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Short Punch & Greatorix

In: Legal

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

A Townsville Management Rights operator has lost their management rights because of failure to comply with the BCCM Act.  On 10 July 2019 Adjudicator Barry declared that body corporate committee resolutions from 2015 consenting to the transfer of management rights were void… Accordingly, the current management rights operator did not own the management rights, despite having performed the caretaking duties, and having been paid for doing so, for almost 4 years. The Adjudicator’s decision was the latest in a line of decisions dealing with the management rights for Allure Apartments CTS 46322 in Townsville.  On 26 September 2018 another Adjudicator had declared the letting agreementRead More →

In: Legal

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

Even a casual observer of the Industrial Law landscape in the post-Work Choices era, will recognise the diversity of employment options that now prevail in modern workplaces. Part of this has been a consequence of the increasing casualisation of the Australian workforce.  This was seen by the Fair Work Commission as a necessary counter-balance to the rights of workers that were gradually being eroded through the trend of casualisation. However, the modern Industrial Law landscape has nevertheless provided certain benefits for employees, through the Modern Award system, and through the evolution of the National Employment Standards (NES). Modern Awards contain a generic or template AwardRead More →

In: Body Corporate, Facilities Management, Legal

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

The job of an on-site manager can be a difficult one.  It necessitates a delicate balance between maintaining a good relationship with lot owners and occupants on the one hand, and ensuring adherence to the Body Corporate scheme by-laws on the other. This was illustrated in a recent case in the Southport Magistrates Court, in which Short Punch & Greatorix successfully acted for a manager. In this instance, the manager had been concerned with ensuring that the pool and spa area of his building were operated in a manner that was compliant with the scheme by-laws. The building had, amongst its occupiers, a number ofRead More →

In: Body Corporate, Legal, The Management Rights Market

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

Some time ago I published an article on what I thought was reasonable for a Body Corporate to request from a buyer of management rights, in considering whether or not a Body Corporate committee should consent to the transfer of management rights agreements to the buyer. This is an important issue, because under the Body Corporate and Community Management legislation, a Body Corporate committee must not unreasonably withhold approval to a transfer. Under the legislation, one of the matters which a Body Corporate committee may have regard to is the financial standing of the proposed transferee.  My opinion as expressed in my previous article wasRead More →

In: Body Corporate, Legal

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

Every day, we read of the power that is wielded by elected persons around the world, either as a result of our democratic process or somebody engineering themselves into being the head of government. It is an interesting concept of democracy that we are all willing to exercise a voting right to put a person in power and then that power can be wielded with quite a degree of discretion and decision making by that person. Then you get the complete opposite where a government will not move to make a decision without a referendum or a plebiscite from the people giving it a directionRead More →

In: Legal, The Management Rights Market

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

Something has got to be done about the “industry” that is developing, or has already developed, around the process of a body corporate giving its consent to an assignment of Management Rights Agreements (Caretaking and Letting Agreements for Schemes). This harmful industry has sprung up from the activities of some Body Corporate Managers, Solicitors and so-called “experts” in assessing the merits of the assignee, when a party is buying the management rights and the selling manager seeks the consent of the Body Corporate. The job of the committee of the body corporate is simply to check the material submitted by the assignee, have an interviewRead More →

In: Accounting and Finance, Legal, The Management Rights Market

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

ARTICLE BY JOHN PUNCH Ever since management rights sales began some 38 years ago, the standard method for calculating a sale price has been to apply a multiplier to the net operating profit of the business, for a one year period preceding, but ending as close as possible to the signing of the contract. Some lawyers and accountants are now proposing to allow for adjustment of the sale price at settlement to take account of any lots that may leave the letting pool between the signing of the contract and the day before settlement. Generally, we find that as soon as we inform any sellersRead More →

In: Legal, Motels and Hospitality

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

When the original Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 was drafted, it contained a provision that made it illegal for a Body Corporate to seek, or accept the payment of an amount, or conferral of a benefit for itself for the engagement of a person as a Service Contractor (“Caretaker”) or authorisation of a person as a Letting Agent.  These ultimately became Sections 113 and 115 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997, in which they are also extended to cover replacement or renewals of any engagements or authorisations. The provisions worked well to protect Caretakers and Letting Agents from being heldRead More →

In: Body Corporate, Legal

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

The extent of services which a body corporate is authorised to provide, and in some cases, must provide, to lot owners, is limited to those set out in the Body Corporate Community Management legislation. Building managers have to be careful that the duties set out in their Caretaking Agreements with bodies corporate, do not stray outside these limits. Section 169 (1) of the Small Module Regulations, and Section 167 (1) permit bodies corporate to provide certain types of services, which are not otherwise covered in the legislation.   Sub sections 2 and 3 of these Sections also provide the body corporate:- must have an agreement withRead More →

In: Legal

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

(By Martin Punch of Short Punch & Greatorix Lawyers) Many court cases involve the interpretation of legislation, which in some cases leaves room for a variety of interpretations.  This has particularly been the case with management rights, which has resulted in expense which can easily be avoided if more thought was given in the first place to what the legislation should say, to avoid unintended consequences. Three management rights cases illustrate the problem:- The Rocks Case This case revolved around what information had to be in Forms 22a under the old PAMDA Act, in relation to charges made for services organised by a letting agent,Read More →

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