Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 15 November 2010
Dog and cat lovers of Queensland have started a silent revolution, and it’s coming to an apartment building near you! Last year we reported on a resident who disputed her body corp’s right to turf out her moggy. Their by-laws said a pet could be kept with consent of the committee, so the Adjudicator found they couldn’t impose a complete ban on pets. Unless there was good reason to keep the animal out, approval must be given.
This “only with committee approval” by-law is the most common dealing with pets – the vast majority of buildings have similar wording. So despite this and similar precedents been set, the anti-pets brigade have been relaxing where their building has clear by-laws that simply say “no pets whatsoever”, full stop.
But a September Tribunal judgement has opened the doggy-door even wider. In this matter the Adjudicator declared that any blanket ban was invalid because each animal should be considered on its merits. A body corp, they said, has no power to take away the freedom of a person to own an animal.
And an order handed down last week for the “212 on Margaret” tower in Brisbane’s CBD has confirmed this view, quoting the precedent above in ruling the building’s no pets by-law to be invalid. In this case the pet owner proposed a new by-law that provided guidelines for the keeping of animals, items that would ensure pets wouldn’t impact on neighbours’ quiet enjoyment. The Tribunal gave it the nod.
There’s only been a handful of precedents set and we’re not lawyers – seek sound advice before you act. But the message to bodies corporate seems clear. You can regulate the keeping of pets to ensure their impacts on your building and its residents are minimised. But you can’t ban them.
This might send the fur flying at some upcoming AGM’s.
Tags: body corp, Body Corporate and Community Management Act Queensland, body corporate issues Queensland, pets in apartments Brisbane
Posted in Brisbane CBD, Brisbane's sales market, real estate marketing, trends in Brisbane property | 3 Comments »
Posted by admin on 30 September 2010
Guess which TV show is part of the Saturday open home chatter right now? Brisbane’s inner city has a lot of great value apartments that can be transformed with a bit of clever renovating, and a handy decorating budget at [insert Channel 9 sponsor here]. Many of these “not-new” apartments are in smaller buildings with minimal amenities so their body corp fees can be low. Rooms are often good sizes and locations can be terrific.
Those contestants on “The Block” have one huge advantage though, and it’s not the design experience of that Victorian real estate agent (by the way she’s not doing much for our profession’s reputation is she?!) They have all the apartments in the building going through the transformation at once, the full building receiving a make-over. The exterior is being done for them with no committee meetings, no budget discussions/all-out brawls, and no need for encouraging or nudging of reluctant co-owners. It’s not reality TV. We’ve written before about the challenge of getting agreement to renovate common property and right now we’d suggest a number of inner Brisbane apartments sell below where they really should, simply because their building is holding them back.
When you think about it the TV producers should really film a real-life body corp meeting. Australia’s nicest tradie Scott Cam could referee. Just wind up one or two youngsters with some fresh ideas and pit them against a couple of long-term residents who won’t pay a cent more in body corp fees. It’d make The Block look like Play School.
Out of interest the latest Queensland government re-write of the body corp laws will likely bring in new disclosure rules for when you’re selling your apartment. It’s likely you’ll have to provide a buyer with a full copy of the CMS including by-laws and lots more info – before they sign a contract. This will no doubt encourage more questions from apartment buyers, and hopefully a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges bodies corporate can bring.
Do you have a body corp story to share? Please post a comment below.
Tags: Body Corporate and Community Management Act Queensland, body corporate issues Queensland, Brisbane Body Corporate By Laws, selling an apartment Brisbane
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, architecture and renovation, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 19 August 2010
We often feel we’re at the pointy end of body corp issues, the time when apartments are put up for sale and the market makes a judgement. There’s no better way of finding out if your body corp fees are too high, your building’s not maintained well enough, the sinking fund’s too low or the AGM and owner relationships are just plain dysfunctional. Buyers can be brutal in their assessment and they’re entitled to be when they’re spending their money. And one issue has been making apartment buyers nervous across Queensland.
We’re delighted to see Fair Trading Minister Peter Lawlor’s move to amend the Act and bring back some predictability to body corp fees. The current Act says lot entitlements must be equal unless you have a good reason and despite knowing the fees when buying in, there’s been a run of apartment owners over recent years going to the Tribunal to ask for a reshuffling of lot entitlements (the numbers used to set your fees). Their own fees have gone down at the expense of their neighbours and in some cases resulted in penthouse owners getting a whopping discount, 1 bedder owners a skyrocketing bill. It made headlines early last year when shots were fired in one Gold Coast building.
The proposed amendments are open for public consultation until September 23rd, and when adopted will lock-in your lot entitlements. Developers will again set interest entitlements according to value of the apartment (as they used to) and we’d expect levies will pretty much follow suit. And importantly the Minister is stopping the ability to move the goalposts later.
Mr Lawlor says, “In the future, the ability to adjust contribution schedule lot entitlements will be limited to all lot owners in a scheme unanimously agreeing to make an adjustment through a resolution without dissent or by unanimous agreement between two or more lot owners to redistribute the lot entitlements for their lots amongst themselves.”
Nice to see some common sense prevailing.
Has your building had its lot entitlements changed? We’d love to hear your experiences.
Tags: Body Corporate and Community Management Act Queensland, body corporate issues Queensland, Brisbane apartments
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, property taxes and rates etc | 3 Comments »
Posted by admin on 14 August 2009
Buyers often ask us if they’ll be able to bring their cat or small dog to their new apartment or townhouse. Pets in apartments can be a touchy subject with plenty of emotion, and lately we’re seeing more buyers that are simply not happy to accept a body corp’s rejection of their moggy or mutt.
So can a body corp of current owners reject a pet? In many cases, no.
Each building has its own by-laws that apply and if they state “no pets” then that’s pretty clear. (Other than for guide dogs.) The majority of by-laws have wording to the effect that the committee must approve any pet application – and in some buildings the owners enforce a no pets policy by rejecting all applications out of hand.
This is the area that’s creating waves right now.
In one landmark decision an adjudicator with the Queensland Body Corporate and Community Management Commissioner’s office forced a committee to approve a cat. The Southport apartment owner suffered depression and had a doctor’s letter supporting the animal as a companion and “part of her therapy”.
The adjudicator noted that the by-laws said a pet could be kept with approval. “This means that the committee cannot simply adopt a “no pets ” policy but must exercise the discretion to approve a particular animal after consideration of the individual circumstances.”
Committee members should take care with this tricky topic.
Our main concern with body corporate law in Queensland is the lack of info and knowledge. Property owners don’t have easy access to it, most real estate agents know little so they’re not educating buyers, and most conveyancing lawyers give only a brief outline unless asked.
If you own a property in a body corp and have minimal to zip knowledge of the legalities don’t be embarrassed. You’re in good (and plentiful) company!
Commencing in September Bees Nees City Realty, in conjunction with Brisbane’s Stansure Strata Management, will be running a series of small seminars on some broad body corp topics. Insurances, getting involved in your committee, understanding your AGM agenda and budgets. The evening seminars will be held at our South Brisbane office and will be free of charge.
If you’d like more info email rsvp@beesnees.com.au
Tags: application for pets Brisbane, body corp committee Queensland, Body Corporate and Community Management Act Queensland, body corporate issues Queensland, by-laws Queensland, pets, QBCCM Commissioner
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, Inner Brisbane events, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »
Dog and cat lovers of Queensland have started a silent revolution, and it’s coming to an apartment building near you! Last year we reported on a resident who disputed her body corp’s right to turf out her moggy. Their by-laws said a pet could be kept with consent of the committee, so the Adjudicator found they couldn’t impose a complete ban on pets. Unless there was good reason to keep the animal out, approval must be given.
