In last week’s post, I went through some of the things I do to build my strata reports, and I mentioned in passing what I do for missing meeting minutes.
So let’s talk about a common attribute of the books and records of owners corporations:
Looking at our trusty Wiktionary , definition 1 hits the mark once again:
- Inadequacy or incompleteness
As we’re talking about the plethora of document types needed to be kept in an owners corporation’s books and records and the vastly disparate origins of those documents, there is correspondingly a plethora of ways in which the books and records may be deficient. These are some broad categories that apply:
- missing records
- old records which have been disposed of (distinct from just plain missing current ones)
- damaged paper records (yes, paper records may still exist)
- low quality records (photocopies, faxes, scans)
But we need to start somewhere, and the most common deficiency in strata records is…
missing records
Just as there are different types of infinities (countable and uncountable), there are different types of missing records:
- known missing
- unknown missing
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell the difference. For example, a staple of strata records is the capital works fund plan, which under s80 of the Act, all strata schemes are to have, and are to required to revise or renew at least every five years.
When inspecting the records, the capital works fund plan may be present and current (less than five years old), present and “expired” (over five years old), or apparently absent.
With an example like this, it’s a not unreasonable first assumption that the current CWFP is just not in the storage system it should be in, so a quick message to the strata manager confirming the most recent CWFP’s date and requesting a copy (if different to the one in the records, or if there is none in the records) is enough to solve the mystery.
Meeting minutes can be more problematic for several reasons.
It’s not uncommon to see the “adoption of minutes” motion required on all meeting agendas to only reference “the prior meeting” without stating the date of that prior meeting.
This often makes it hard to determine when the last meeting was, and checking agendas requires those records to also not be missing – I’ve seen some owners corporations where agendas and minutes are created for committee meetings between AGMs, but not all of the agendas and/or the minutes are kept in the books and records.
As a side note, this is why it’s good practice to state the date of the minutes being adopted – it provides clarity to current owners receiving the agendas and minutes and future inspectors.
Additionally, sometimes matters are excluded from the books and records on purpose. This may be to hide evidence of, for example, defects or issues with lots or the common property – i.e. an intention to “only store the good stuff”.
There are obvious legal implications of such omissions, and insurance coverage may be impacted (for example, office holders cover may not hold if committee members are found to have been involved in such obfuscation).
In any case of missing records, inference can only go so far.
Anyone inspecting the books and records ends up relying on secondary sources of information, such as correspondence (including e-mails), NCAT or mediation applications, references in other meeting papers (including annexures), etc. These all form part of what effectively becomes a detective-like investigation.
And in the end it might just be that the owners corporation’s records are hard to trawl through, scattered across several folders of mixed heritage and format, not handed from manager to manager, or just older than seven years and purged from systems. Or all of the above.
It’s easy to see why strata records inspection can become an inexact science.
Having a professional undertake an inspection for you, whether you’re a prospective buyer, or an owner or committee member needing to locate records, or a strata committee trying to understand what the management of your scheme looks like, is your surest way of getting as comprehensive a review of the books and records as possible – which is, of course, where Select Strata Reports comes in.
Reach out or book an inspection, and let me work through what is and is not available in your scheme’s records.
By the way, I would place e-mails in the “great ‘unknown missing records’” bucket – and that’s the “great as in large” sense, and certainly not “great as in good”.
But that’s the topic for my next post.
Strata Report Giveaway!
Yes, the offer still stands! I will prepare a free strata report (valued at $385!) for a strata scheme in NSW (remote inspection for management agencies outside Sydney metro area) to the first commenter or contact via the details below who can correctly identify why I use the dummy strata scheme SP735328 (other than its unlikelihood to ever be issued!).
This prize is transferable, so if you or someone you know is looking to buy in strata and needs an independent, professional, and thorough strata report, get solving, get in touch, and maybe get some brownie points!
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