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Legal (Page 9)

Legal articles relating to legislation, disputes and civil suits

In: Body Corporate, Legal

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

The Reserve is one of three large buildings in the one management rights portfolio at Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast. It has been a very large enterprise from the day it was built so it is safe to say the collective value of the management rights enterprise is in the millions. Every management rights agreement is different. There are a few more standard ones you see around and about (one of which is ours), but you can never take for granted that the one you are looking at is the same as the next one (even if drafted by the same firm) because theyRead More →

In: Body Corporate, Legal

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

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 →

In: Body Corporate, General Interest, Legal

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

If you have even a passing interest in federal politics, you will have seen the furore over Bronwyn Bishop’s recent taxpayer funded chopper flight to a Liberal fundraiser which was only an hour or so away by car. No doubt it was the easiest $5,000 she ever spent at the time. When it came to light there was quite legitimate outrage about the spending, and the sole defence seems to be that it was ‘within guidelines’. Some guidelines they must be. It has since been paid back. And so no one thinks we are singling out the Liberals, if you want to see what happens on the ‘other’Read More →

In: Accounting and Finance, General Interest, Legal

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

We don’t like being negative nellies, but sometimes we do need to talk about the things that go wrong in these newsletters. Alan Greenspan (the then Federal Reserve Chairman in the USA) coined the famous phrase ‘irrational exuberance’ in relation to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990’s, but it could apply to any boom since (and before – even back to the tulip boom of the 1600’s.) If you were to Australianise that phrase it would be along the lines of something being ‘too silly for words’. It is not for a lawyer to talk about risk when it comes to valuations / asset pricing asRead More →

In: Accounting and Finance, Body Corporate, General Interest, Legal

Contributed By: Archers Body Corporate Management on

Body corporate insurance is arguably the most important aspect of building management, but when it comes to using it, it can be difficult to understand what’s covered and what’s not. The basic principle of strata insurance is to provide cover for common property and the building’s structure. This means that the body corporate is responsible for all common areas and the structural elements of the building. Owners are typically responsible for the internal contents of their unit. There are some circumstances where the body corporate can provide cover for internal fixtures if they are classified as part of the building’s structure. For example, if an owner’s hot water systemRead More →

In: Landlords, Tenants, Renting and Management, Legal

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

By John Punch Chameleons are very unusual creatures. I was recently watching a David Attenborough show on television where he produced this lizard like animal which changed its colour and form before your very eyes, to suit its surroundings. This reminded me very much of how the Property Occupations Act 2014 treats a Form 20a Letting Agent Appointment. Whilst the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act has been completely replaced by the Property Occupations Act with completely new Forms, under the POA the new form of appointment for any agent for any activity is covered as a Form 6. Therefore, a Form 6 now mustRead More →

In: Body Corporate, Legal

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

Under the Work Health and Safety Act  there are a range of codes of practice that have been issued by Safe Work Australia. As you would expect, there is a code of practice about managing the risks of falls at workplaces (the Code). A management rights business remains a far less risky business from a work, health and safety perspective than most industries. If you subscribe to Safe Work Australia’s updatesyou will receive regular emails about far more serious injuries than are ever likely to occur in a management rights context. There are some unfortunate (and regular) reminders of the dangers of working with heavy machinery. Working at heights in aRead More →

In: Body Corporate, Legal

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

Everyone (probably) knows that there are a maximum of seven voting committee positions for a committee formed under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (BCCM Act).  These are the chairperson, the secretary, the treasurer and then four ‘ordinary’ committee positions. The question that sometimes arises is what each of these people are responsible for. It is quite interesting (and perhaps that’s just the lawyer in us) in terms of what most committees fall back to as a default position as against what the BCCM Act actually prescribes. Those default positions are not necessarily the legislative requirements. The first distinction to draw is between executive committeeRead More →

In: Body Corporate, Legal

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

We get an enormous range of questions on how bodies corporate go about their daily business. One of the most broadly asked questions is how a body corporate makes a decision. A body corporate is a creature of statute. The Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (BCCM Act) sets out the rules about how it must operate. A single person (chairperson or otherwise) can never make a decision on a body corporate matter (leaving aside delegated authority which is far too complex to discuss here and really only applies to BUGTA regulated schemes). This will be a bit of a back to basics newsletter for strata managers (who probably knowRead More →

In: General Interest, Legal, The Management Rights Market

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

Alan Greenspan (the then Federal Reserve Chairman in the USA) coined the famous phrase ‘irrational exuberance’ in relation to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990’s, but it could apply to any boom since (and before – even back to the tulip boom of the $1600’s.) For mine, if you were to Australianise that phrase it would be along the lines of something being ‘too silly for words’. It is not for a lawyer to talk about risk when it comes to valuations / asset pricing as Greenspan could, but it is certainly within our ambit to talk about legal risk.We think a very interestingRead More →

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