Parking, Trees, Money & Meeting Issues result in a Mandatory Strata Manager

Foo v Frew [2023] NSWCATAP 303

GoStrata’s CaseWatch is a short, sharp and easy-to-understand review of important and interesting Court and Tribunal decisions affecting Australian strata title stakeholders.

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Quick Read

This 2023 NCAT Appeal Panel decision is about a dispute in a 2 lot Balgowlah strata title building over whether a mandatory strata manager should be appointed.  There were ongoing differences between the strata owners in this self-managed strata building since 2019 over parking, tree removal, garden and building maintenance, strata funds, and meetings [there hadn’t been any].  So, the Tribunal appointed a mandatory strata manager.  One strata owner appealed. The NCAT Appeal Panel considered the Tribunal’s reasoning, what legal issues are relevant to NCAT appeals, and the circumstances where NCAT had previously made mandatory strata manager orders; providing a kind of mandatory strata manager order checklist. It ultimately decided to confirm that a strata manger was required.  Plus, the decision is a reminder of how impasses in 2 lot strata buildings often lead to mandatory strata managers. 

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Implications

The key implications of this strata case are as follows.

• NCAT can appoint a mandatory strata manager to run a strata building, even without an application.

• NCAT Appeals are limited to legal issues, and don’t usually revisit matters decided by Tribunals.

• NCAT’s power to appoint mandatory strata managers is discretionary and should be based on sound reasons.

• Mandatory strata manager orders need dereliction of duty or dysfunction in the strata building operations.