Unusual Situations
The nature of a Body Corporate is that it is filled with individuals with different needs and different issues. This means that every so often there are going to be some incredibly unique situations that have not been litigated or considered before. These examples are not exhaustive, but some of the novel matters we have advised on in a Body Corporate context include:
- Acting for a body corporate in central Queensland in extremely urgent application to obtain an adjudicator’s order authorising the acceptance of an insurance premium above outside spending limits and without authorisation at general meeting because of technical invalidities with the previous AGM notice.
- Having the Commissioner order the appointment of an administrator to replace a Body Corporate committee. This was based solely on the commitee’s conduct and was the first time in Queensland this had occurred.
- At Tennyson Reach, we acted for the body corporate in securing urgent approval to raise a special levy of $3 million and convene a general meeting on 7 days (instead of 21 days) notice, as well as approval to spend $1 million of monies pending the approval of the body corporate as a result of the January 2011 floods. This was the first time this had occurred in Queensland.
- Acting for a Body Corporate in North Queensland in circumstances where the QFRS had issued certain statutory notices relating to alleged fire safety defects in the building, fundamentally arising out of concerns over whether it was a class 2 building being used for class 3 purposes. This is only the most recent example of us advising on this issue. We have being involved in numerous disputes issuing out of the class 2 / class 3 issue.
- At Aarons, we acted for the owner of multiple lots to control the nominations to committee. This was lost in the first instance in the Commissioner’s Office, but was upheld on appeal when our client pursued it. The BCCM Act was changed in 2008 as a result.
- We acted for a group of disgruntled owners at Viridian Residences to overturn an approval of certain works otherwise approved at general meeting. The Body Corporate committee was acting in accordance with legal advice – the action we took proved that advice was wrong.
- We acted for a Body Corporate manager to successfully obtain an injunction in the Supreme Court to prevent the body corporate terminating their administration agreement.
- We advised a Body Corporate whose common property boundary wall crossed into adjoining properties about subdivision and acquisition of common property to align the wall with the resurveyed property boundaries.
- Acting for various parties in Hope Island, Sanctuary Cove and Royal Pines Resort who have very complex body corporate structures regulated by intricate pieces of legislation, such as the Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980 and the Integrated Resort Development Act 1997.
We have good relationships with a significant number of Body Corporate managers who see unique situations arise every day. They frequently have to dive into untested waters and often turn to us for guidance. We are at the front of the industry and can make sense of those tricky Body Corporate issues.
Examples of articles where we talk about these issues: