Strata Life

🎙️ Fur babies vs. by-laws? 🐶🐾 It's the debate shaking up strata communities across Melbourne! In this episode of Strata Life, we dive into the legal ins and outs of pet ownership disputes, common property rights, and how strata rules really work under Victorian law. 🏢 If you live in or manage a strata property — this one’s for you. Let’s clear the confusion and protect your rights the smart way. I want to cover in this episode disputes over pet ownership. Strata communities often have strict pet policies that residents may disregard leading to conflicts that relate to noise, damage or unwanted animals in common areas. So, an example of it would be a resident bringing in a large dog, even though the building's bylaw restricts pet size. Other residents complain about the dog's behavior and hygiene. So, what could happen or what could occur is that the committee would investigate and issue a formal notice for compliance from the owner, from the resident, about the pet to comply with the bylaws so that that would allow the resident to rehome the pet or apply for approval. They also conduct a review of the pet policy and improve communication around it. So, it's important on the strata community side that there's an opportunity provided to the resident when it comes to compliance with the bylaws. An initial warning or a breach notice, followed a final breach notice that gives a fair opportunity for the pet owner to rectify the misconduct or misbehavior. Where it's clear that there is no intention to comply with the bylaws or rules. That's when the committee will make a decision to take further action. Now in respect of the pet owner, it is your responsibility that you bring into the strata community. A pet, it is your responsibility to be informed of what the bylaws or rules are when it comes to managing a pet, especially when they're using the common areas. So, to manage and avoid or reduce disputes over pet ownership. The strata community should provide reasonable opportunities for the pet owner to rectify the issues, and the pet owner should be aware of the rules that they ought to comply with since they're living in a strata community. #StrataLife #PetDisputes #StrataLawVictoria #OwnersCorporation #VCATDecisions #PetBylaws #StrataManagement #MelbourneStrata #StrataLiving #PetFriendlyStrata #StrataDisputes #LegalAdviceVictoria #MelbourneLawyer #PetOwnershipRights #StrataPets

🎧 Strata Life S3E28: Unauthorised Renovations – Know Your Rights! Renovating without approval? It could cost more than you think. 🚫🔨 Discover how to manage unauthorised works legally and protect your strata community. In today's session, I want to cover unauthorized renovations. I understand that residents sometimes carry out renovations without first asking the approval from the strata committee that could lead to risks, safety risks, damage to shared spaces and violations of the building codes. So, an example of it is where a resident would knock down internal walls of their apartment or unit without the approval of the strata community. The renovations could impact on the building's plumbing and wiring and causing disruptions to other units. And how should this be dealt with? Well, the strata committee could require that the renovations be reversed, and repairs be made to common areas. and they update the renovation policies as well. The strata community could do that and require more stringent checks and clear communication about the need for approval before modifications. So, it's important that the strata community looks into the rules in respect of the procedures. Not only that, I do recommend that even during the annual general meeting, which is once a year, opportunity for all owners to get together, that Items that are required in accordance with the bylaws or rules in respect of renovations carried out within one's unit or apartment is addressed at that AGM. That way it is clear to all residents and owners that there are certain rules that need to be complied with or bylaws that need to be complied with when it comes to carrying out renovations because it could impact the whole development if the appropriate steps are not carried out. For example, a written consent may be needed from the strata community. So that is what I want to cover for today's session in respect of unauthorized renovations. #StrataLaw #UnauthorisedRenovations #BodyCorporateVictoria #StrataManagement #MelbourneProperty #PropertyCompliance #RenovationRules #StrataDisputes #BuildingApprovals #StrataLawyer #StrataLiving #OwnersCorporation #LegalAdviceMelbourne #RCandCoLawyers #StrataLifePodcast

🎙️ Strata Life S3E27: Disputes Amongst Residents Conflict in your building? From noise complaints to boundary issues, resident disputes can escalate fast. In this episode, we break down strata dispute resolution, owners corporation obligations, and peaceful co-existence—with expert insights tailored for Victoria’s strata laws. 🏢⚖️ 🎧 Tune in to stay informed, avoid legal pitfalls, and foster better community living. I want to cover disputes among residents. Conflicts often arise because or due to noise, harking, pets, and the misuse of common areas. Such disputes can create tension between the community and require mediation or intervention by the strata community or its committee. It's important that where a dispute arises, the procedure of the dispute resolution, and that's usually set out in your relevant state's legislation on the dispute resolution procedure. But what is common in the principles of these types of disputes is that where you want to trigger that the strata community needs to be involved, you need to make sure that you file a complaint. And the complaint, if required by your state legislation to come in a prescribed form, you make sure that you use that prescribed form and also set out the background, include in the complaint of the background. The steps that you have taken to try to resolve this directly with the person you have an issue with, if it's practicable and also proofs as to your allegations and what outcome you want to achieve. But it's absolutely important that where you are able to, try to deal with it first, directly with that person, if possible. And if that's not possible, you should also include that in your complaint as to why it's not possible or not practicable for you to address that directly with the person you are complaining about. The proof should be included and you must so that you can demonstrate that you are serious with your complaint and you are serious about getting an outcome or achieving an outcome whether it's through the procedure or whether you want the strata community to take further legal action it's absolutely important that you add evidence to your complaints so it's a procedure but at first, the onus is on you to make sure that you establish a complaint and the evidences that you have and then follow through and monitor how long the strata community has to come back to you in respect of their decision as to whether they're going to do something or they will not do something. They do have an obligation to inform you as to the reason why they will or will not enforce the bylaws or rules. #StrataLaw #MelbourneStrata #OwnersCorporation #StrataDisputes #StrataManagement #PropertyLaw #CommunityLiving #LegalAdvice #StrataLiving #MelbourneLaw #DisputeResolution #LegalGuidance #StrataLawyer #PropertyManagement #VictorianLaw

🔧 Strata Life: Tackling Maintenance & Building Defects with Confidence! 🏗️🏢 Building defects and maintenance disputes can be a legal maze! 🌀 Our latest Strata Life episode unpacks owner vs. OC responsibilities, defect claims, and compliance under Victoria’s strata laws. ✅ 🎧 Tune in now for expert legal guidance on strata laws in Victoria, Melbourne! Let’s protect your property and rights together. ⚖️🏡 I want to focus today on maintenance and building defects. It's important that those who live in strata communities and those who are also in the committee to understand the difference between repairing and maintaining common property because they would like to do it or repairing or maintaining the common property because there's a legal obligation to do so. In respect of defects, that is a whole different topic that I will talk about very shortly. But I do want to highlight that there is an obligation for strata communities to make sure that we're particularly an expert. Let's say it is a caretaker or the essential service provider makes a recommendation that there's a repair and maintenance that needs to be carried out. The strata community should not ignore that. Based on my experience, where it is ignored, there could be serious ramification and significant expense that is the strata community is faced with. Not only that, there's also legal obligations to make sure that the integrity of the common property and the development is repaired and maintained by the strata community where common property is impacted. The strata community has an obligation to make sure that the residents are safe. So that said, it's not about whether it's expensive or not. There is a legal obligation to repair and maintain common property and that ought not to be ignored. Now in respect of defects, I understand that and have seen that significant defects cost a lot. But there is an obligation for the strata community to make sure that they mitigate the risks in respect of those defects. What does that mean? It means that to the extent that the strata community is able to, temporary repairs and maintenance ought to be carried out and not just simply wait for the builder until the builder fixes it. Because sometimes it's necessary to issue legal proceedings because the builder does not come to the table or denies that they are liable to fix it. So, whilst that is happening, whilst the strata community is going after a builder, it's important that they mitigate the risk by carrying out at least to the extent that this possible works, whether it's temporary or permanent, to mitigate the risks in respect of property damage and safety to persons, so don't ignore that. #StrataLawVictoria #BuildingDefects #OwnersCorporationRules #PropertyMaintenanceLaws #StrataDisputeResolution #DefectLiabilityPeriod #StrataPropertyRights #OCvsOwnerResponsibilities #BuildingComplianceMelbourne #StrataRepairs #LegalAdviceForStrataOwners #VictoriaStrataRegulations #StrataInsuranceClaims #CommonPropertyMaintenance #StrataLegalExperts

🌟 Strata Life: Navigating Rising Costs with Smart Financial Management! 💰🏡 Strata fees are climbing, and financial management is more critical than ever! 📈 Our latest Strata Life podcast unpacks cost-saving strategies, budget planning, and legal insights to keep your strata community thriving. 💡✅ 🎧 Tune in now to stay ahead with expert legal guidance on strata laws in Victoria, Melbourne! Let’s secure your financial future together. ⚖️🏢 Today's episode, I want to talk about what has been quite frustrating for strata communities, particularly owners, when it comes to raising levies and that is on financial management and rising costs. Mismanagement or insufficient funds for maintenance can absolutely lead to increasing levies or special assessments. That includes rising insurance premiums, and the cost of repair could also contribute to financial pressure. What I do recommend to committees in strata communities is to consider putting a capital fund budget, also known as reserve funds budget. I would also like to encourage strata communities to put in contingency fund. Why is it when they are passing a budget at the annual general meeting. Why is that absolutely important? So that you're not shocked throughout the year of special levies. Special levies are very upsetting. These are usually levies that are issued once off or on periodic times because a certain budget needed to be raised as a result of an incident or a circumstance. More often than not, this includes unplanned maintenance or repair or special expenses to hire an expert. Whether it's a legal or a building or engineering expert, a special levy would likely be needed. And that causes, understandably, anxiousness among slot owners. To avoid that, it's important that the strata community consider not to budget the exact amount needed for that year based on last year's budget, but to put aside money or savings for any emergencies to avoid special levies being issued. Even a contingency part of the budget, healthy would be about between 20 to 25%. So that in the event of emergencies, the Strata community could use those extra funds rather than raise a special levy. So, remember to maintain throughout the year financial health of the Strata community, put away some money as if it's savings to avoid any special levies or at least to reduce any special levies that may be needed throughout the year. #StrataFinancialManagement #RisingStrataCosts #OwnersCorporationVictoria #StrataBudgetPlanning #MelbourneStrataLaws #StrataFeeIncreases #OwnersCorporationLegalAdvice #StrataComplianceVictoria #CostEffectiveStrataManagement #StrataPropertyInvestment #StrataLevySolutions #LegalInsightsForStrata #PropertyLawVictoria #OwnersCorporationRegulations #SmartStrataGovernance

🐾 Can Strata Ban Your Furry Friend? 🏢⚖️Strata laws in Victoria are evolving—can committees legally say no to pets? In this episode of Strata Life, we uncover the legalities, owner rights, and what VCAT has to say! 🎙️🐶🐱🔹 Know your legal rights🔹 Strata by-laws & pet policies🔹 How to challenge unfair rulesStay informed, protect your rights, and ensure a pet-friendly strata living! 🎧✨In this episode, I want to talk about the question ultimately asked by those, especially who are new in living in strata communities. And that is, is it illegal to ban pets in strata community, environment communities? And the answer to that question is it depends. It depends if the pet is causing a nuisance and there's usually three key reasons or three key causes in having a strata community declare that the pet is a nuisance. Number one, if you leave your pet on common property and it just leaves a mess, you're not cleaning up after the pets and you're just leaving it to wander around the development, leaving feces around or even near in your lot that is causing awful mess and smell, and that hinders others from enjoying their common property. The second one is if your pet is causing excessive noise that is causing others to no longer enjoy living in the community, that could cause them to make a complaint. That is another reason that that could be a cause of your pet being banned. And finally, safety. At all times, you must make sure that whilst on common property, your pet is in a lead. Yes, of course, we all think our own pets are safe, but you just really never know how they behave. So, as an owner, it is your responsibility to make sure that they are always in the lead whilst on common property. Follow all that to make sure that not only is your pet safe, but of course, your neighbors, your fellow residents and co-owners must also feel safe, and they have a right to enjoy common property and you would too if you follow those three key things in managing your pet. Remember as an owner it is your responsibility to make sure that your pet is safe and also the residents and the community. So, is it illegal to ban pets? No, it's not illegal. It could be just don't give them any reasons. They mean the strata community. Don't give them any reasons to ban your pet from the development. #StrataLawsVictoria #StrataPropertyRules #PetBansInStrata #VCATStrataDecisions #MelbourneStrataManagement #StrataByLawsExplained #PetFriendlyApartments #OwnersCorporationRules #LegalRightsInStrata #StrataDisputeResolution #TenantRightsInStrata #BodyCorporateRegulations #NoPetPolicyLegal #StrataComplianceVictoria #ApartmentLivingWithPets

📈 Strata Life Episode 23 🎧Facing rising insurance premiums as a landlord? We've got practical tips and legal insights to help you manage costs effectively. Stay informed, stay protected!For today's episode, I want to delve on what I've noticed is increasing in the strata industry and that is about the struggles in managing the increase of insurance premium. I want to highlight three things that you should note in respect of how to avoid or at least manage increase in your strata premium. An increase in strata premium means an increase in your levy. One of the things is regularly repairing and maintaining common property. The key word there is regularly maintain and that avoids increasing claims, which ultimately impacts increase in strata premium. The second thing I want to address is avoiding risks that your strata community is going to be open to, and when I say risks, risks are different types that relates to common property, legal liability and financial exposure. And so that means where there are issues that arise in your strata community, particularly if you're in the committee, you should find ways to mitigate the risks because if it's ultimately not mitigated, your strata insurance won't come in to save you. And finally, what's been rampant recently is an increase in insurance denial where there's a tobacconist in your development and other risky business-like tattoo parlor, but that's another one. So what I've noticed is that there could be denial in being covered by insurance or an increase in the strata premium. And with that, do keep in mind that when it comes to strata insurance, it is the history of the claims. It is giving warning to your strata community if there's going to be an increase in insurance. So that means communication, a checklist in your maintenance and repair of the strata community are absolutely important to manage increase in strata premium of insurance.

🏢 Strata Life S3E22: Electing a Proactive Committee! 🏢 A well-managed strata starts with the right leadership! In this episode, we break down key legal insights, compliance essentials, and pro tips for electing a committee that works for you, not against you. ✅💼 If you’re navigating by-laws, owner disputes, AGM decisions, or governance challenges in Victoria, Melbourne—this one’s for you! 🎙️🔍 📢 Tune in now and future-proof your strata community! Welcome to Strata Life Podcast! I would like to talk in this episode with you today about electing a proactive committee. As owners, you have a right to select who should be active in, who should be elected in the committee. And it's important for you to have a say. This starts off with you making a decision to attend your annual general meeting because that's where the committee members are elected. Choose if they're going to be proactive and if they're going to be making decisions for the best interest of the strata community. If you are silent, if you don't say anything. If you do not attend the annual general meeting, your views will not be heard. And if in your view, a particular committee or set of committee or members elected in the committee is not proactive, you have actually allowed that. So, I do encourage you, owners. attend your annual general meeting or appoint a proxy to speak on your behalf so that you have a say and could achieve an election of a proactive committee. And a proactive committee, in effect, would make decisions for the betterment of your strata community, which means protecting your investment. I hope this episode gives you some reflection on how to appoint or elect a proactive committee. #StrataLawVictoria #OwnersCorporationRules #StrataManagementMelbourne #AGMStrataMeetings #CommitteeElections #ByLawsCompliance #StrataGovernance #PropertyDisputeResolution #StrataVotingRights #ProactiveStrataLeadership #LegalAdviceForStrata #MelbournePropertyLaw #StrataOwnersRights #OwnersCorporationAct #BuildingManagementTips

🏢 Strata Life S3E21: Levy Arrears & Your Legal Rights! ⚖️Are unpaid strata levies causing stress in your Owners Corporation? 🤯 In this episode, we break down levy arrears, debt recovery, and your legal rights under Victoria’s strata laws. Stay ahead with expert insights on Owners Corporation management, avoiding disputes, and protecting your property investment.💬 Got strata questions? We provide legal guidance to keep your community running smoothly! DM us or tune in now. 🎧✨ In the last episode, I talked about high strata community levies. I'm going to cover now what's somewhat related; levy arrears that I would like owners to avoid. Strata communities, raise budget for future expenses. This is important for you to understand. That means that if there's budget protected and your share is not collected, what's going to happen is not only you but the rest of the owners would be impacted by that. And a once-offer special levy would have to be raised to cover what you have not shared. So, it's important to avoid levy arrears. But I understand it's not easy. What do we do? Even before you receive that final notice from the strata community and you already know that you may be struggling just for this period of time, already propose a payment plan and request for penalty interest not to be charged. Of course, you have to give them reasons as to why your payment is going to be delayed or it would have to be paid in staggers. Provide proof so that you can demonstrate that you're genuine with your situation, you're truthful about your situation, and you're genuine to resolve. the levy arrears as you address them. So, and this means not to be reactive and wait for a lawyer's letter demanding that you pay in full because it becomes more difficult for you. Remember, you have two things that you can do. Propose a payment plan and or ask for the penalty interest to be removed at the end of the day and provide supporting proof of course to this situation and comply with the payment plan that's been on. to show genuineness that you want to resolve the issue. At the end of the day, please keep in mind as well that it's the Strata community who need to consider whether they would accept your proposal. But you're always entitled to make those proposals. Hopefully these strategies will help you, but best to avoid it, the levy arrears. #StrataLawVictoria #LevyArrears #OwnersCorporation #StrataDebtRecovery #MelbournePropertyLaw #StrataLegalAdvice #BodyCorporateFees #StrataManagement #PropertyLawVictoria #OwnersCorporationDisputes #StrataCompliance #DebtCollectionStrata #MelbourneStrataLaw #StrataGovernance #LegalGuidanceStrata

In this particular episode, I want to talk about the reasons why there are high strata community levies. Not a very pleasant topic, but it's important to understand why strata community levies are high or why would they increase significantly. Strata community levies are raised for three key reasons actually. One is for daily operations. The second is for maintenance or capital expenditure. And the third one is for wants of needs or specialties. Let's start first with the first one, which is the daily operational items. This includes a big chunk would be your insurance premium, which would cover your building insurance and your public liability insurance. It would also include your strata manager's fees, the daily repair and maintenance expenses. If you have certain contractors that you hire, such as the caretaker or building manager, or just contractors that you appoint from time to time, that would also be included in the daily operation expenses. It's also called administration monies. The second one is the maintenance levies. This is where it's planned. There's a list of items that would need repair and maintenance in the future. It's like usually these are big projects. So, it's like savings for projects that the strata community would be doing in the future. And the way that the maintenance levy is spent is in accordance with the plan. For example, if there's a big project such as upgrading the common garden, replacement of the lift, usually these huge items. are part of a maintenance levy or a capital expenditure levy. And the third one is where there are certain circumstances that have not, that needs to be addressed, and funds need to be raised that were not in the original approved budget passed at the last annual general meeting and they're called the once-off for special levies. These special levies could cover, for example, immediate repair and maintenance, if there's legal proceedings on foot, legal costs, if there's experts that need to be hired for certain urgent repairs or issues that need to be addressed, payment for those contractors or professional service providers. Those are the ones of levies. You should attend the annual general meeting or general meetings or any meetings. Or, if you cannot attend those meetings, appoint a proxy if you want to be heard. You can have your proxy speak on your behalf, or if you just can't send someone and you don't want to attend, read your general meeting notices and your general meeting minutes. That way you know what's going on and you're not just reacting. You're being proactive.