Body Corporate nightmare

Yes. The BC manager told me that none of the others pay and we have taken legal action against them. I paid mine because it added up every often with interest and late fees

 

Then at the next Owners Corp meeting, if you have a quorum (not sure of the % in Vic) nominate yourself for Secretary, Chair and Treasurer, asuming this will get through.

And then you will be able to have a greater influence on the strata manager in relation to them chasing the outstanding arrears, including interest, and probably look at changing strata managers.

 

Unfortunately, many people just accused the Strata Manager for not doing anything because they cannot see what has been done. A lot of things are not as visible such as paying the utilities bills, insurance, administration cost, management fee, regular caretaking, general maintenance etc. Most people expected fresh paints, new carpets, new roof, etc but this is usually from the Maintenance Fund.

The Administration Fund is for day-to-day expenses and outcome is not usually visible.

I'm just saying in general and I do agree there are too many dodgy and slack strata managers out there!
In Vic, quorom is 50% but even if you do not have it, it will be resolutions after 28 days of the meeting. You can call in for the meeting, just notify the manager in advance. For a 4 lots OC, I don't see this as an issue.

You can sell even if you're in arrears. The OC certificates will show that you are in arrears and this is usually paid off during settlement.

Check whether you have existing contract with the strata manager as it might cost the OC quite some money if you sack them prior to expiry, probably $1,800 per year?

 

I'm not sure how this helps.

If the strata manager is not doing their job, and it costs money to sack them, then it costs what it costs.

And if they are sacked prior to expiry, then one would hope that the OC has a 3 month notice date in their contract, and if not, well, thems the breaks.

Maybe selling is good idea, but maybe getting the OC's **** together is a cheaper option.....

And any of the owners who are in arrears should be incurring interest and reminder costs (at least in NSW, not sure about Vic...).

 

So very true!
Especially for an owner of a unit in a small block.
The proportion of the costs per owner is also much higher than in a larger block.
eg yard/property maintenance around a 10 unit block is going to cost almost the same as for a small unit block.
Repairs? split by 4 or 6 instead of 10 or more.
Outside management? often a minimum cost regardless of number of units.

Also, even though it costs a relatively high proportion of BC fees to have an outside 'Strata Manager' (and no small unit block could afford an onsite manager!), in my experience, and anecdotally that of others, they are basically just the bookkeepers who take care of the 'paperwork'. That alone is a sizeable job (for the money received), especially if owners fall into arrears.

If you don't have someone onsite who is prepared to give up a lot of time and energy chasing up issues, and organising the required repairs and upgrades, nothing gets done. Mostly it is the unpaid members of the committee who have to initiate and follow up action.

So, if you want to buy into a small block, as has been said before, you have to be prepared to pull up your socks and proactively help manage the place.