Page 3684 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 26 August 2008
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either (a) “a person holding a licence as a real estate agent under the Agents Act”, which can include a conditional licence; (b) “a member of the corporation”; or (c) “someone else who is not a manager of another owners corporation”, and whose income as manager will not be their primary source of income.
This means, for example, that if a husband and wife live in a unit which the husband owns then the wife cannot serve as corporate manager without a real estate agent’s licence if this would be her primary source of income. If the minister has a different view, I will be delighted to hear the perspective. The government seems to ignore the fact that only a relatively small percentage of unit complexes are large enough to retain a professional manager. This bill places an onerous requirement on smaller complexes that might otherwise manage themselves.
Officials from ACTPLA have assured me that the requirement for a conditional licence as a real estate agent is not an onerous one. They have assured me that one can obtain a conditional licence to act as the manager of an owners corporation without having to qualify as a bona fide real estate agent. However, ACTPLA were unable to answer several important questions about this conditional licence. I asked what the requirements of the licence were; they did not know. I asked how much it cost to apply for the licence; they did not know. I asked whether the authority issuing the licence has any general, subjective discretion over the issue of a licence or whether there were clear, objective criteria; they did not know.
ACTPLA promised to come back to me with this information, but as of tonight they still have not done so. So, regardless of the actual conditions, it seems to me impossible to argue that a licensing requirement is useful when those who seem to be developing this idea do not even know what the requirements for the licence are. Maybe again the minister can set our minds at ease.
The third category of people who are allowed to act as managers is also a bit strange since it seems to discriminate against professional body corporate managers and against people who do not earn income from some source other than as a manager of the owners corporation. On my reading of it, it seems somewhat irrational. In particular, it seems to me to hinder two valuable categories of manager: (a) professional managers who manage several owners corporations and therefore bring skills and experience that other managers may not have; and (b) people whose primary income comes from their role as manager. In this case, this is probably because this is their main job and they can, therefore, devote substantial time to doing it well. In both cases such a person can obtain a conditional licence as a real estate agent, but there is still an additional requirement.
The new bill introduces detailed legislative provisions on a number of matters, including the appointment and dismissal of managers, a code of conduct for managers, the appointment and dismissal of a communications officer, rules for pets and rules for engaging service contractors. New section 51A sets out rules for keeping pets. This requires unit owners to apply to the owners corporation for permission to keep a pet in their unit. Permission may be given subject to conditions but may not be unreasonably refused. Sections 55A to 55G set out the rules for managers, including a term limit and a mandatory code of conduct. Section 55H and 55I set out rules for
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