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Legal (Page 7)

Legal articles relating to legislation, disputes and civil suits

In: Body Corporate, Legal

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

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 →

In: Body Corporate, General Interest, Legal

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

It’s over. The longest running (and most expensive) dispute over a deck in Australia has been decided by the High Court.  There are no appeals from there so we now have the definitive statement on what a body corporate’s decision making obligations are based on. Round one went to the deck owner (Commissioner’s Office) Round two went to the complaining owners (QCAT) Round three went to the deck owner (Qld Supreme Court) We wrote an article after the Supreme Court decision here. The opponents to the deck won. The smartest group of lawyers in the country (being the High Court) has decided that the oppositionRead More →

In: Body Corporate, Legal, Uncategorized

Contributed By: Archers Body Corporate Management on

Throughout the year, unit owners are issued with a number of body corporate meeting notices. These notices could include information related to committee meetings, voting outside of committee meetings (known as flying minutes), and the annual general meeting. Current legislation specifies these notices must be issued within certain timeframes, which range from 7 – 21 days (including postage) from the date of the meeting. This timing ensures that unit owners and committee members have enough time to consider the contents of the notice to make informed decisions. The information in the annual general meeting notice is essential to unit owners, as it contains details about body corporate levies forRead More →

In: Legal

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

Acquiescence.  Such a beautiful word.  But not when it comes to by-law enforcement. Enforcing by-laws is not an optional activity. By-laws must be enforced, and the responsibility for their enforcement lies with the committee. There are a few golden rules that all committees must follow when it comes to by-law enforcement. The by-law enforcement process in the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (BCCM Act) must be followed. The BCCM Act sets out a specific procedure for enforcing by-laws.  Regardless of your personal view on the effectiveness (or otherwise) of these procedures, the committee must follow them.  Deviate from the procedural requirements at yourRead More →

In: Body Corporate, Legal

Contributed By: Kerin Benson Lawyers Pty Ltd on

Pokemon Go is all over the news with stories of people walking out onto roads into the path of cars and others being lured into areas and then attacked. Someone has reportedly gone so far as to quit their job to play it full time. These are obviously extreme examples. What has been happening on a daily basis and which has only been touched upon in the news is that some property owners have been inundated with strangers entering their property when playing their game. This blog is to highlight some of the issues for owners corporations and community associations. First, what is Pokemon GO?Read More →

In: Accounting and Finance, 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 (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 →

In: General Interest, Legal, The Management Rights Market

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

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 →

In: Legal

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

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 →

In: Legal, The Management Rights Market

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 →

In: Body Corporate, Landlords, Tenants, Renting and Management, Legal

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

We are definitely seeing more and more management rights businesses being created without the need to own a piece of real estate with them. This is particularly the case in new off the plan developments. Some of these are large enough to be purely standalone businesses, but most of them in smaller schemes seem to be designed to be able to operate on a standalone basis, but also as a ‘bolt on’ to an existing management rights business. We have written previously about things you need to consider when thinking about separating your management lot from your management rights business here. The key theme thereRead More →

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