How a Professional Strata Manager Protects Your Investment
For many Australians, apartments and townhouses represent a major investment, whether as a primary residence, a rental asset, or part of a broader portfolio. As such, a lot of their wealth and future goals are tied up with those properties. Just as you would protect any investment, protecting the value of strata property requires more […]
Is your rental property income sufficiently protected?
Owners of rental strata properties need to ensure they take out insurance to cover landlord’s fixtures and fittings, rent default and public liability for inside their lots / units. Strata Insurance provides cover for a range of circumstances specifically related to living in a strata community, including: Public liability Covers legal liability of Owners Corporations […]
QA Fixed Bank Deposit for Investment by Owners Corporation
Question: Can an Owners Corporation make a Fixed Bank Deposit for investment for 6 months, even though an OC is a non-profit Organisation? Answer: An owners corporation is a legal entity that is permitted to make a fixed bank deposit. An owners corporation is a legal entity that is permitted to make a fixed bank […]
QA Does the Owners Corporation Committee have power to reduce levies for a particular Lot?
Question: A landlord has suffered loss of rent due to repairs to common property. Does the OCC have the power to reduce that lot’s levies by the amount of the lost rent? Could an OCC pass a motion in favour of reducing a particular lot owner’s levy for a fixed period? Authorised works are being […]
Lost on Loss of Rent? What does it really cover?
Loss of Rent Cover – a general definition Where your Unit suffers damage accepted as a claim under the Strata policy, and is unable / unfit to be occupied for its intended purpose. This cover is automatically included in most Strata Insurance policies, and is designed to protect the interests of the owner of the […]
Property Developers Beware | Increased Obligations under the OC Act Amendments
The upcoming changes to the Owners Corporation Act will place some new and increased obligations on property developers. To enhance transparency between the developer of a property and the Owners Corporation Manager for that property, the Victorian Government has made a series of amendments to the Owners Corporation Act 2006. These acts will take effect […]
Owners Corporation Debt Collection – Best Practices for Success
One of the prime responsibilities of an owners corporation (OC) is to collect levies from the individual owners in order to fund the maintenance and upkeep of the property. In this article, we will discuss the importance of collecting owners corporation levies on time and steps to make sure the OC documents comply with the Owners […]
VCAT Guidance – Benefit Principle when raising Special Levies
VCAT Guidance in support of Benefit Principle term used under Section 49 of the Owners Corporation Act 2006 when raising Special Levies. There are two available methods of raising Special Levies under Section 24 of the Owners Corporation Act 2006. First is based on Lot liability and the second is based on the lot owner […]
QNA Does the committee has a power to reduce an OC’s levy contribution?
Q: A landlord has suffered loss of rent due to repairs to common property. Does the OCC have the power to reduce that lot’s levies by the amount of the lost rent? Could an OCC pass a motion in favour of reducing a particular lot owner’s levy for a fixed period? A: Authorised works are […]
Budget measures introduction
Homebuilder grant extension The Federal Government is extending the construction commencement requirement for the successful HomeBuilder program from 6 months to 18 months for all existing applicants, bringing the total level of expected Government support for the construction sector under the program to $2.5 billion. The Government’s decision to provide existing applicants with an additional […]