NSW COVID-19 MEASURES FOR STRATA AND COMMUNITY SCHEMES EXTENDED The NSW Department of Fair Trading has recently announced that the State Government has extended its temporary COVID-19 emergency measures for strata and community schemes to 29 September 2022. This means...Read More
TWO COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT WITHHOLDING ACCESS TO RECORDS Take the following real-life example (and assume that the person satisfies all eligibility requirements): • An ‘interested person’ or committee member starts, or threatens to start, a legal proceeding...Read More
NSW SHORT TERM RENTAL ACCOMMODATION (STRA) – FURTHER UPDATE The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has recently clarified its views in relation to the application of the State – Wide Short term Rental Accommodation (STRA) planning laws. You may...Read More
Management rights, like all industries, change and evolve over time. One of the biggest changes I have seen in recent years is the sale process itself. In the good old days, contracts were regularly prepared and settled on the basis of: • Financial verification – 14...Read More
What is Community Title? I recently wrote an article that explained the difference between community title and strata title in NSW. To recap, a good example of a community title is a gated community estate where there may be say 20 houses, each separated by boundaries...Read More
THREE THINGS TO DO IN RESPONSE TO A VAGUE RECORD COPY REQUEST Here are two-real life examples: “I request copies of all correspondence from any unit owner to the body corporate requesting for the program of works relating to the water penetration into unit [XYZ] be...Read More
INTERNAL EMAILS BETWEEN COMMITTEE MEMBERS – PUBLIC OR PRIVATE? We are often asked, do emails between committee members form part of the records of a body corporate? The answer is…it depends (so you need to read on). Internal communications This is a critical question...Read More
FURTHER PENDING CHANGES TO THE ROLE OF BUILDING MANAGERS IN NSW – PART 2 In last month’s article, I outlined some of the key issues raised in the current review by the NSW Government of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 and Strata Schemes Development Act 2015....Read More
DO STATUTORY EASEMENTS ALLOW OWNERS TO DISREGARD THE BY-LAWS? A 29-month dispute about the location of an owner’s air conditioning unit has been decided by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, with the body corporate coming out on top. The case The case...Read More
PENDING CHANGES TO THE ROLE OF BUILDING MANAGERS IN NSW – PART 1 BACKGROUND The Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 and the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 jointly provide the regulatory framework for the creation, governance and termination of strata schemes...Read More
