Body Corporate and Litigation

cski on 29/05/2024 - 19:06
Last edited 29/05/2024 - 19:07

Wondering what you think

Rental agent manages a rental property for me,

Body Corporate emails me to my email address regularly for insurance/meetings/notices

Body Corporate posts invoices to Rental agent and rental pay all invoices

Body Corporate contacts a lawyer

Lawyer contacts me via Email with Magistrate Litigation demand for payment of Fees + legal fees

I can't help but think there was a step in the middle there

Wonder what i should do after i settle this matter,
i will pay it for now but ironically i dont have any invoices because well the step in the middle

Financial

Comments

  • 87percent on 29/05/2024 - 19:17
    +1

    I would be telling the bc to forward all correspondence to the rental manager… but they’ll probably ignore it because it wasn’t brought up in the meeting minutes

    • cski on 29/05/2024 - 19:24
      +2

      my understanding is the BC failed to send invoices to the rental, or the rental paid it but BC lost it

      but it is disappointing the BC didnt contact me to remediate the matter (they clearly had my contact details as they passed it on)

      Its almost like the BC did it on purpose to be vindictive (the owner/manger/sole employee of the BC is a horrible person if you meet her)

      • djkelly69 on 29/05/2024 - 20:38
        +19

        Yeah the BC isn't taking you to court if they didn't send the invoices or if they were paid but the BC "lost" the fees.

        99% sure your rental agent has f'd up and is trying to put it on you.

    • cski on 29/05/2024 - 19:21
      +7

      well thats constructive

      • jv on 29/05/2024 - 19:45
        -5

        and free advice…

        • pegaxs on 30/05/2024 - 09:40
          +6

          And as the saying goes… "Free advice is seldom good, and good advice is seldom free…"

          • BluebirdV on 30/05/2024 - 18:02

            @pegaxs: And then you can pay for a financial planner and end up getting poor returns.

  • mskeggs on 29/05/2024 - 19:42
    +4

    To be clear, your strata fees were unpaid, and that is the reason a lawyer was engaged?
    And you felt there were no fees unpaid? How were you notified of the dispute?
    It seems like you are leaving out parts too, so it isn’t clear what events have happened.

    • cski on 29/05/2024 - 19:44
      +1

      the strata company never contacted me first, they didnt even try

      I'm happy to pay as obviously i owe it but they didnt bother contact me

      • mskeggs on 29/05/2024 - 19:47
        +8

        If they sued you for unpaid fees in local court in front of a magistrate they need to show how they served the demand for payment on you, and the escalation that it was going to court.
        Who did the serve, and what evidence did they present?

        You will be able to challenge the costs beyond the outstanding fees (and maybe late charges) if they did not follow the correct process, which includes notifying you.

        • cski on 29/05/2024 - 19:52
          +1

          We are instructed that you have recently been issued with a Final Fee Notice on 2 April 2024 for
          your non-payment of fees, interest and charges due to the Owners Corporation. To enable the
          Owners Corporation to comply with its obligations of managing, administering and repairing the
          common property accordingly payment for fees must be made on time.

          There is no evidence shared other this statement of a notice was issued, no mention how or where it was sent
          I wasn't even sent how to pay it from the law firm

          but reality is i want to complain about the strata firm and would this be via VCAT or via Consumer Affairs

          • mskeggs on 29/05/2024 - 20:06
            +8

            @cski: That wording reads like a letter of demand, not a ruling from a magistrate.
            It seems this is your “you’ve missed the final notice, this is your chance before court” letter.
            So did the body corporate issue the invoices for fees to the address/details you provided?
            And were those paid? Can you show evidence? Maybe you recorded the payments when you were doing your tax return?

            • cski on 29/05/2024 - 21:46
              +3

              @mskeggs: thanks thats helpful i will ask for evidence from the complainant how they actually actively delivered the invoices and the final notice for payment literature and in what format.
              and what effort they placed to contact by call/phone too?

      • wayacos on 30/05/2024 - 09:34
        +12

        Strata companies are the biggest thieves on the planet…………

        • bbinc on 30/05/2024 - 14:26
          +2

          Smells to me like the strata company may have a subsidiary/related law firm …
          If not, isn't that a great money making idea? Like the strata company I used to use, always insured through CHU, put in their own broker, added $400 brokerage fee to the same policy …
          Add in a lawyer, kaching kaching

  • wordplay on 29/05/2024 - 19:50
    +4

    I would engage the services of a solicitor and fight this through the courts, its not so much the money, but the principle.
    they need to appologise and prove that they have new processes and procedures in place so that things like this can not happen again.
    this would give me so much mental pain and suffering it is beyond belief. absolutely not acceptable.

  • spackbace on 29/05/2024 - 19:51
    +15

    Rental agent manages a rental property for me,

    Body Corporate emails me to my email address regularly for insurance/meetings/notices

    Body Corporate posts invoices to Rental agent and rental pay all invoices

    Body Corporate contacts a lawyer

    Lawyer contacts me via Email with Magistrate Litigation demand for payment of Fees + legal fees

    Your car has been crushed into a cube

    You have 30 minutes to move your cube

    • cski on 29/05/2024 - 19:54
      +2

      interesting i used to have a toy as a kid where you put a matchbox car in this machine then it would spit out a fake crushed cube :)

      • arescarti42 on 30/05/2024 - 20:33

        I had this toy too. It had a rubber belt that lifted up the cube. :)

  • jjjaar on 29/05/2024 - 20:25
    +4

    Did your rental agent receive and pay the invoices?

    • cski on 29/05/2024 - 20:55
      +9

      I'll find out tomorrow,
      i know 5 years ago the BC sent me a rude letter demanding payment after they 'forgot' to post me the invoices and refunded the late fee (after official complaint),
      but this time is ridiculous and extreme behaviour regardless if the rental manager got or didn't get the invoice i feel it would have been at least courteous to send me the invoice so i could hassle the rental agency for their failure (if there was one).

      I swear this BC business model involves customers paying late fees, because they always sent me invoices many weeks and even months later when i was self managing the bills directly.

      • HardQuiz on 30/05/2024 - 10:36

        Please let us know

      • CalmLemons on 30/05/2024 - 19:01
        +1

        Sounds like your owners corp manager is a prick.

        It normally has to be up to a vote in order to this aggressively follow up fees at a oc meeting.

        How late were you to pay?

        You should also take this up with the rental agency.

      • jjjaar on 30/05/2024 - 19:49

        So did you find out?

        • cski on 30/05/2024 - 21:42
          +1

          The rental company says they never received any warnings or invoices, that they would chase all up, that the lawyer rejected their request to waive fees.

          The BC hasn't yet returned the calls by the rental agency,
          but the BC did email me back saying simply this short statement

          We confirm that fee notices are forwarded to your Rental Agent as per instructions. All other correspondences (ie ballots, notice and minutes of meetings, etc.) are forwarded to you directly.

          • Hangryuman on 31/05/2024 - 08:15
            +2

            @cski: 'We confirm that fee notices are forwarded to your Rental Agent as per instructions'

            that is not a statement of proof that it was sent - it is merely an ambit claim of 'this is how we usually do things'

            sounds like you might have a bad strata manager - not a Paragon of virtue ?

            • cski on 05/06/2024 - 13:05

              @Hangryuman: So spoke to a lawyer and they said this provider has done this previously,
              but because if you contest by email, they (The Strata) actually charge you per email an additional fee, you then end up with even bigger before you even get an invoice back.

              I sent a payment to them to $0 the account. (I hope because they still have not sent a tax invoice 7 days after request)

              Legal Advice said although they (The Strata) are borderline legal, the amounts less than $15,000 they deliberately do this behavior knowing they will not be pursued because it will cost me >$1000 to get my <$1000 back.

              I got in touch with 5 others (Different properties) that left 'personally identifiable' reviews with near identical stories in the last 12 months of missing late and will see if as a group we can share that legal spend risk to at least show the OC.(The reviews go back 10 years with same thread)

              I just now need to find out where VCAT will accept class claims from multiple properties or they must be of one complex.

              and i need to find what number are required to be classified as a class action

          • CalmLemons on 01/06/2024 - 19:13
            +1

            @cski: of course the lawyer will reject their request.

            the fact your oc lawyered up after 30 days is LUDICRUS.

            • cski on 05/06/2024 - 13:06

              @CalmLemons: you know what my favourite is.

              the Strata has just sent the Final payment notice
              6 days after the lawyer sent their post final payment notice warning

              still not invoice or payment details though

              • CalmLemons on 06/06/2024 - 19:47

                @cski: so what happened in the end? you should read to posts below

      • CalmLemons on 01/06/2024 - 19:18

        Ontop of this, I believe normally there needs to be a special resolution by the actual owners corporation committee for the manager to go straight to the magistrates court, instead of VCAT.

        The manager cannot just take you directly to the magistrates court without the special resolution.

        Recovery proceedings at the Magistrates’ Court
        If an Owners Corporation passes a special resolution to collect outstanding Owners Corporation fees, then the Owners Corporation may issue recovery proceedings in a Court of law in Victoria, which is typically the Magistrates’ Court. Conversely no special resolution is required to commence recovery proceedings in the VCAT. Obtaining a special resolution is quite time consuming and for this reason the VCAT is usually the preferred forum to recover Owners Corporation fees.

        *The advantages of issuing proceedings in the Magistrates’ Court include:-

        The award of costs based on a Court scale, as opposed to VCAT where the Tribunal may award a nominal amount for costs.
        There is a procedure for obtaining default judgment whereby judgment can be obtained quickly against a recalcitrant owner (there is no procedure for default judgment in VCAT).
        The Magistrates’ Court has its own mechanism for enforcement of judgments. Any Order obtained in the VCAT must be registered in the appropriate Court before it can be enforced.*

        Citation: https://www.gadens.com/legal-insights/owners-corporation-fee…

        This is not legal advise but I hate it when reactions are much stronger than the crime.

        OP I would highly advise asking the OC if a special resolution was made to take you directly to the magistrates court. If not, the manager is in the wrong here.
        You should have been given a notice to VCAT instead.

        • CalmLemons on 01/06/2024 - 19:22

          Futhermore from the consumer affairs victoria site:

          Late payment of fees and charges
          Lot owners who do not pay fees, lose the right to vote on ordinary resolutions. They can attend owners corporation meetings but can only vote on special or unanimous resolutions. For more information on these resolutions, view Voting and ballot guidelines.

          An owners corporation can:

          charge penalty interest on money owing if this is authorised by resolution. For more information, view the penalty interest rate information on this page
          take action to recover debts in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria or at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
          An owners corporation can also levy fees to recover recurrent expenses from individual lot owners. These fees must be based on lot liability.

          Example:

          A lot owner has 10 per cent of the lot liability and has not paid their fees. The owners corporation manager charges the owners corporation $33 for processing the late payment, as allowed by the manager's contract of appointment. The lot owner can only be charged 10 per cent of the late payment fee, in this case $3.30.

          Note: An owners corporation cannot charge a lot owner any other fees or charges, such as an 'administration fee', for overdue owners corporation fees.

          Further, an owners corporation manager cannot require a lot owner to pay any fees due to the manager under the contract.

          A manager's contract of appointment is a contract between the owners corporation and the manager. This means that the owners corporation is subject to the contract, not the individual lot owners.

          The contents of any contract of appointment must comply with the Owners Corporation Act 2006 and the Owners Corporations Regulations 2018.

          Penalty interest rate
          The maximum rate of interest that your owners corporation can charge on overdue fees is determined by the Penalty Interest Rates Act 1983.

          To view the current penalty interest rates, visit Penalties and values - Department of Justice and Community Safety.

          • cski on 06/06/2024 - 21:46

            @CalmLemons: Very excellent reply,
            Like you say, we haven't had a meeting minutes delivered
            the last i received was september 2022 and September 2023 not up to sept 2024 yet to vote anything. If there was a vote they deliberately did not send me minutes or invite.

            They charge a $55 fee per late event/ each extension and $165 administration fee for writing late and final notice along 10%pa
            Then sent to lawyer who wants $220. All while not performing what business victoria guidence says direct contact to the debtors is to be performed and evidence of documented delivery prior to litigation.

            I contacted legal aid they said they are familiar with multiple clients and this OC but they deliberately keep the excess fees to under a threshold where it is too expensive for the legal services providers to recoupe.

            Lastly i received the final notice that should precede the litigation 1 week later than.

            • CalmLemons on 07/06/2024 - 13:20

              @cski: Sounds like they're milking it.

              Either the manager themselves or there are zealots on the OC committee. I would look over the previous minutes, make contact with the elected committee minutes and discuss with them amicably, do not be aggressive to find out what exactly is going on.
              If it's not on the committees direction then it must be the manager trying to make money out of it.

              Lodge a formal complaint with consumer affairs who handle this, with enough complaints the manager gets formal records on their file and if they do enough dodgies beyond the law I would suspect they can get penalised.

  • randomusername2017 on 29/05/2024 - 21:13
    -1

    Body Corporate emails me to my email address regularly for insurance/meetings/notices

    Lawyer contacts me via Email with Magistrate Litigation demand for payment of Fees + legal fees

    can't help but think there were a few steps omitted in the OP there

  • AustriaBargain on 29/05/2024 - 21:36
    +11

    You did the right thing by telling us. Everything will be okay now.

    • cski on 29/05/2024 - 21:43
      +3

      thank you
      because i wanted to vent, this company i just hate so much for 10 years but strata providers are kinda like that chronic illness you cannot escape from due to how it digs in deep and require so many different things to all align at once to eradicate.

      • derpdeder on 29/05/2024 - 22:53
        +6

        Just propose a motion each AGM to remove the strata management company and replace them with another. If they are as bad as you think, other owners will also have an issue with them and will vote with you.

        • firebucket on 30/05/2024 - 09:06
          +3

          Good Advice. Maybe you can do away with them altogether and manage it as owners. If it isn't a big complex with lots of facilities, its actually quite easy to do. Save all the owners thousands of dollars.

      • 7ekn00 on 30/05/2024 - 08:02
        -1

        You purchased the unit in a BC structure, most would rather buy cheap houses in the burbs over BC run properties …

        Live and learn … or sell and profit and re-invest in something that isn't a headache …

        • Meho2026 on 30/05/2024 - 08:18
          +1

          How many houses do you own?

          • 7ekn00 on 30/05/2024 - 08:33
            +1

            @Meho2026: Houses for investment are headaches with low returns!!

            I own properties (currently ~4700 acres) in which I can enrol in lucrative carbon sequester scams (can earn up to $5k per acre per year, geometric mean for me currently is $1.4k/a/yr) to make money ;)

            • quick-dry on 30/05/2024 - 14:39

              @7ekn00: for realsies, or for the purposes of fun and games on OzB like high yield investment vehicles? it's just an interesting idea I've not seen posted on here before

      • xylarr on 30/05/2024 - 11:00
        +6

        If you are concerned about how it is run, you need to get involved.
        Go to the AGM. Nominate yourself to be on the Owners Corporation Committee - you'll definitely get all correspondence plus a lot of background that most people don't see. There should have been communication between the strata manager (who is employed by the owners corporation) to confirm if proceeding to legal avenues is the right course of action.

        I suggest you just call the strata manager, find out what you need to do - probably it will be to do what they say, pay your outstanding strata levies and the legal fees which should only be a few hundred extra at this stage. Then, ask them what they need in order for this not to happen again. Frankly, asking your rental agent to look after body corporate and other stuff (land tax, rates, water etc) is just looking for trouble. Let your rental agent concentrate on just collecting the rent and have all that other stuff forwarded directly to you. Then make sure you have calendar entries for a year out to remind you that things need to be paid. Of course, if you have your rental agent sit on the rent received in their trust account so that they can pay for these things, you will have to get your rental agent to instead pay out any rent received because you will need the money to fund these things.

        The problem with property management is that it really isn't just set and forget - you have to be involved and keep an eye on things in order to get the best out of it.

        • star-ggg on 30/05/2024 - 16:34

          OP is an investor. Their only job is fill in their tax return. /s

          • Hangryuman on 31/05/2024 - 07:07
            -2

            @star-ggg: and then complain to everybody except who can fix it

            "SOMEBODY SHOULD DO SOMETHING!!!"

        • CalmLemons on 30/05/2024 - 19:01

          listen to this guy ^

          i would not have gone to the effort of writing the above. above person has taken a fair bit of effort.

  • elgrande on 29/05/2024 - 22:09

    How much $$

  • JimmyF on 29/05/2024 - 22:56

    Body Corporate posts invoices to Rental agent and rental pay all invoices

    Did either of them do this?

    Have you seen the BC fees being taken out of your statements?

    Lawyer contacts me via Email with Magistrate Litigation demand for payment of Fees + legal fees

    Ouch…

    So what did the rental agent say when you asked them why they are not paid?

    i will pay it for now but ironically i dont have any invoices because well the step in the middle

    Have you asked the BC for a copy? A simple, these had meant to be paid by the rental agent, but clearly they haven't. Please forward all outstanding invoices for payment.

    Also while you are there, please send the invoices to me not the rental agent moving forward.

    • cski on 30/05/2024 - 21:59

      Couple years ago I went through that

      I asked for 1 copy to be emailed to me, and then Rental agency no longer received future
      so next quarter was late and i asked why RA hadnt paid, they said they didnt get
      I asked BC what is going on they said they only send one copy and cannot send to second address so they sent to that email address and no longer to RA.

  • payless69 on 30/05/2024 - 04:59

    Which state?

    • EightImmortals on 30/05/2024 - 07:42
      +17

      Frustration by the sounds of it.

    • cski on 30/05/2024 - 08:06
      +1

      Victoria

      • payless69 on 30/05/2024 - 09:13

        The Yanks have bought many bodycorps under their Perpetual umbrella. They use generic names.
        Endless perjury with them greedy mongrels.
        I hear that they will get the marching orders.

        • CrowReally on 30/05/2024 - 10:59
          +1

          Perjury is pretty bad, I'm sad to hear that it's endless perjury which is obviously a lot worse

      • VerticallyIntegrated on 30/05/2024 - 19:17

        Is it Wal Jones?

        • cski on 30/05/2024 - 22:00

          omg you must live in my street

  • kiitos on 30/05/2024 - 07:57

    How much extra legal fees are they asking?

  • SlickMick on 30/05/2024 - 08:32

    You say BC sends notices to you, plus invoices to REA … are you sure REA are recieving invoices??

    I recieve levy notices from BC and pay them. End of transaction.

  • firebucket on 30/05/2024 - 09:13

    External BC Managers are a PITA at the best of times. Cost thousands of dollars basically for them to balance the books and organise insurance. If you can get enough support from the majority of other owners, vote to get rid of them and form a BC Committe of your own. Involves a bit of work, but saves money and gets a better result. Needs at least one of the committee members to have a basic level of accounting to keep the books. Owners will obviously take more interest in maintenance issues etc than an external business. If you can't, going forward I would insist that you at least be copied into any invoices from the BC, or ask that they be sent to you first and then you can email them onto to the REA for payment. At least you are in the loop.

    • xylarr on 30/05/2024 - 11:03

      You'd be surprised how much people will pay to not even lift a slight finger to do this kind of work.
      I'm in a much larger scheme (313 lots), so professional management really is a must.
      We've had to go to lawyers and ultimately the tribunal to get strata levies paid for one lot. Fortunately, we can "afford" the cost of this because we're a large scheme, but it's not really a pleasant thing - that's why we pay someone to do all the ugly stuff.

    • clover on 30/05/2024 - 19:34
      -1

      This might work if you have three owners or less in a lot. Nobody wants to do someone else works.

  • BigBirdy on 30/05/2024 - 09:17
    +1

    After resolving this, get involved in the BC, and change the manager

  • Meho2026 on 30/05/2024 - 10:31
    +2

    It seems a bit extreme for the strata manager to take things this far but they only follow an agreed process in recovering unpaid levies.
    Usually at the AGM the owners vote on that process and that enables the strata company to take the action that they did.
    In your case, they probably couldve resolved the matter by making a phone call to you, however, they wont do that because thats not what the agreed process is.

    You set up an arrangement where your levy notices get sent to your property manager for payment. You are responsible for ensuring that system is working.

    Your monthly statements from the property manager would have been an indicator that the levies werent being paid, as would the amount of income you were receiving into your bank account. It wouldve been easy to check.

    Obviously something went wrong somewhere, you just need to identify where and correct it so that future levies are paid on time.

    If you can establish that the strata company did send the invoices to the correct addressee, then you might be able to challenge the property manager.

    The reality is the property manager will do anything to avoid responsibility and liability for the legal costs. The cost of holding them accountable will probably exceed what you owe in interest and fees.

    I think you are going to have to pay up.

    Consider, nominating yourself as a committee member at the next AGM, that way you have a more direct relationship with the strata manager and remember right now because your levies are not current you can not vote in any meeting.

    • cski on 30/05/2024 - 22:03

      the last AGM was Sept 2023
      next is Sept 2024

      seems the missing unpaid Quarter is Jan-April
      so according to the BC agreement
      they have added 55 x2 + 110 + 220 for the April payment being late 4 weeks.

      • Meho2026 on 31/05/2024 - 11:03
        -2

        Contact the strata manager and profusely apologise for the non payment, explain that your property manager dropped the ball.
        Ask if you can negotiate the late penalty fees because although you have funds to pay the levies, you do not have funds to pay the late fees.
        See what they say

  • WT on 30/05/2024 - 10:58

    arrears letters from solicitors are common in strata, someone dropped the ball

    Just call strata up, they dont want to go to court and just want payment sorted. If your PM has deducted strata/fee's but hasnt paid them, you need to sort that out with the RE. If they try and pass on any of the late fee's or any other associated fees and it was their fault, tell them to stick it

    • Tleyx on 31/05/2024 - 12:00

      I can see on my strata accounts which lots are paid and which arent. So i could see if thdy thought i hadnt paid. I dont understand how it can be a surprise.

  • mitt on 30/05/2024 - 11:37
    +2

    Always remember, strata works for you. If they are being awful to you its likely they are being awful to other owners.

    Get organised ahead of time & be ready to change strata managers at the AGM. It takes effort & strata managers count on every owner being too lazy to eject them.

  • Poor Ass on 30/05/2024 - 13:46
    +1

    Body corp the lowest kind of scum… Billing per email, per letter, per correspondence.. + time doing those things too . Wish they were abolished and replaced with something simplifier because they are not worth the money.

    • CalmLemons on 30/05/2024 - 19:02

      A lot of buildings have just converted to online ones instead of paying an oc $80k+ a year to manage invoices.

      • Poor Ass on 30/05/2024 - 20:20

        Hows it work?

        • CalmLemons on 30/05/2024 - 21:28

          Get a quorum together and at an AGM fire your shitty owners corp, or change to a new one.

          There's online owners corps you can sign up do, with different degrees of management. Whole things runs like an online forum.

          The people appointed to be managers (lot owners) need to be active so works better in smaller communities vs a massive tower.

          tbh though I hate the guys who manage the online one (the other lot owners) but they have saved us a bundle. I don't give a flying fk about that property cause it is a small commercial tenancy but I think for your own home it works quite well as people are invested, rather than some bot you pay

          • Poor Ass on 30/05/2024 - 22:02

            @CalmLemons: Good plan but guess it won't work if lot owners aren't proactive about managing

            That's the issue

    • Hangryuman on 31/05/2024 - 07:14
      -4

      'Body corp the lowest kind of scum'

      don't talk about yourself like that - I guess by 'body corp' you might mean 'strata managing company'

      if you own a unit in a strata complex, you are automatically part of the body corporate or owners corporation

      you have a right to attend regular typically 3-monthly meetings of the strata committee and can become a member and be involved in making decisions to advise the strata manager

      but hey most people would rather complain until the cows come home than actually do what will fix the problem - get involved, understand the issues, and get it fixed

      nah - it'll be "I didn't pay attention for a long time - and now I've got this problem - please help me"

      • Poor Ass on 31/05/2024 - 15:10
        +1

        what's up your ass

  • FlyingMiffy on 30/05/2024 - 15:36

    When you entered into a agency agreement with the property manager, you would have had the option for them to manage all correspondence related to the property. Also, there would have been a profile with your body corporate that details who to contact regarding all matters related to the property. Have you got both setup?

    • cski on 30/05/2024 - 22:07

      yep they both claim to have been communicating with each other, but there is disagreement between them that the details are right

  • Cookiescream on 30/05/2024 - 17:39

    I hope you are not the (profanity) on my building that owe a ton of money in strata.

    It is very hard to find a good strata manager, let alone one that chases things.

    They can't take you to vcat whitout prove of letter of demand.

    • arnieb on 30/05/2024 - 19:36

      syd olympic park perhaps?

  • zman09 on 30/05/2024 - 20:13

    For my own knowledge are real estate agents supposed to pay the strata fees? I know they can do stuff like water bills etc but had always thought strata needed to be paid by the owner directly just like council rates?

    • cski on 30/05/2024 - 22:10

      Yes the real estate manager are paid to manage the incomes and outgoings on the property 7-10% of rental income is for this service
      this service can include handling deductions from rent of Rates, Strata, maintenance and cleaning etc

      but this case they paid Jan but missed April for more than 30 days and Strata is trigger happy and afraid of using a telephone to either the RE they have the contact for or the registered owner they also have contact for.

      • zman09 on 31/05/2024 - 10:29

        Oh thanks, will get the RE to do their jobs then :)

        • Meho2026 on 31/05/2024 - 11:46

          If youre going to ask your property manager to pay all your bills, then you need to make sure you dont get in the same situation.
          Your rental income is paid monthly and the bills are almost always quarterly or biannual. That means the agent will have to withhold funds to cover forthcoming bills.
          If they havent held back enough funds then when the bill comes in, then it cant be paid and it wont be paid until more rent is received from the tenant.
          You could end up in the same position as the OP if the tenant is late paying rent.
          Also if you are reliant on your rental income deposit being made to cover your loan repayment, you could end up having insufficient funds if rent has been witheld for bills.
          At tax time its so much easier if the property manager has paid all the bills and you have an end of year statement with absolutely everything except loan interest included. However during the year you could easily be late paying bills and default on your loan repayments if you arent paying attention.

          • Tleyx on 31/05/2024 - 12:02

            @Meho2026: Agree i wouldnt leave this up to that REA, pay the strata yourself directly so you can pay it in the right year from a tax point of view

      • CalmLemons on 01/06/2024 - 19:12

        that's insane to take you to litigation for only being 30 days late.

        they need to prove damages, them going out of their way to get a lawyer is not.

        i would think there would be a place where you can complain about the owners corp manager.

        unless there is some super involved douche on the owners corp committee who is pushing the oc management company to do so.

  • ripesashimi on 31/05/2024 - 12:05

    99% rental agent fked up.

    Even if they did pay all the bills for you, when the bills did not arrive for that period, the least due diligence they could do is to call up and asked what is going on. Now you have the agent and BC pointing finger at each other, you dont know which one is at fault but ultimately the liability rests on you. This whole situation could have been avoided if you are the main point of contact.

    No way BC's lawyer waives that fee, I mean who will pay for their fees? Drafting and lodging claim costs them like $500 worth of court costs and their time. Before that, a letter of demand is minimum $100. If they indeed did not get paid, the claim is highly in their favour because they did suffer a loss. The notices do not have to be abundant or electronic. Couple of statements saying that they posted you and the agent some letters are plenty. There is no reason for BC to deliberately try not to get paid.

  • Maxi Pad on 31/05/2024 - 18:02
    +1

    We had a similar issue. OC manager decided to switch to email invoicing without gaining consent. Sent invoices to my partners old work email.

    First we heard of the arrears was a court appearance date. We paid the arrears but not the interest and had to fight tooth and nail to get them to withdraw. It was only once I made it very clear they would lose and I would seek costs that they did so.

  • Fysh on 31/05/2024 - 18:29
    +1

    This sounds like a scam BC notice.

    OR the actual BC notices went to rental agents spam. Can you look up the BC managers on spam email listings?

    • cski on 05/06/2024 - 12:50

      the Owners corp doesnt use email
      they are a strictly Snail Mail only scheme

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