This is a short discussion on how to appoint a strata managing agent and the time frame that they can be appointed for.

Transcript

Hi. It’s Allison Benson from Thoughts from a Strata Lawyer and Kerin Benson Lawyers. I’m talking about strata managers today and specifically how they are appointed and the term, or length of time, that they can be appointed for.
As always, we look to the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 to guide us. Section 49 of that Act deals with appointing a strata manager. It provides that an owners corporation may appoint a person with a strata managing agent’s licence under the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 to be the scheme’s strata managing agent. Note that a person may be an individual or a company. The appointment has to be in writing and it has to be authorised by a resolution of the owners corporation at a general meeting. Now there are a couple of limitations as to who can be the strata managing agent that section 49 deals with. Essentially, a developer of the scheme or a person connected with the developer of the scheme (I’ll flag that this is a defined term in the Act) cannot be the strata managing agent for the scheme until 10 years have passed since the scheme was registered. Another limitation is that an owner who is seeking to be appointed as the strata managing agent cannot vote or cast a proxy vote on a motion to appoint themselves.
Section 50 of the Act deals with the term or time frames that a person can be appointed as the strata managing agent for. Where a strata managing agent was appointed by the owners corporation at the first annual general meeting, their appointment can be for a term of 12 months. Where a strata managing agent is appointed at any other general meeting, they can be appointed for a period of up to three years. There is provision in the Act for the strata committee to extend the term of the strata manager’s appointment. A strata committee can extend the term of their appointment for a period of three months after it would otherwise expire but, and this is a large but, the strata committee can only extend the strata manager’s appointment by three month increments up until the date of the next annual general meeting. If the strata committee takes action to extend the term of the strata manager then it must give the strata manager one months’ notice if it will not reappoint them or further extend their appointment.
To help the owners corporation section 50 of the Act also requires the strata manager to provide written notice at least three months before the end of their appointment and at least one months written notice before the term of any three month extension by the strata committee.
This was a brief look at how a strata managing agent can be appointed and the term of their agreement. There is another means of appointing a strata managing agent and that is to apply to NCAT, the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal, for an order under section 237 of the Act for a strata managing agent to be appointed with all or with limited functions of the owners corporation. This is often called a compulsory management and is seen as a draconian measure as it can result in all or some decision making powers of the owners corporation to be taken away from lot owners and given to the appointed strata managing agent.
This is general information and you should obtain legal advice specific to your situation. Thanks for listening.