A lot owner has convinced the Federal Court of Australia to ignore a bankruptcy notice – issued by an owners corporation in an attempt to recover unpaid strata levies and associated costs – by establishing her own counter claim against the owners corporation. In this case, the owners corporation served the lot owner – Ms Blair -…
Savina Yang and I discuss two ways you can use part of the common property to increase the value and amenity of your unit. Link mentioned: Get the transcript here! Key Points/Timestamps 00:27 – Introduction and Overview 01:07 – How to increase the value of your Strata unit by extending into common property 02:27 -…
On 15 December 2015 a decision was handed down in the Supreme Court of NSW in The Owners- Strata Plan No. 58087 v Matthews. The dispute related to whether or not a lot owner was entitled to park in a visitors’ parking space. In this case, the Owners Corporation claimed that the dispute and associated legal…
In this case the NSW Court of Appeal left undisturbed the Supreme Court’s earlier decision that a lot owner had been properly served with notice of levies and was therefore liable to pay. Before the Supreme Court, the lot owner, Mr Chua, claimed he never received the levy notice. The issue was whether or not Mr Chua…
The NSW Supreme Court has reminded us of the requirement for section 80 levy recovery expenses to be ‘reasonably incurred’ and ‘reasonable in amount’. If there is any doubt, costs will be referred for assessment. IIB Australia Pty Ltd v Owners Strata Plan 76024 (No 2) [2015] NSWSC 929 (16 July 2015) was an appeal from a decision…
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal Appeal Panel has upheld a decision to order a landlord to pay a tenant over $11,000 in compensation, declaring a unit that was permeated by smoke from a smoker downstairs was unsuitable for habitation. This is an important case because the landlord was liable for compensation even though the…
In APX Projects Pty Limited v The Owners Strata Plan No. 64025, a lot owner attempted to:- argue that a large payment made to settle debt recovery proceedings should have been allocated to sinking fund levies rather than outstanding legal fees; and bring an action against the treasurer, on behalf of the owners corporation. The owner failed…
December 2014 saw two decisions of the NSW Court of Appeal confirm the effect of section 80D of the Strata Schemes Management Act. This is the section that requires legal action to be approved by the general meeting if the reasonably estimated costs of taking that action exceed the amounts stipulated in the Regulation (currently $1000 per lot or $12,500…
Amended provisions in the Strata Schemes Management Act which came into effect 1 January 2014 were recently put to the test by Lawyers Chambers before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (“NCAT”). In the case of Malcolm Patrick and Margarita Patrick v The Owners-Strata Plan No 9079 [2014] NSWCATCD 232 (2 December 2014), the NCAT accepted our argument that it…
The High Court has found that there is no duty of care owed by a builder to an owners corporation in respect of pure economic loss flowing from latent defects in construction work: <a href=”http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2014/36.html”>Brookfield Multiplex Ltd v Owners Corporation Strata Plan 61288 [2014] HCA 36 (8 October 2014).</a> The building in question was a…
For those involved in strata living in NSW, the legal regime for the collection of unpaid strata levies can be confusing. That confusion is made worse when strata managers, lot owners and committee members receive conflicting advice from lawyers experienced in this area of the law. Some common questions include:- is an owners corporation entitled…
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