Hello everyone, Any help or advice on this would be greatly appreciated. I received an invoice for a special levy for repairs (1 of 8 instalments) a couple of months after moving in to an apartment I bought this year. Here are the details: - The repairs are mentioned in the strata report and a sum was given for part funding. - An AGM was held 2 days before the contract date where it was resolved that an additional levy be determined to the Capital Works fund for repairs. - The special levy was not mentioned on the section 184 certificate. I believe that since the special levy was struck before the contract date, the special levy should have been included in the section 184 certificate. Is that right?
Hi Terry, Thanks for your help. The s184 is not showing any amount (Nil / 0) under the "special contributions to the administrative or capital works or other fund" section.
Okay, I understand you now. The legislation is a little bit difficult to interpret but it does look like the information regarding the special levy should have been included.
The AGM was 2 days before the contract date. What date was the levy notice issued or how many days after the contract date?
Which subsection do you think applies? I have had a look (assuming you are referring to NSW law at STRATA SCHEMES MANAGEMENT ACT 2015 - SECT 184 Certificate by owners corporation as to financial and other matters relating to lot) and it could be s3 (f) whether there is any amount recoverable from the owner of that lot for work carried out by the owners corporation, OR (g) the proposals for funding the matters set out in the 10-year capital works fund plan, You should probably see a strata law specialist
Thanks for looking at that. Yes, this applies to NSW. I did think those 2 subsections apply here. There is basically nothing showing in the section 184 regarding 10 year capital works fund plan and any amount recoverable. Also, we're working with a solicitor on this. Just wanted to get some more feedback. It's difficult to understand the complexities.
Is there any obligation to provide an updated 184 Certificate? Were the minutes of the AGM prepared prior to the S184? Should this have been something that the solicitor or your review of the strata minutes should have picked up? Is it a relevant requistion that should have been made by the solicitor as the AGM was held prior to the signing of the contract (was anyone aware that the AGM was being held at this time?)
The section 184 was created after the AGM. I don't think we were entitled to get the minutes from the meeting before signing the contract. I'll check all these details with our solicitor. Thanks for the feedback.
What is the cost to you? Being practical - you had knowledge in that the levy was coming so would have budgeted to some level of accuracy. Thus the question is whether you are likely to recover any cash should the s184 argument hold up. Worth a go but it would have to be a large number to be worthwhile I suspect.
This isn't something like an opal / mascot towers. It's not a new building. It's a fair amount but nothing outlandish. We will access our options. We do want a fair outcome. I think there were mistakes made with our settlement and we'll try to work it out. Thanks, all. Will update later if possible.
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It sounds like, at face value, that you may have an unfortunate timing issue if the AGM was 2 days before the contract date (I assume you mean settlement date?), unless your strata search was done 2 days or less prior to the contract date, in which case the AGM minutes would have been available to you, and would indicate the Owner's Corp agreeing to a Special Levy. Whilst @Terry_w 's post above is, as usual spot on, regarding you consulting a strata law specialist, I'm not sure that:- "(f) whether there is any amount recoverable from the owner of that lot for work carried out by the owners corporation, " as the work might not be able to be carried out in such a tight 2 day time frame, and, assuming the work order would be greater than, say, $5000, then 3 quotes are likely to be required by the Owner's Corp, prior to issuing said work order, AND/OR " (g) the proposals for funding the matters set out in the 10-year capital works fund plan...", by definition a Special Levy falls outside the CWF plan, as it is a "special" levy for works that have not been budgeted for, and means that everybody has to cough up some coin, and in the short term.
Thanks for the feedback. The AGM was before the contract date (I'm not referring to the settlement date).
Thanks for the clarification. Best of luck. It's probably worthwhile having a chat with your solicitor and strata searcher as, depending on the timing, the AGM minutes may or may not have been available to you before settlement.
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