Something that comes up again and again in body corporate records is owners complaining about levies. Usually special levies, one off, or even multiple levies, issued to owners for a specific project.
Inevitably someone complains “I knew nothing about it. How can you do this without letting us know?”
Of course a body corporate can’t issue a special levy without letting everyone know. And, well, they didn’t.
What’s really happened is the lot owner hasn’t kept in touch with what the body corporate is doing around the scheme, issues that have arisen and proposed solutions. They’ve been caught unawares by an issue that has likely been in discussion for a long time.
Which is silly because it’s easy to keep in touch with what’s happening without investing a lot of time.
Monitoring Body Corporate Meetings
In some ways a body corporate is like a small country. It has citizens, taxes, rules and regulations.
And just like any democratic country it has an elected government who are in charge of running things. Within a legislative framework of course.
Unlike with a real country though there’s not a loud and obnoxious media infrastructure watching with eagle eyes for any hint of ineptitude or impropriety.
Instead body corporate legislation requires that decisions be made in certain ways, in properly convened meetings. And that those decisions then be reported to all lot owners.
This is achieved by issuing minutes of all body corporate meetings to all lot owners. To keep in touch with your body corporate read the minutes.
Different Types of Meetings
There are two types of meetings in body corporates; General meetings and Committee meetings.
General Meetings
A general meeting is a meeting that allows all lot owners the opportunity to vote.
Every strata scheme must have an Annual General Meeting (AGM) each year, within three months of the end of financial year. Statutory business must be addressed at the AGM.
What’s On The Agenda At An AGM?
Sometimes urgent business arises throughout the year requiring an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to be called. EGM’s are called if the business requires a timely decision.
All lot owners are sent a copy of the Notice of Meeting prior to any general meeting, which includes voting papers.
After the meeting all owners must be sent a copy of the minutes of meeting.
To find out more about general meetings of body corporates click here.
Committee Meetings
The committee is selected each year at the AGM. The committee then go about the business of running the body corporate.
But, committees do not have to actually meet. They can, and most do, particularly large buildings that correspondingly have large amounts of business.
Flying minutes are agenda’s sent to committee members for consideration. The committee member then votes and returns their vote to the manager. When enough votes are received the motion is passed or failed. All without the committee physically meeting.
However a decision is made, in meeting or by flying minute, a copy of the agenda and the minute should be sent to all lot owners, although lot owners can opt out of receiving committee agendas.
NOTE: Lot owners may not attend committee meetings unless they have applied for and been granted permission to attend. If they do attend the meeting, they will not be able to address the committee unless specifically asked to do so.
To find out more about committee meetings click here.
How To Keep In Touch
Keeping up to date with what’s happening in your body corporate is as simple as reading the minutes.
Particularly the committee minutes.
General meetings are concise and there’s little opportunity to discuss matters, so minutes tend to be records of voting only. Committee meetings by contrast are designed to have information and issues tabled and discussed to reach a viable solution.
The major issues of the body corporate will be encapsulated in the committee minutes.
It’s important to keep in touch with what’s happening in your body corporate. This is your investment and you can and will be asked to contribute funds for projects your body corporate is planning, whether you know about it or not.
Keep in touch with what’s happening and have your say. Your input is important.
Unless stated otherwise all the information on this website relates to Queensland legislation.
