Your Strata Property With Amanda Farmer

Gerard Doyle of Bugden Allen Lawyers joins me this week to take a closer look at hybrid strata loans: a product designed to let some owners pay their share of major works upfront while others participate in a strata loan.

Gerard shares his concerns about the legal basis for “levy credits”, how those credits are treated in an owners corporation’s accounts, and whether the legislation actually gives an owners corporation the power to structure repayments this way. We also explore the risks for self-funding owners, possible tax implications, and why legislative reform may ultimately be needed to make these products work more cleanly.

Dianne Copping from Elevate Strata joins me this week to talk about what can happen when an owners corporation decides it’s time to change strata managers.

We discuss difficult handovers, delays in releasing records, and the formal steps available when an outgoing manager won’t cooperate. Dianne also calls out some “very unusual” rollover and extension clauses that she’s seeing in some agency agreements, and frustrating behaviour from managers who can’t seem to let go.

We also look ahead to mandatory strata committee training from 1 October and what the added compliance work could mean for strata managers, committees and management fees.

Reena Van Aalst joins me this week, as we cover:

– An owners corporation being denied access to engineering designs it paid for

and more.

If you think hidden commissions, vertical integration and conflicts of interest are uniquely Australian strata problems, think again. This week, I’m joined by US community association advocate Vicki MacHale to compare notes on what’s happening on both sides of the Pacific – from insurance commissions and private equity to the fascinating world of “earned credits”, where management companies can benefit from the money their clients hold in the bank. The parallels are striking, but when it comes to scrutiny, transparency and regulators taking action, Australia may actually be ahead.

Buying off the plan can look like a smart way to lock in today’s price, but what happens when settlement arrives and the market has moved against you? In this edited version of Friday’s LIVE chat, I unpack the risks, possible options and costly consequences of being unable to complete an off-the-plan purchase. I then…

Reena Van Aalst and I discuss: A committee that tried to sack a building manager without the required general meeting approval,  The growing legal risk around serving agenda packs by link instead of attachment, and  What the Netstrata prosecution may signal for accountability in our sector.    A big episode. Dive right in. Links Mentioned:…

Strata manager Luke Derwent joins me to share how an owners corporation ended up in NCAT after a committee member leaked confidential negotiations with a major service provider.

This week, Reena Van Aalst and I discuss a strata fact that can be hard for owners to hear: yes, the owners corporation must fix the common property, but no, you don’t get to dictate every detail of how that happens.

We also tackle the challenge of a committee changing their meeting location at the last minute, and a tenant applying the scattergun approach to their damages claim. 

This week, Matt Larwood from Strata Vote joins me to talk about:

– Hybrid meetings,

We also consider where strata sits compared to the broader “proptech” world, and what smarter systems could look like in the very near future.

Reena Van Aalst and I get into the messy reality of Tribunal delays, compulsory management extensions, interim orders that keep expiring, and the extra cost that comes with waiting. We also discuss an owner’s failed attempt to knock out a by-law, and share a cautionary tale about AI-generated legal arguments. Listen out for an important update for NSW strata managers about my new Fair Trading CPD course, too.