Short Punch & Greatorix (Page 2)

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

Management Rights usually operate on the basis that the Manager acts strictly as a Letting Agent for the unit owners who wish to let out their units on a permanent or holiday let basis. However, in some cases Managers have been entering into what is commonly known in the industry as “lease back” agreements with some unit owners.  This involves the Manager agreeing to pay the unit owner a guaranteed rent on the basis that the Manager is entitled to keep all income received from renting out the unit. Lease back arrangements may be considered by some Managers and unit owners to be more commerciallyRead More →

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A valid and current Caretaking Agreement and Letting Agreement (“Agreement”) with a healthy term remaining is one of the most valuable assets in a management rights business. This is recognised by anyone with an interest in the business, including banks and potential purchasers. It is therefore imperative that Service Contractors and Letting Agents (“Building Managers”) understand the process that is involved in both exercising an option and adding an option to the term of their current Agreement. Exercising an Option to Renew The effect of not exercising an option can be disastrous. If a Building Manager does not exercise an option within the required timeRead More →

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 (See the original article here). 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 →

Having grown up as a boy in Melbourne, before coming to the Gold Coast where I have been in our law practice for many, many years, I still have an interest in Melbourne and a curiosity as to how different the Management Rights situation is in both cities. I have realised that on the Gold Coast we freely integrate our tourists with our resident population and celebrate the tourist industry as a great feature, benefiting both residents and tourists alike. We have a very compatible resident and tourist use of our buildings particular because of our form of Management Rights where the on-site Caretaker andRead More →

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Lawyers acting for buyers of Management Rights are often faced with the task of trying to explain to their clients problems which they may face as a result of badly worded Caretaking and Letting Agreements.  Much of this could be avoided if developers and their advisers took more care in preparing these agreements. Developers have a golden opportunity to set up Management Rights in a way that will not create difficulties for building managers. The developer is in complete control of the Body Corporate at the time the original Caretaking and Letting Agreements are put in place. I have acted for many people buying unitsRead More →

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

There are two issues relating to Management Rights sales, which are at the moment causing concern to Buyers and Sellers of Management Rights, and Body Corporate committees, and their legal advisors. Recently there seems to be an upsurge in the number of bodies corporate not approving buyers of Management Rights to take over Caretaking and Letting Agreements. This seems to have coincided with an increase in the number of Asian buyers. Of course, as a result of Australian anti discrimination laws, race, marital status, age, and a number of other factors, cannot be taken into account in making such decisions. In acting for buyers ofRead More →

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In the Management Rights Industry, many building managers enter into Agreements with people who they consider to be independent contractors. Some of these “contractors” may attend to a number of the duties that are required of the Manager, pursuant to a Caretaking or Letting Agreement. However, it is important to be aware that even though the parties may consider themselves to be in a principal/independent contractor agreement, the relationship may, according to the law, be that of an employer and employee. The distinction is important because there are significant consequences if the true legal relationship is misinterpreted. For example, an employer is responsible for remitting group tax, paying statutoryRead More →

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Here at Short Punch & Greatorix Lawyers we do keep a watch out for what we call “rogue activity” conducted by Body Corporate committees and their chairpersons where they might impact on the business of the on-site Managers. When we see this happening, we particularly encourage our clients to act simultaneously in two directions. Firstly we encourage them to work with all of the owners on a process of informing the owners in the Scheme where the committee may be “off the rails” and may be acting unlawfully, not only to the detriment of the on- site Manager but in a manner that is likelyRead More →

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