Managing Owners Corporations is a complex business and requires the knowledge of a trained and experienced team. Ham Kerr Property manages a number of Owners and Corporations covering both residential and industrial properties across Melbourne offering personalized expertise and service.
Our team has years of experience and is best placed to offer you the advice you need. We pride ourselves on our exceptional customer service standards to ensure we are always responsive to your requests.
Transparency is paramount to our philosophy therefore our fees are declared up front with not hidden costs or charges.
Our services include collection of contributions and levies as required and pay all disbursements on behalf of the Owners Corporation as they become due. Notices of Annual General Meeting are provided to all members together with respective financial reporting.
Upon appointment as your Owners Corporation Manager, an Introductory Meeting will be arranged to allow us to meet with owners and approve the proposed budget prepared for the reporting year.
The appearance and value of your property is often determined by the way the common areas are maintained. Our experienced and competent contractors are highly skilled to carry out various repairs and maintenance to your owner’s corporation property and, all of our contractors are insured and comply with current Occupational Health & Safety legislation. We do what we say we’re going to do: ‘
- Administration
- Meetings
- Accounting
- Repairs and maintenance Insurance
Should you be interested in our strata management service, please contact our Owners Corporation Department to arrange a meeting.
WHAT IS AN OWNER’S CORPORATION
An Owner’s Corporation manages the common property of a residential, commercial, retail, industrial or mixed-use property development. The common property is defined in your Plan of Subdivision and may include driveways, stairs, paths, passages, lifts, lobbies, common garden areas and other facilities set up for use by all owners and occupiers.
You are likely to be a member of an Owner’s Corporation if you own a flat, apartment or unit.
An Owner’s Corporation may be self-managed by the lot owners or professionally managed by an Owner’s Corporation Manager. If an Owner’s Corporation chooses to appoint a professional manager, it must be a manager registered with the Business Licensing Authority (BLA).
DO I HAVE TO BE PART OF THE OWNERS CORPORATION
If you own property affected by an Owners Corporation then you become a member of that Owners Corporation automatically. As a member, you have legal and financial responsibilities to the Owners Corporation.
WHAT IS A PLAN OF SUBDIVISION
As defined by Consumer Affairs Victoria “An Owners Corporation is automatically created when a plan of subdivision containing common property is registered at Land Victoria. Land Victoria registers and records owners corporation applications received either with a plan subdivision or lodged following registration of the plan of subdivision.”
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOT ENTITLEMENT AND LOT LIABILITY
Your plan of subdivision will show your Lot Entitlement and your Lot Liability. Lot Liability represents the share of Owners Corporation expenses that each lot owner is required to pay. Lot Entitlement is an Owners share of ownership of the common property which also determines your voting rights. Prior to purchasing a property in an Owners Corporation, you should ensure the allocation of lot liability and entitlement seems fair and reasonable.
WHAT ARE OWNERS CORPORATION RULES
The Owners corporation rules may deal with matters such as car parking, noise, pets, the appearance or use of lots, behaviour of owners, occupiers or guests and grievance procedures. You should look at the Owners corporation rules to consider any restrictions imposed by the rules.
HOW ARE DECISIONS MADE BY AN OWNERS CORPORATION
As an owner, you will be required to make financial contributions to the Owners Corporation, in particular for the repair, maintenance and management of the common property. Decisions as to the management of this common property will be the subject of collective decision making. Decisions as to these financial contributions, which may involve significant expenditure will be decided by a vote.
HOW ARE DISPUTES RESOLVED?
The grievance procedure applies to disputes involving a lot owner, manager or an occupier of the Owners Corporation. The party making the claim must prepare a written statement in the approved form. If there is a Grievance Committee of the Owners Corporation, it must be notified of the dispute by the complainant. If there is no Grievance Committee, the Owners Corporation must be notified of any dispute by the complainant, regardless of whether the Owners Corporation is an immediate party to the dispute.
The parties to the dispute must meet and discuss the matter along with either the grievance committee or the Owners Corporation within 14 working days after the dispute comes to the attention of all the parties.
A party to the dispute may appoint a person to act or appear on his or her behalf at the meeting. If the dispute is not resolved, the grievance committee or owners corporation must notify each party of his or her rights to take further action under the Owners Corporation Act 2006.
DO I HAVE TO BE PART OF THE OWNERS CORPORATION
If you own property affected by an Owners Corporation then you become a member of that Owners Corporation automatically. As a member, you have legal and financial responsibilities to the Owners Corporation.