Page 3015 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 August 2008
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
An owners corporation must prepare an initial sinking fund plan of the anticipated sinking fund expenditure for 10 years starting on the day of the first annual general meeting of the owners corporation. The date of the first annual general meeting is now required to be within three months of the registration of the units plan which created the owners corporation. This plan must be reviewed, and if necessary amended, within four years after the plan is approved.
An owners corporation must prepare a sinking fund plan of anticipated sinking fund expenditure every 10 years following the preparation of the initial sinking fund plan. The owners corporation must, by ordinary resolution, approve this plan no later than the first annual general meeting after the start of each 10-year period. An owners corporation must review this plan, and amend if necessary no later than five years after it is approved.
These changes will allow much greater scrutiny of sinking fund plans.
Amendments have been made to the content to be included in what are referred to as section 75 certificates. The bill proposes that the fee for those certificates be significantly reduced—from $176 to $80. Specifying roles and functions for the executive committee, chairperson, secretary and treasurer in the legislation provides greater clarity and certainty for unit owners.
Greater controls over a developer’s proxy votes have been included in this legislation. To detail, a developer must not exercise more than three proxy votes in a vote on a matter at a general meeting of the owners corporation for the units plan unless:
• each contract for sale of a unit contains a proxy disclosure statement;
• the use of the proxy is consistent with that statement; and
• the matter being voted on is a development matter rather than an ordinary matter of the corporation.
This should reduce the number of disputes in relation to the use of proxy votes by developers.
This brings me to the dispute resolution provisions in this legislation.
In the event of a dispute, instead of applying to the Magistrates Court, amongst others, an owner or occupier of a unit in a units plan can apply to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal to make orders to resolve the dispute. ACAT is to be empowered to make a number of orders which are specified in the bill. These include orders which ACAT considers are necessary or convenient to resolve an ACAT dispute. These amendments will provide a more cost-effective dispute resolution procedure than exists in the current legislation.
Part 7A of the bill sets out warranties that are taken to be included as part of the contract for sale of a unit and it provides a right to cancel that contract for sale. For example, except as disclosed in the contract for sale, or the result of fair wear and tear,
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .