How A Body Corporate Budget is Set and Changed
I recently received the following excellent question from Frank: I’ve just bought a unit and am confused about the budget-setting that you mentioned. Who sets the proposed budget for the AGM? The committee? he treasurer? The body corporate manager?And what if the meeting wanted to increase the proposed budget by, say, 15% because of some issue […]
Body Corporate Voting Rights and Why You Should Use Them
Last week I was asked for a source of the Queensland legislation that says 100% of owners need to give permission before a scheme can be terminated. I don’t actually like the “show me the legislation” question, but in this case it’s contained within the BCCM Act itself (from section 77 if you’re interested) and was easy […]
How Different is Queensland Body Corporate Legislation?
I write about Queensland body corporate legislation, which is not too hard to figure out since that’s where I live. Plus I rather give it away with the great big banner on my website saying “I write about QLD legislation”. That said, people from a lot more places than Queensland read this website. When you […]
The Problem With Body Corporate Maintenance
One of the most attractive things about living in a body corporate is the ability to have the body corporate maintenance undertaken by someone who isn’t you. Of course there’s always a trade-off and in this case it’s that you pay quite handsomely for the privilege. And that’s the fundamental problem with body corporate maintenance; as a […]
6 Indicators of a Body Corporate Levy Increase
One of the things I see often in body corporates looks something like this: Period Admin Budget Sinking Budget Total To Raise FY Ended 6/2014 $200,000 $50,000 $250,000 FY Ended 6/2015 $170,000 $100,000 $270,000 What this shows is that there has been a 50% increase in sinking fund budget from one financial year to the […]
Secret Votes Don’t Need To Be Secret or What I Learnt From My First Adjudicators Order
I’ve just been involved in Adjudication. A ruling I made as a returning officer was disputed by a lot owner who made an application to the Commissioners Office to overturn. That application has now been decided. Let me set the scene. I’d been appointed returning officer for Florentino Apartments, a 20 lot body corporate on […]
14 More Red Flags in a Strata Search
I did a search recently where a special levy was issued. A special levy is one of many red flags in a strata search, an indication there may be bigger problems so, hey, you best investigate. On that occasion the small special levy turned out to be the tip of a complex situation that’s going […]
Buying A Unit & Body Corporate Approvals
One of the most overlooked items when buying a unit is remembering to check that body corporate approval has been granted for any changes. Body corporate approvals are written documents from the Committee to a lot owner granting permission for whatever is being sought. It might be approval to keep a pet, to install a structure, […]
Body Corporate Levies: Why Are They So Expensive?
One of the first questions people ask when they’re buying a unit is “how much are the levies?” It’s a smart question because it does no one any favours to buy a property they can’t afford to hold. The body corporate levies are a large part of those holding costs. Savvy buyers take the current […]
Why Is My Body Corporate Insurance Claim Taking So Long?
I’m a lot owner in a scheme in Brisbane. Our townhouse (and many other in the complex) was damaged by the storm on 31/1/2015. All damaged caused by branches falling off large gum tree in body corporate common area. It’s been more than 3 months, nothing has been fixed (including other lots in the complex). […]