By the Paddocks Club team

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

Who “owns” owner contact details?

Member’s question:

Good day Paddocks,

Trustees have requested the managing agent to provide them with all the contact details of all the members in the body corporate. The problem is that several owners have requested the managing agent to keep their contact information confidential and requested that all such intended communication/s be via the managing agent. The managing agent is the custodian of this information. What limitations / or responsibilities does the PoPI Act place on managing agents, and what must the managing agent divulge to the new board considering the PoPI act, the request received from owners?

Regards

Graham’s answer:

Dear member,

The managing agent is not the custodian of the owners’ contact details and s/he has no duty or right to keep these from the trustees, who are the elected executive body of the body corporate.

The managing agent is not an officer or representative of the body corporate, as the trustees are. S/he holds scheme information on behalf of the body corporate and as a person employed to assist the trustees manage the scheme.

The managing agent is obliged to make all owners’ contact information available to all trustees on request.

The owner names and addresses are not personal information protected under the POPI Act. Owners and trustees are entitled to this information in terms of both the STSM Act (section 3(1)(n)) and the prescribed rules (PMR 27).

Regards,
Graham

Can an owner be forced to do repairs inside his/her section?

Member’s question:

Good day Paddocks,

How can the trustees force an owner to maintain the inside of a unit?

There is a water leak under the bath resulting in the inside walls being covered in mould and the paint peeling off the walls. This has been going on for a while but the trustees noticed, today, that it is affecting the paint on the outside of the unit which is common property. The trustees are worried that the water is now causing damage to the structure of the building. The unit is tenanted and the owner is refusing to maintain.

If there is a solution, is there a minimum time frame for the repairs to be completed?

Thank you.

Graham’s answer:

Dear member,

The legislation makes section maintenance the obligation of individual owners.

If the body corporate is prejudiced by an owner’s failure to maintain a section, it could approach the CSOS for an order obliging the owner to comply with the statutory obligation to do the work.

However, also see PMR 31(2) which allows the body corporate to intervene if the owner’s failure to maintain the section “prejudices the stability of common property, the building safety, the body corporate or other members or occupiers generally”.

Regarding the timeframe of the repair, there is no minimum period specified, but – presuming the conditions in PMR 31 are fulfilled – the common law requires that proper notice be given and that the owner be given a reasonable period to put his or her case to the trustees and to do the work before the body corporate intervenes.

Regards,
Graham


Article reference: Paddocks Press: Volume 16, Issue 2.

Graham Paddock is 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.

Back to Paddocks Press – February 2021 Edition.