Owners

If you are the “owner” of a strata apartment you have certain rights as well as certain obligations. These are detailed throughout the Strata Schemes Management Act, 1996 (NSW), the "Act". For example as an owner you must comply with the Act as well as with any by-laws that have been made for the building.

As an owner you have the right to vote at general meetings, or be elected to the executive committee. If you are voted to the executive committee you can stand for election as Chairperson, Treasurer or Secretary of the owners corporation.

If a general meeting or AGM is held and a motion has been put on the agenda or is called at the meeting, then as an owner you can vote. Your vote is usually equal to all the other owners vote (unless someone calls for a "poll" vote - in which case your vote is equal to your "units of entitlement").

The same principles applies for votes on by-laws. If a general meeting or AGM is held and a vote is called on whether a by-law should be made, then as an owner you can vote for or against the by-law. As as an owner you also have the right to give your "consent" for by-laws to be made or you have the right to withhold your consent if you feel that you stand to lose from the making of a bylaw. If you withhold your consent the by-law cannot be made if it detrimentally (or positively) “concerns” you. If the by-law is made without your consent, and if it "concerns" you, then it is not enforceable without your signature on a consent form.

As an owner you also have to pay your levies (or other amounts owed). If you bought a property with outstanding debts from a previous owner, you have to pay any amount outstanding as the debt stays with the lot. If you do not pay your levies the owners corporation can take you to court and ultimately you could be declared bankrupt.

As the owner you are automatically a member of the “owners corporation” which is the legal entity that manages the strata scheme and owns and looks after the common property of the strata scheme. As long as you pay your levies you can fully participate in the management and running of the strata scheme.

As an owner you also have a fundamental obligation to repair and maintain your apartment. This includes such things as the carpet, kitchen and bathrooms.

You also have the right to be able to improve your apartment by doing such things as replacing the kitchen and renovating your bathroom etc.

To that end, one of the fundamental responsibilities of the owners corporation is to manage the process through which owners renovate and improve their apartments. An owners corporation does not have the right to say “No” to an owner who wants to undertake reasonable repairs and renovations to their apartment, but they do have the right to be able to impose conditions.