Legal (Page 7)

Legal articles relating to legislation, disputes and civil suits

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

Yes, we took that from the Godfather, but why not? It is one of the greatest lines ever delivered in a movie (and credit where it is due to Mario Puzo for writing it in the first place). Anyway, enough pop culture. We don’t need any distractions this early in the new year! We have written about bodies corporate and their obligations to act reasonably over the years and this newsletter is another example of the same principle. It started with 14 owners saying ‘no’ to an application made by our client for the grant of an exclusive use space (which required a resolution withoutRead More →

Contributed By: Barclay MiS on

We often hear complaints from our clients that when they attend Tribunal and /or Court, that they are not awarded any compensation, for instance, for the time taken to prepare an application to Tribunal/Court, or for the time taken in attendance at the Tribunal/Court. Many Property Managers have stated to us that when at Tribunal/Court they have applied for these items as compensation but it has been rejected. Certainly the management agreement between your agency and the landlord provides that the landlord will be responsible for your professional costs in preparation and attendance at Tribunal/Court, however the fact is that that agreement is between youRead More →

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

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 →

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

Body corporate disputes can become very emotional things. This is the story of one of those. If there is one article you read this year from us, make it this one – because it is the most significant strata case in Queensland since the High Court’s decision on building defects. If you’ve spent any longer than five minutes in strata land, you come to realise that the single most important aspect of any body corporate is its requirement to act reasonably. We have written repeatedly about that, with the most recent newsletter here. In October last year, you may recall the story of a manRead More →

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