The personal cost of power -Strata managers control over strata schemes comes at a not so hidden cost which can extend to their personal assets

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 


                                                                         

                                  Anoulack Chanthivong the NSW  Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading

   



The ABC's investigation into strata management industry misdeeds and the reforms the NSW Government has promised  is also interesting for it reveals how strata managers by  assuming  either directly or indirectly control of the management of the strata schemes they are hired to manage, assume the liabilities that come with that power. 

Strata managers may under ordinary circumstances be fiduciaries vis-a-vis strata unit owners and that alone can expose them personally to liability for any loss or damage suffered in or at the buildings under their schemes. While the rules with regards who may or may not be considered a fiduciary are complex Bugden Allan Graham Lawyers has published on its website an easy to read and informative summary of the law in the area.  

However, in the cases reported by ABC's Linton Besser and Ninah Kopel there is evidence of strata managers acting   as if they were themselves the strata committee, deciding what may or may not be in the best interest of the scheme. The ABC has reported these as instances of conflicts of interest, but underlying such conduct is an assumption that what is best for the strata manager, the fiduciary, is also in the best interest of the scheme.

Assuming such power is not without costs, for by doing so the strata manager becomes, in effect, the scheme, and assumes all the liabilities that the scheme is exposed to. That can include liability for damage to the building, or even persons injured on the premises as for example the caretaker in Borg v The Owners – Strata Plan 64425 [2010] NSWDC 203 discovered. Strata managers say and do things in the course of their dealings with scheme unit owners and thus the liability may not be limited to anything that may be in any written contract for services. Besser and Kopel report that strata managers are preying on the ignorance of unit owners, but the real ignorance may well be in the  ignorance of owners and managers of  the strata managers' liability. 

END 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Not new or worthy of consideration" : WA Corruption & Crime Commissioner confirms but dismisses Anne Azza Aly 's referring queries about PAVE, her work to Malaysia

Image
by Ganesh Sahathevan       John McKechnie The issues raised on my related RealpoltikAsia blog in the posting:  ALP's Anne Aly's Phoenix Consulting of Dubai provides covert intel training-Who does she report to in Dubai, and then there is the matter of Malaysia....... were brought to the attention of The Hon John McKechnie QC,the current Commissioner, WA Corruption and Crime ,given the security implications that arise from the connections between PAVE and one David (Dave) Allen, currently Assistant Director Intelligence,WA CCC. McKechnie's response is as follows: Thank you for the email. I am the Corruption and Crime Commissioner. I will decide if and when Mr Allens security clearance should be reconsidered but nothing in this email is either new or worthy of consideration. The Hon John McKechnie QC Readers have now confirmation from no  less a personage than the WA CCC Commissioner himself, a former judge and QC,of the fact of Aly's Dubai connection, and her referring  
Read more

If Damien Tudehope's COVID hotel quarantine fee statements are correct, SLHD revenue reported in financial statements signed by former CEO Teresa Anderson is overstated, and false

Image
 by Ganesh Sahathevan                     Tough talking Damien Tudehope may not have the power to impose th.  bulk of his quarantine fee, if any Readers will recall that former NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller (now a PwC partner) said in his notice that Revenue NSW " will be charging a mandatory quarantine fee". Readers will also recall that the rormer NSW Minister For Financial Services, Damien Tudehope insisted that the quarantine fees charged by Sydney Local Health District, pursuant to the NSW Health Services Act include charges for police security. However, there is nothing  in the SLHD's financial statements for the relevant periods (see links below) to reflect any payment from the COVID quarantine fee revenue being made over to NSW Police. SLHD's revenue must then have been overstated, by the CEO concerned Teresa Anderson.  SLHD Financial Statements https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/annualreport/Publications/2020/slhd.pdf https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/annualr
Read more

Strata managers' aversion to contact with tenants can leave strata managers exposed to personal liability

Image
 by Ganesh Sahathevan      Advice for living in, or buying into, a strata community Strata managers are employed to manage strata schemes which are often home to renters as well as owners. However, in evasion of that which they are paid to do there are instances where strata managers have attempted  to evade their duties by refusing to  deal with tenants.   Even this writer can recall an instance where the strata manager warned that it was against the law for tenants to contact him directly.  The instances where strata managers have refused to deal with tenants occur when the issues raised concern fairly pedestrian maintenance issues, for example blocked plumbing and the like. Having said that, tenants do actually have a legal right to a great many things, including being informed (and presumably make representations) when strata schemes consider re-development. Strata managers who seek to stand in place of strata committees  are even more exposed to liability for the loss and and dam
Read more