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1. APPOINTMENT OF A NEW BODY CORPORATE MANAGER
On 23 November 2023 to commence on 24 November 2023 at an Extraordinary General Meeting and by a convincing secret ballot result, the Baumea Reserve Subsidiary Body Corporate terminated the contract administrative agreement with SSKB and appointed U Body Corporate Management Pty Ltd for 1 year.
The Director of U Body Corporate Management is Siobhan Brittain
Siobhan’s contact detail:
Email: siobhan@u-bcm.com.au
Mobile: 0447 811 262
2. EVEN BAD BY-LAWS MUST BE ENFORCED
By Hynes Legal
In Qld Strata Magazine, November 2023
The Adjudicator’s order [Abian Botanic Gardens (2023) QBCCM Cmr 385] highlights the need for committees to be vigilant about the quality of their by-laws or risk potentially expensive and lengthy legal proceedings.
This is particularly the case with legacy by-laws from developer which may consist of boilerplate provisions that do not reflect the day-to-day reality of life in a particular scheme.
Without going into great detail about the case …………..
“The adjudicator found that regardless of any discomfort, the committee members may have with the by-laws they have a duty to enforce it…… The committee withhold enforcement of the by-laws until the body corporate adopts something more favourable. The Committee must enforce the by-laws as registered, unless the by-law is for some reason unlawful. Given that the by-law is not unlawful, there is no reason for it not to be enforced.”
3. APPOINTMENT OF NEW LAWYERS
The following legal firm has been retained by your body Corporate in relation to debt recovery;
Bugden Allen and Graham (Sunshine Coast)
4. COMMITTEE SPENDING
The relevant limits for committee spending can be set by an ordinary resolution of the Body Corporate.
There is no minimum or maximum limit a body corporate can set.
If no amount has been set by a general meeting resolution the liniyte is calculated by multiplying the number lots in the schme by $200.00
For examplein a body corporate with 6 lots, the relevant limit is $1200.00 ($200 x 6).
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Recovering Body Corporate Levies
By Mahoneys
Published in Strata Magazine, May 2024
1. Owners Contribution
Funding a body corporate can only come from one place – lot owners. Lot owners are required to contribute to the costs associated with their lots and common property, commonly referred to as an owner contribution (or levy).
The body corporate budgets for its costs and subsequently levies each owner in the scheme their respective share.
2. Unpaid Contributions
Not every lot owner pays their contributions on time or at all. Unpaid contributions create an unfair burden on other lot owners.
The Body Corporate and the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (BCCMA) governs the payment and recovery of “body corporate debts.” Generally, a “body corporate debt" will be an amount owed by lot owners to the body corporate which includes;
- a contribution or instalment of a contribution (or levy)
- a penalty for not paying contribution or instalment by the due date
- any other amount associated with the ownership of the lot.
When an owner owes a body corporate a debt there are consequences;
- the owner is deemed unfinancial and
- Looses their right to vote on most general meeting motions
- Is not eligible to nominate someone to be on the committee
- Cannot be elected to the committee, and
- Can be sued for recovery of the debt.
3. Penalty Interest and Discounts
If the body corporate approves the imposition of a penalty on unpaid amounts (or the loss of any discount for on-time payment) these amounts can quickly increase the indebted amount owing to the body corporate.
4. Recovering unpaid contributions
Body corporate debts are recoverable jointly and severally against person (including co-owners and a mortgagee in possession) who owned the lot when the debt was payable.
If a contribution or an instalment of a contribution is not paid by the due date, the body corporate is obliged to take action to recover the amount.
The recovery process is the same as any other debt;
- Small amounts (up tom$25,000) proceedings may be started in QCAT
- Larger amounts (up to $150,000) are usually recoverable in the Magistrates Court or a higher court as necessary.
The Body Corporate Commissioner does not have jurisdiction to hear debt disputes.
Once a body corporate has a judgement it can seek to enforce the judgement.
This may include making the lot owner bankrupt and selling the property – with the proceeds of the sale to pay the body corporate debts (and any cost to recover that debt).
5. Cost of recovering body corporate debts
The body corporate is entitled to recover the cost incurred in recovering the outstanding amount. This may include the cost of reminder letters, solicitor’s fees and court costs.
Recovery costs can quickly add up and in some cases may even exceed the amount of the original unpaid debt.
Time is of the essence
The recovery of levies can be a slow and difficult process but it need not be.
Whilst the body corporate must take action to recover any unpaid contribution within two years and two months from the date the contribution was due - it does not need to way that long.
The key is to act quickly taking steps to recover unpaid debts in a timely fashion before the debt get too big.
This is good information for lot owners to understand, when your committee has this type of issue.
Note under Queensland Body Corporate legislation interest can be charged at 30% per annum (or 2.5% per month).
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Regarding two, hand-delivered documents to Baumea Reserve Lot Owners
1) Baumea Reserve Body Corporate Alert. delivered 02 April 2024.
2) Baumea Reserve Owners Update. delivered 03 May 2024
These Notices were compiled and distributed without consulting the committee. Some incorrect facts and alarmist conjecture has been circulated throughout the community
The current committee’s only motive is to Act In The Best Interests of The Lot Owners.
The committee’s only agenda is to establish whether the levies implemented by Vercorp are lawful. To establish this, volunteer committee members have spent countless hours painstakingly researching complex Body Corporate Laws.
This research has raised many questions which are backed up by specific Body Corporate Legislation. These questions were presented via numerous face to face meetings and emails to Vercorp’s Representative David Young and SSKB’s Body Corp Manager, Brendan Edwards. Every question was summarily ignored or flatly refused.
At the very least, every interested Lot Owner should focus on a single simple matter.
Why Does SSKB and Vercorp Refuse to Answer Questions?!!
Because SSKB was not acting in the best interests of lot owners, on the 04 December 2023 SSKB’s Administration Agreement was terminated. On the 18 December 2023, SSKB withdrew, without authorisation, $15,064.60 from Baumea Reserve’s Account, claiming lost income for the remaining portion of the contract. This withdrawal was executed despite the fact there is no early exit penalty or fees written in the contract.
There is confusion between SSKB’s Unauthorised Withdrawal of $15,064.60 from Baumea’s Account and Debt Recovery Legal Fees of $2,545.00 for outstanding levies. As debt recovery is a sensitive issue, lot owners need not be informed of this outlay. Baumea Reserve Subsidiary Body Corporate is obligated to recover outstanding debts, in the best interests of lot owners. Confusion was mainly generated by the letter dropped document “Baumea Reserve Body Corporate Alert” delivered 02 April 2024.
Baumea Reserve Subsidiary Body Corporate’s present committee, for reasons of transparency and clarity has initiated a website and generated regular bulletins. This has never been implemented by any previous committees. The bulletins have generated more Lot Owner interest in body corporate matters.
Note: In the July 2022 issue of PHGCCC Community Update a survey was conducted.
One of the survey questions asked was ”What is the least favourite part of living in the Pacific Harbour Community”?
34.3% responded “Being part of a body corporate”
Questions/ comments Please Contact :
Kenneth Law kennethjohnlaw2020@gmail.com Baumea Reserve Chair
23 June 2024
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Committee 2023
Kenneth J Law, Chairperson
Kenneth J Law, Secretary
Glen Colledge, Treasurer
Graham Roberts
Donna Nicholson
Brett Tippett
Principal Body Corporate Representative
Kenneth J Law
Our Committment
Baumea Reserve Body Corporate is here to serve Lot Owners with any questions they may have.
This Committe will work primarily in the best interests of the Lot Owners.
The Committe will also work closely, cooperatively and beneficially with other stake holders.
The information provided below has been sourced from – Titles Qld – REIQ and Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld)
- Covenants
In new Estate developments there are very often Covenants – there is no requirement to have a Body Corporate for a Covenant to exist.
General Law states, a covenant is a voluntary agreement that creates an obligation by a deed entered into by the parties. Covenants may be of a positive nature in that they require the performance of an action. They may also be negative or restrictive, that is, one of the parties is forbidden from undertaking or performing a specified action.
Most Estate Building Covenants are Restrictive.
Covenants – referred to as ‘estate covenants’ in housing estates – place restrictions on how a home owner can use or alter their property. Covenants are known as Architectural Guidelines at PHGCC.
They can relate to big picture things like the number of homes on a block or the style of house or finer details, such as the type of fence or letterbox allowed. Since 1 January 2010, covenants and body corporate by-laws have been prevented from: requiring specific design elements in houses, townhouses, units or enclosed garages. Householders and builders have been able to benefit from greater choice of sustainable building features and designs including efficient floor areas.
Covenants are legally binding and can be enforced by local councils. However, there may be something in the PHGCC Development Approval documentation that requires the Developer to undertake some or all of the Covenant enforcement role?
Covenants are not developed or enforceable by a Body Corporate.
2. By Laws
By-laws allow a body corporate to control things like common property and assets.
By-laws are a set of rules that a body corporate makes to control and manage:
• the common property
• body corporate assets
• services and facilities provided by the body corporate
• the use of lots.
A body corporate can choose to adopt the standard by-laws that are set out in Schedule 4 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (QLD) or it can make its own.
The by-laws for a body corporate are in the community management statement which is recorded for each community titles scheme.
The body corporate committee may want to give copies of the by-laws to owners and occupiers, so they know their rights and responsibilities.
A body corporate can make new by-laws, or change its existing ones at any time. To do this a body corporate must pass a motion to record a new community management statement that includes changes to the by-laws.
3. Lifestyle Inspections
An invention of the PHGCC Developers.
Lifestyle inspections are not referred to in the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld).