These Q&As are about Victorian strata properties, combining Owners Corporations and whether you are required to form an Owners Corporation.
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Question: We would like to combine our three Owners Corporations into one. Our OC Manager says it is too difficult. Are they right?
We live in a block of 24 apartments. It was set up in 2004 with 3 Owners Corporations. We would like to combine them into 1 Owners Corporation and we were wondering how much this would cost and whether it is worth doing? What are the steps required? Do we just take the POS to a conveyancer with an agreement from all owners that this is how they want to do it?
This arrangement has been set up by the developer/builder to benefit himself. He voted himself in as chairman and avoided being sued for his shonky building, hiding many reports. Now that we have repaired so many areas we want to become more streamlined and spread the liability more fairly across the 24 apartments.
Our existing OC Management Company says it is way too complicated to combine the plans into one single plan but I think it would just be a matter of getting records together and paying a new registration fee. We can keep the ‘unlimited’ OC as the umbrella organisation and shut the other two down. There seems no clear direction about how to do this.
Answer: This solution would be complex, costly and challenging to work through
Short answer is: their manager is not far off. It is complex, costly and challenging to work through. Lawyers, Valuers and Surveyors will likely need to be involved.
It requires a 100% Unanimous Resolution and an application to VCAT by the OC to seek an order. If this is not obtained then the OC will need to lodge an application to VCAT to justify the circumstances for them to give you an order to do so, though you will need a Special Resolution 75% of owners to initiate this legal action (though there is provision for an interim special resolution of 50%).
Failing this then there is a possibility for one owner to lodge an application on their own representing all of the owners to seek an Order for VCAT.
It can only be obtained by lodging an application to VCAT and seeking an order to be able to do this.
Michael Darby Quantum United Management Pty Ltd E: michael@quantumunited.com.au P: +61 3 8360-8800
This post appears in Strata News #477
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