Have You Bought a New Apartment for Christmas 2015?
If you are planning on moving into a new Melbourne apartment before Christmas 2015, congratulations you are now a member of an owners corporation! If you want to be involved in the decisions about how your building is run, the best way to become involved is to become a member of your owners corporation’s Committee.
Joining your owners corporation’s Committee means you will be part of the body that makes most of the day-to-day decisions about how your building is managed during the year including how the owners corporation’s money is spent and what steps are taken to address various problems in your building.
By law, there must be an election for the owners corporation Committee at each Annual General Meeting for owners corporations with more than 13 apartments (s.100 of the Owners Corporations Act 2006).
Here are some pointers on how to become a Committee Member:
- 1. The Committee must be made up of between 3 and 12 members.
- 2. If you are an owner, or hold a valid proxy appointing you as an owner’s representative, you are eligible to be elected to the Committee.
- 3. If more than one person owns the apartment, only one of the owners may be elected to the Committee at any one time.
- 4. Prior to your owners corporation’s Annual General Meeting, you can nominate yourself for election to the Committee by writing to the owners corporation stating you wish to be nominated for election under section 103(a) of the Owners Corporations Act 2006.
- 5. At your owners corporation’s Annual General Meeting, you can orally nominate yourself for election to the Committee if you are present at the Annual General Meeting.
- 6. You are not eligible for election to the Committee if there are unpaid owners corporation levies owing for your apartment.
- 7. Depending on the agreed number of Committee Members versus the number of nominees, your owners corporation may need to hold a ballot vote to determine who is elected to the Committee:
a. For example, if your owners corporation decides to have 10 Members on the Committee for the coming year and there are only 10 people nominated, then unless the members of the owners corporation at the Annual General Meeting decide otherwise, the nominees will generally become the Committee Members;
b. A further example is if your owners corporation decides to have 10 Members on the Committee for the coming year and there are 20 people nominated, then the owners corporation will have to hold a ballot vote to decide which nominees will become Committee Members.
- 8. Once the Committee is elected, it is the Committee who decides who will fill the roles of Secretary and Chairperson by majority vote of the Committee. A Secretary of Chairperson of the Committee may be removed from office by majority vote of the Committee.
- 9. Once you become a Committee Member you have duties to act honestly, in good faith and with due care and diligence. This includes being aware of the owners corporation’s legal powers, functions and duties. Your Committee should seek independent legal advice on issues of compliance where appropriate.
Tisher Liner FC Law has a dedicated Owners Corporation Law division committed to providing quality legal advice and representation to Owners Corporations, Committees, Lot Owners and Managers.
