The following two questions are from Western Australian strata lot owners. Thank you to two contributors for providing detailed responses. And, thank you to our community members for asking some great strata questions, this time about commercial strata insurance and tenants responsibilities regarding by-laws.
Could you please help? We would like to know what percentage of our commercial strata insurance we have to pay per title. We are in a commercial strata complex that has three units.
This is not something that the insurance company would dictate. The percentage each lot owner pays is instead dependent on the individual Plan of Subdivision and Lot Liability that the Owners Corporation employs. The way in which the insurance is split between the Owners is in fact determined by the OC itself, or the management firm on behalf of an OC.
It is also worth noting that in a commercial Strata complex, the percentage of premium paid can also be impacted by the business activities of each occupant, whereby some business activities are deemed more ‘risky’ by the insurance company than others. Those that conduct ‘riskier’ business activities in the complex can attract higher insurance premiums, and as such, it is likely that those lots may pay a larger proportion of the premium than others.
I have had no luck finding information specific to my issue, can you help clear things up if possible?
We have a strata unit in Northern WA (1×1 complex of 10) . We have a strata manager and a Property Manager – No problems there.
I have been sent an unsigned copy of the lease. The tenants have moved in – as far as I am aware there are no problems on their side – although feedback from the property manager is not forthcoming.
In the lease sent, Form 1AA- Residential Tenancies Act 1987 -Section 27A …under the the clause – STRATA BY-LAWS – the property manager has done the following – [ Strata by-laws \”ARE NOT\” applicable to the residential premises]. It is my understanding that as the complex is a Strata Complex, the tenants need to be given a copy of the information and the clause should actually be [Strata by-laws \”ARE\” applicable to the residential premises].
I hope you can shed some light on what is actually required.
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Some sales Agents and Property managers in WA do not give the correct information to their clients. Either they don’t actually know what they are selling or leasing out for the owner or they are reluctant to do any research to find out. I constantly get enquiries to send the information to them, where as they have the same access to obtain this information themselves. I tell them that this information is available by purchasing from Landgate.
Before the tenant agrees to take the property they should be shown the Strata Plan so they are aware of the property they are interested in leasing. They need to know what areas are common property, which is their parking area, any by-laws including the standard by-laws after they have submitted the application. Request for pets, parking in the wrong parking lot and laundry drying are the main issues we all deal with.
Once the new tenant agrees and before they sign the lease all the above should be covered by the Property Manager before the tenant signs the lease. How many Property Managers go over these issues before signing?
After the signing the tenant should receive the following:
- Copy of the lease agreement.
- Copy of the Bond Lodgement.
- Any list of specific cleaning instructions that the owner has given to the Property Manager.
- If the property is within a multi complex then they should be given the Standard By-laws 1 & 2, or as well as any registered by-laws.
- Copy of the keys / remotes given to them at the commencement of the tenancy.
The Property Manager should forward the following to the owner after the signing of the documents:
- Copy of the lease signed by the Property Manager and tenant/s and witnessed. The lease should include the term of the lease, the rental amount, and any annexure which could be “cleaning clause”, “trades to use”.
- Copy of the bond lodgement form.
The Property Manager should forward the tenant contact details to the Strata Manager so they can send a welcome pack to the new resident. In some Strata Schemes the Strata Council will deliver the pack to the new resident as a “Welcome to the Complex”. Of course the Property Manager never send us details, as this is something they don’t think we need to know, but in fact we do need to know who is living in the property in case of emergency or require access for common property repairs. Common properties repairs are like; intercoms, bathroom / kitchen leaking from the above property, noise issues, parking issues, blocked drains on the external of the building – the plumber in most cases need access to all properties connected to that same line.
Strata Companies believe this is a good way of making the resident feel welcomed, and a good way of meeting your neighbours.
I hope this helps with the inquiry and if you require further help let me know.