to have the right information about their strata scheme before they bought?
Like the example you gave about the 2 strata owners scheme. The new owner was unaware of the work that needed to be done before she bought. There are numerous examples like that with the present system where we do not have consumer protection, transparency or accountability if something goes wrong.
Thanks again!