By the Paddocks Club Team

Below are examples of two questions on the Paddocks Club discussion forum. We want to show you what is available to our Community members!


When is the levy legally in arrears?

Member’s question:

If levy is payable in advance, but payable by the 7th of the month, when would it legally be considered to be in arrears.  If you pay in advance, then could it be argued that the amount can only be arrears at the end of the month for which it is payable? Comments?

Anton’s answer:

Prescribed management rule 31(3) says the trustees must notify owners of the levy amount they must pay and that they have the discretion to decide on the instalments.

As long as the trustees have specified a date – such as the 7th of each month – for payment, if the payment is not made by that date, the owner is in arraers.

 

Trustees made changes to agreed specifications for upgrade

Member’s question:

At a special general meeting the trustees presented owners with specifications and costs for the upgrading of the complex which was unanimously accepted by owners.

During the contractors work in progress some of the specifications were changed by the trustees without referring back to owners.

Is this legal and if not what recourse do owners  have against the trustees.

Anton’s answer:

The trustees should not make changes to the specifications agreed by the owners. But there might have been some urgency or good reason.

Once the work is completed, there’s not much the owners can easily do about it. If they are not happy with the trustees they can remove them from office, not re-elect those individuals again.

If the work had to be re-done and so cost the body corporate a significant amount of money, and if it could be proved that the trustees were grossly negligent or acted in deliberate bad faith, owners could approach the court and apply for an order making the trustees personally responsible for the loss to the body corporate.


Article reference: Paddocks Press: Volume 11, Issue 05, Page 04.

Professor Graham Paddock, Anton Kelly, Dr Carryn Melissa Durham and Zerlinda van der Merwe are available to answer questions on the Paddocks Club discussion forum for Community members. Get all your questions answered by joining Paddocks Club.

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution license.

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