NCCARF Strata Climate Change Research is Now Available

During 2012 and 2013 I've been working with Griffith University on a National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility research project about the impacts of climate change on stakeholders in Australian strata title buildings.

The final report, Adapting strata and community title buildings for climate change, and the stakeholder manual, Adapting strata title communities for climate change: a stakeholder action list manual, are finished and published on the NCCARF website.

They make interesting reading about this important issue whose impact is only just emerging. But, even if you're not interested in climate change, the report identifies recurrent themes in all kinds of difficult issues facing strata title stakeholders.  

So, I recommend it to anyone interested in getting better strata outcomes.

You can view the report here: www.nccarf.edu.au/publications/strata-title-buildings-climate-change

You can view the manual here: www.nccarf.edu.au/publications/strata-title-stakeholder-manual 
You can also view the short presentation I gave about the research at the Griffith University Strata& Community Title in Australia Conference on the Queensland Gold Coast here.

Please share the link with your colleagues and anyone else who might be interested. And, if you have any relevant supplementary information (summary documents, fact sheets, videos etc.), please send it to me.

Strata Apartments as Investments

You might think that strata apartments are real estate.  And, mostly you'd be right.  But you're not Donald Trump.

Sometimes strata apartments are so embedded into complex building operation and management structures that they no longer have typical real estate characteristics.  You can't live in them or use them yourself, someone else decides when they're rented and at what rate, they get renovated at your cost without you input, you can only sell on conditions and you have to share (or pool) the returns with other owners/investors.

In such cases the apartment has (effectively) become the underlying asset in an investment product and is no longer real estate in the traditional sense.  

This doesn't matter much if the investment is providing fair returns.  But, when it's not things start to get messy and loss making owners look to their lawyers.

That's exactly what's happening right now in Toronto at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto where a group of investor owners are suing everyone (including Donald Trump himself) over the representations, delays and returns from their strata apartment investments in that development.  They are arguing, amongst other things, that the development and investment was governed by securities laws (as well as real estate and other laws).

It's an interesting story and case which you can read about at the legal action website of the plaintiff's lawyers, Heydary Hamilton.

It's also novel and unusual that the primary documents in the case are being published in this way by (at least) one of the parties in the litigation.

I guess this is one situation where some strata owners would like to tell Donald Trump - 'You're Fired!'


Francesco ... 

Is Changing Strata Managers Getting Easier?

They say that change is good.  

But, sometimes strata buildings wanting to change managers find it harder than they'd like.  That can be because they don't know how to change or what to do, they don't have the time to organise it themselves or the existing manager makes things harder than they should be.  So, they often need some help.

Strata Match is in the business of helping Australian strata buildings change managers.  So, it's causing some interest and controversy.  But, regardless of your views, it's very likely that strata owners and strata corporations are and will continue to become more empowered over all kinds of decisions (including changing strata manager).

Now, Strata Match is running free seminars in Sydney about how to change strata managers and what they do to help.  You can find out more and register here - http://stratamatch.com.au/

So, if you want to change strata managers and need help why not attend?


Francesco ...  

Green Strata Research from WA

There's a lot of interest in greening strata buildings (along with almost everything else) and lots of people advocating changes.

But, you might not realise that many of the physical changes required to reduce energy and water consumption or to reduce carbon emissions are not automatically permitted in strata corporations.  For a range of reasons, such upgrades need three quarter or unanimous owner decisions, which restricts the ability of strata corporations and member owners to 'green' their building.

During 2011 Chiara Pacifici of Curtin University undertook research on this issue and published a paper called Greening Strata Title in WA: Turning barriers into opportunities for individual owners to  
implement environmentally sustainable provisions in existing residential strata dwellings.

In the paper, Chiara Pacifici identifies the problems facing West Australian strata corporations implementing green initiatives and makes some innovative suggestions which I think we will see adopted in future strata law reforms.


Francesco ...

Are Electric Cars a Strata Building Friends or Enemies?

Even though you might not buy one, very few people are opposed to electric cars.  After all, if they're going to reduce fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions, it's gotta be a good thing ... right?

Well, in a bizarre twist of corporate (ir)responsibility  Colorado strata corporations might be opposing pro electric car legislation proposed for that US state.

Senate Bill 13-126 is designed to facilitate drivers and users ability to charge electric cars in apartments, condominiums and common interest communities by restricting strata corporations' ability to prevent owners from installing a level 1 or level 2 electric vehicle charging system in their property or in common areas,  It also requires strata associations to consent to such installations except in very limited circumstances.   

That means that the usual control that strata corporations exercise over common property alterations is reversed - and owners can expect consent in most cases.  So, despite any objections to the works, decision making powers of committees and managers are fettered.  It also means that, over time, multiple owner changes and car charging installations can leave the common property a mess and create potential problems over consequential damage and ongoing repair and maintenance.

It's another great example of how things that are good for the general property owning and living public might not work so well for strata corporations because of their peculiar co-ownership structures, shared space environments, stricter regulatory controls, day-to-day operational limitations and the longer term cumulative impacts of changes.  

You can read more about this dilemma in this article by strata lawyers Wizenburg, Leff, Purvis & Payne.

It's a real shame since I believe that electric cars and strata buildings go really well together.  After all the buildings are good parking locations, have ready sources of electricity at bulk buying rates and contain many potential users who could share the vehicles.  

Let's hope a sensible compromise can be found so that strata building owners and managers can keep supporting electric cars and contributing to saving our planet.


Francesco ...

Online Strata Dispute Resolution Tools

It's inevitable that there'll be internal conflicts in strata buildings.  

But, when those conflicts are not resolved they can seriously affect strata corporation operations, reduce owner satisfaction levels and [possibly] reduce apartment values.  So, people involved in strata disputes need mechanisms and tools to help them.  And, in most cases, the more information, tools and options the better.

A new resource for Victorian strata corporations (in addition to VCAT, advice from strata managers and strata lawyers) is the Owners Corporation Conflict Management Guide for Victoria (OCCM).

OCCM describes itself as a web based tool designed to help informally manage strata conflicts and 'an easy guide to improved understanding for owners, occupiers, OC managers and lawyers looking for help with dispute resolution'.

The website contains examples of typical strata disputes, explanations of legal language, links to legislation, decided strata cases and background information about strata title issues.  Although the OCCM website won't solve your Victorian strata dispute, it will help you know more about it, your options and what you can do about it.  

So, if you're looking for help in your strata dispute, check out OCCM (even if you're not in Victoria).

Francesco ....

Is the Honeymoon Over for Aussie Strata Committees?

Australian strata committees have enjoyed a pretty benign life for the last 50 years.  

They haven't had to do too much, mostly defer to owners meetings on key decisions, rely on strata managers for most day-to-day operations and have not been sued very often or for very much.  

That is starting to change as the responsibilities and accountability of strata committees begin to increase.  But, how far will that go and will we follow the US pattern or not? If we do in Australia, then this slide from a recent US Strata Law Conference presentation might cause some concerns.

The slide comes from a presentation by Kevin Davis as the CAI 2013 Law Seminar about directors and officers liability in US community associations and whilst it is based on too a small statistical sample to prove anything, it is representative enough to give you a good sense of the US strata claims environment.  And, it's enough to make me worry for future strata committees who don't take more care about their decisions, actions and in-actions.

Interestingly, the statistics indicate that over half of the losses claimed against US committees relates to breaches of their fiduciary duties as committee members, breaches of their CCRs (our by-laws and management statements) and breaches of strata contracts.  And, the next 2 largest categories are for discrimination and EPL (employment practices liability).  

It may be a very different world for strata committees (and those assisting them) in the future if these kinds of claims become more prevalent in Australia and the end of the Aussie strata committee honeymoon.

Thanks to Kevin Davis and Clifford Treese for sourcing and providing this information.

Francesco …

NYC Awards Micro Apartment Design

 

Apartment sizes are coming down all over the world as space shortages and increased demand for city living clash.  So, all of us involved in high density real estate needs to improve smaller living spaces to make future [micro] inner city apartments decent places to live.

Obviously, New York is a great example of the problem with estimates that there is a shortfall of at least 800,000 apartments right now.  So NYC ran a competition for better micro apartment design with the winner getting to design and build a 55 apartment tower on city-owned land composed entirely of micro-units.  Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg says that it will be the first in a wave of tiny apartments aimed at addressing the city’s shortage of studio and one-bedroom apartments.

The winning team, a partnership between Monadnock Development, Brooklyn-based nARCHITECTS and a nonprofit that serves creative arts professionals, the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation, created the design shown below.  Organisers said that 'small as it might be, the winning design was chosen for the way that it maximised light, airiness and storage space through the use of 9-foot-high ceilings, large windows, lofts and juliet balconies'.

You can read more about the competition and award in this New York Times article by Vivien Yee.


Francesco ...