Recently, Flat Chat columnist on the Sydney Morning Herald, Jimmy Thomson, told a story about a landlord whose owners corporation had failed to maintain and repair common property. You can read the full story here.
The landlord was being kept awake at night as the problem was costing him lots of money and was concerned about the ramifications if he made the repairs himself.
Jimmy noted that the correspondent was right to be concerned. As he says in the response “Strata and tenancy laws vary across Australia but they all agree on two things – the body corporate must maintain common property and landlords have to keep their rentals in a habitable condition.”
But the owners corporation should be very aware of the consequences of its failure to keep the common property in a reasonable state of repair especially where it knows about the damage but has failed to address it.
In a recent case in the NSW Supreme Court – Taylor v Owners Strata Plan 11564 – Mr Taylor was tragically killed when an awning from a shop-front fell on him as he was walking underneath.
In this case the owners corporation also knew that the awning posed a danger but had not taken active steps to fix it.
Mr Taylor’s estate is still working on the amount of damages it will be claiming. The factors that are being worked through include Mr Taylor running his own business and having a mix of six children and step children some of which are claiming for injury, loss, harm and damages from psychological injury.
While insurance may provide indemnity for acts carried out by executive committee members it is unlikely that this indemnity extends to those acts where negligent or bad decisions are made.
If there is something that needs to be fixed on your common property get to it now and don’t wait for someone to be hurt or worse because it could cost a lot.
26 May 2014