Lot 158 finally starting to achieve results: NSW Fair Trading letter on 17 October 2023, confirming that Waratah Strata Management failed to comply with regulations for Auditor's reports (and this is just the beginning of troubles for this strata agency):
Nine committee members were asked to inform all owners about NSW Fair Trading update on 18 October 2023 and they did not respond:
On 19 October 2023, Director of Uniqueco Property Services was given one-page document to put on or near six notice boards. Mr. Steve Carbone pretended that he had to ask Mr. Robert Crosbie (Director of Waratah Strata Management) for permission to publish it, and then never completed the task to comply with Lot 158 request:
SP52948-Lot-158-notice-board-v2-19Oct2023
In one of many examples of Lot 158 efforts, on 5 October 2015 Lot 158 tried to reason with BCS Strata Management (they lost contract with SP52948 at AGM in 2016) to avoid massive and persistent mismanagement of common funds and pending large expenses due to neglect of complex. Lot 158 was ridiculed and completely ignored.
Lot 158 tried to reason with Waratah Strata Management and committee members to avoid bankruptcy and unnecessary legal costs and insurance risks on 2 June 2019. Lot 158 was ridiculed and completely ignored.
Lot 158 tried to reason with Waratah Strata Management and committee members to prevent unnecessary legal costs and assist NSW Fair Trading and Police on 18 June 2019. Lot 158 was ridiculed and completely ignored.
Lot 158 predicted risks of running out of money in email and warning to Waratah Strata Management, Uniqueco Property Services, and committee members on 29 June 2019. Lot 158 was ridiculed and completely ignored.
Seven more warnings were sent to Waratah Strata Management and committee members in 2023 - no reply was ever received:
In agenda for Annual General Meeting on 26 October 2023, Waratah Strata Management continued to mislead owners, confirming problems with strata funds without disclosing any balance sheets from funds, ongoing problems with fire safety, and providing completely false and fabricated figure of 18% inflation rate over three last years:
Even layman can easily confirm that figure for official inflation rates of 18% for three years prior to 2023 were grossly inflated, false, and designed to coerce owners:
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... whilst sending this agenda to owners (full of errors and misleading statements)
Number of SP52948 owners, tenants, and investors expressed gratitude towards this website as that was the only way to gain access to lot of critical information, which is not available in minutes and notices of meetings, or on Waratah Strata website.
The rest of the audience is anyone who might be interested in problems with strata schemes in NSW...
This website does not have any desire or intent to add own comments and therefore it is up to anybody to make up their own conclusions based on evidence and statements by others who did it in public forums, in courts, or elsewhere. All files on this website were provided to Fair Trading NSW, Office of legal Services Commissioner, NCAT, Supreme Court, and Police. The same files were repeatedly sent to Solicitor Adrian Mueller, committee members and strata managers - silence is their response.
Public is voicing strong concerns about problems with Tribunals. Issues with strata complexes and dubious quality of services provided by those who should enforce laws are common and frequent - examples: NSW-Civil-Tribunal-failing-to-deliver-services
Democracy should be the leading avenue for managing strata complexes. But, democracy requires high level of sense and ethics, and right for all owners to have full access to strata files in order to make informed decisions. And when that does not happen, how to proceed? One way is to educate public and rise awareness that license to be a strata manager is one of the easiest in any industry: Strata Community Australia (SCA) are offering a three-day course on qualifying to be a strata manager with no prior educational requirements (apparently educational requirements are fulfilled by completing the course).
Justice McCallum publicly stated:
Extensive media reporting of allegations of criminal conduct is not a mischief in itself. On the contrary, it is appropriate to recognise that the media play an important role in drawing attention to allegations of criminal or other misconduct and any shortcomings in the treatment of such allegations.
Waratah Strata Management Non-Compliance of SP52948 Auditor Reports Since 2017
Clause 21 of the Strata Schemes Management Regulations 2016 requires that the accounts and financial statements of the owners corporation with budget above $250,000.00 must be audited before presentation at Annual General Meeting (AGM) in accordance with Section 95 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. That is what the law prescribes.
Waratah Strata Management since 2017 failed to comply with SSMA 2015 and SSMR 2016 six times, whilst in other two years the Auditor's Report in our complex was highly dubious and questionable.
Full details are in:
Waratah-Strata-Management-non-compliance-of-SP52948-Auditor-reports
SP52948 Waratah Strata Management Non-Compliance with SSMA 2015 and Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW) for Meetings
As recently as 28 November 2018, amendments to the Interpretation Act (section 76(1)(b)) saw the ‘postage’ time period extended from 4 business days to 7 business days. The ‘postage’ period must be calculated before applying the meeting notice period. It is based on the Interpretation Act detailed in a circular issued by Australia Post in 2016 stating 7 business days for Standard Delivery.
NSW Strata Community perfect summary of strata meeting requirements
Since 1 February 2017, when Waratah Strata Management took office, no ordinary or general meeting satisfied regulations and requirements as defined by SSMA 2015 and Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW).
Waratah Strata Management ignored evidence about recent decision in ACA Developments Pty Ltd vs The Owners – Strata Plan No. 73759 (2023) (“ACA Development“): notice was issued to convene a general meeting of the owners corporation with a motion to pass a by-law aimed at restricting short-term accommodation. However, the notice was served only five clear days before the scheduled meeting, failing to meet the mandatory seven-day requirement under the SSMA 2015. As a result, the Tribunal declared the resolution made at that meeting as invalid and repealed the by-law registered subsequent to the motion’s passage.
In ACA Development, the owners corporation served the meeting notice through a mailing company, and the mailing company lodged the notice with Australian Post 2 days short of the statutory requirement. Delivery to a mail house is not delivery to the postal system. In accordance with the Interpretation Act 1987, service of the notices was deemed be effected on the seventh working day after they were posted (day of post excluded), with the day of receipt excluded from the calculation.
The ACA Development case also highlighted the significance of strict compliance with the seven-day notice requirement, as established by a previous Supreme Court case, The Owners – Strata Plan No 62022 v Sahade [2013] NSWSC 2002 (“Sahade“). In Sahade, the notice of the general meeting was served one day late, precisely six days before the meeting. The Supreme Court emphasized that strict compliance is necessary, particularly when the Act employs the terms “must” and “at least,” ensuring the effectiveness of a properly served notice.
In spite of direct questions, Waratah Strata Management failed to provide a means that demonstrates the date of posting and delivery, such as a registered, express, or other tracked postal or courier service. Waratah Strata Management stayed silent and provided no evidence to Fair Trading NSW, NCAT, Office of Legal Services Commissioner (owner's submissions for professional misconduct by Solicitor Adrian Mueller, and Supreme Court).
Four cases were opened with Australia Post since 2018 (18901640, 20472440, 24171104, 30903851) and each time there was a resounding statement that no evidence of lost letters were detected or recorded for Lot 158.
Strata Plan SP52948 committee meeting dated 1 March 2017, as organised by Waratah Strata Management, did not satisfy requirements of Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (SSMA), Schedule 2, Section 4 (1) and (2), and section 7, and Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW). It was admitted by Director Mr. Robert Crosbie himself.
As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed.
Waratah Strata Management allowed four non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year).
Lot 181, Mr. Stan Pogorelsky, by own admission (not shared with owners), paid $50.00 for gas heating in FY 2001. In this secret spreadsheet, he also submitted that GST applied from 2002, whilst the fact is that GST was introduced on 1 July 2000, and admitted that he did not pay for FY 2012 and 2013, ignoring the fact that levies had to be paid even if invoice had been lost or not sent:
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Agenda was created on 13 April 2017 and scheduled for 20 April 2019. Excluding date of creation and meeting date, ONLY four days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015.
Waratah Strata Management allowed four non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year).
Strata Plan SP52948 committee meeting dated 30 June 2017, as organised by Waratah Strata Management, did not satisfy requirements of Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (SSMA), Schedule 2, Section 4 (1) and (2), and section 7, and Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW). This was confirmed in minutes of meeting 20 July 2017:
Agenda was not sent to any owner, notice boards did not announce this meeting, and minutes of the meeting were not sent to any owner.
Waratah Strata Management allowed two non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
NCAT-case-20/33352-SP52948-brief-log-of-events-related-to-elevator-maintenance-and-replacement-contract-in-three-periods-2005-2017-and-2018 (tenders without evidence, delayed repairs, contracts approved without having any paperwork).
Without sending notice of the meeting to any owner, committee had paper meeting on 30 June 2017, allegedly making a decision to enter into elevator maintenance contract with Liftronics without tender or any competitive quotes. Minutes of committee meeting on 20 July 2017 confirmed that the paper meeting on 30 June 2017 was non-compliant with strata regulations. Committee members and Waratah Strata Management were fully aware that seven-year contract with Thyssen Krupp was being terminated on 30 June 2017, as per Motion 6 in minutes of committee meeting three months earlier on 16 March 2017.
Waratah Strata Management hide information about unfinancial committee members: SP52948-committee-member-Marianna-Paltikian-unfinancial-to-vote-7May2020 SP52948-levy-arrears-for-committee-members-at-meeting-that-decided-to-grant-elevator-contract-to-Liftronics-without-general-meeting-or-details-of-contract-20Jul2017.
Only once Waratah Strata Management informed owners about committee members not being allowed to vote:
SP52948-committee-member-Marianna-Paltikian-unfinancial-to-vote-7May2020
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Agenda was created on 13 July 2017 and scheduled for 20 July 2019. Excluding date of creation and meeting date, ONLY four days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015.
Waratah Strata Management allowed four non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year).
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Agenda was created on 22 September 2017 and scheduled for 28 September 2017. Excluding date of creation and meeting date, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed three non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year).
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Agenda was created on 7 February 2018 and scheduled for 15 February 2018. Excluding date of creation and meeting date, ONLY five days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015.
Waratah Strata Management allowed four non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year).
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Agenda was created on 18 March 2019 and scheduled for 21 March 2019. Excluding date of creation and meeting date, ONLY two days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed three non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year).
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Agenda was created on 26 April 2019 and scheduled for 2 May 2019. Excluding date of creation and meeting date, ONLY two days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed three non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year).
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Agenda was created on 14 June 2019 and scheduled for 20 June 2019. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed three non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year).
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Agenda was created on 30 August 2019 and scheduled for 5 September 2019. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed three non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year).
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Agenda was created on 7 February 2020 and scheduled for 13 February 2020. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed three non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 7 March 2020 and scheduled for 12 March 2020. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY four days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Paper committee meeting was scheduled for 12 March 2020 at 16:00 hours but actual meeting happened five days later, without any updated given to owners, on 17 March 2020 at 09:00 hours (time-warped event).
Owners corporation declined to attend free-of-costs mediation in Fair Trading NSW case 00351498 on 17 March 2020, without providing owners with details of the case, or giving owners copy of the mediation request.
On 25 March 2020, Lot 158 sent the following email to Waratah Strata Management, which was never tabled in minutes of any meeting or shared with owners. Th Subject line of the email was:
“SUMMARY: Waratah Strata Management refusal to notify owners about critical issues including fair Trading Mediation and expired contract with Waratah Strata Management”.
Waratah Strata Management allowed three non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 1 May 2020 and scheduled for 7 May 2020. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Solicitors failed to comply with alleged decision at this meeting, and owners were never informed about it:
Waratah Strata Management allowed three non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 8 July 2020 and scheduled for 16 July 2020. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY five days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed three non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 4 September 2020 and scheduled for 10 September 2020. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed three non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 5 November 2020 and scheduled for 11 November 2020. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
At this meeting, just few weeks after Annual General Meeting, Mr. Moses Levitt resigned as member of the committee. Solicitor Adrian Mueller, Waratah Strata Management, and committee members failed to notify NCAT in case SC 20/33352 about this event, and made Hearing on 11 February 2021 void due to false statement by Solicitor Adrian Mueller that all six members of the committee were still valid.
Waratah Strata Management allowed three non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 29 January 2021 and scheduled for 4 February 2021. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed two non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 21 April 2021 and scheduled for 29 April 2021. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed two non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 11 July 2021 and scheduled for 15 July 2021. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed two non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 17 September 2021 and scheduled for 23 September 2021. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed two non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 25 November 2021 and scheduled for 1 December 2021. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management allowed two non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 7 February 2022 and scheduled for 10 February 2022. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY two days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Notice of paper committee meeting, without designated venue was published on notice boards as late as 13:30 hours on 8 February 2022, and scheduled for 10 February 2022, without venue and time. Solicitor Adrian Mueller was requested to respond about this meeting and he declined.
Owners were prevented from having any information about Solicitor Adrian Mueller and his work in agenda for the meeting, which failed to disclose actions related to NCAT case SC 20/33352.
Minutes of the committee meeting were not published on notice boards. Lot 158 has photo evidence.
Minutes did not provide any information to owners about Solicitor Adrian Mueller’s actions and confirmed that offers by Lot 158 (including request to maintain common property) were ignored.
Waratah Strata Management allowed two non-financial owners to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 25 February 2022 and scheduled for 3 March 2022. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, ONLY three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Committee Meeting on 3 March 2022 did not disclose the expenses accrued by Solicitor Adrian Mueller.
Lot 158 requested that owners be notified about current status of NCAT case and Solicitor’s engagement, but Waratah Strata Management and committee members declined. Legal costs had six versions of total expenses for Solicitor Adrian Mueller’s alleged work. This was proposed to the committee for inclusion in the Agenda on the meeting scheduled for 3 March 2022, but not allowed by Waratah Strata Management.
Agenda for the committee meeting had no details of Solicitor Adrian Mueller and Supreme Court case for legal costs recovery.
Solicitor Adrian Mueller was requested to respond about this meeting and he attempted to justify it in email to Supreme Court Costs Assessor on 20 April 2022.
Supreme Court Costs Assessor accepted non-compliant meetings as valid:
Lot 158 responded with these notes and Solicitor stayed silent:
It is noted that Costs Applicant did not respond to the submissions of the Costs Respondent dated 5 April 2022 which included three attachments (email by the Costs Applicant does not answer or provide the information being sought even for Costs Respondent’s submission with 19 attachments dated 31 March 2022 is taken into account):
NCAT-20-33352-submissions-and-document-report-from-18Aug2020-to-9Jun2021-for-document-search-photo-1-8Mar2022.webp (one page)
Costs-Respondent-letter-to-Ms-Julie-Wright-5Apr2022.pdf (50 pages)
Costs-Respondent-Questions-on-Validity-of-Legal-Cost-Items.pdf (spreadsheet)
Costs Respondent has no interest or desire to “reagitate issues”, as asserted by Cost Applicant, rather pursue a just and fair process. As per Costs Respondent’s submission on 5 April 2022; “The purpose of documents being requested is to clarify inaccuracies, ambiguities and most importantly whether Solicitor could act as a legal representative on behalf of the Owners Corporation. As stated in Cost Assessor's original letter, goal is to "assess the amount of costs that is fair and reasonable". We appreciate this case is complex with comprehensive evidence. This has culminated over ten years as a result of lack of transparency in legitimately and legally employing the services of Solicitor Adrian Mueller on behalf of the Owners Corporation, numerous attempts of mediation, self investigation of obtaining these documents with mediation attempts not being fruitful, and consequently the need for Costs Respondent to defend litigation.”
Solicitor Adrian Mueller continues to misspell first and last name of female owner of Lot 158.
Two attachments are enclosed herewith:
Strong-case-for-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-being-assessory-before-and-after-insurance-fraud-five-times-CTTT-12-32675-and-NCAT-20-33352.pdf
Costs-Respondent-letter-to-Ms-Julie-Wright-20Apr2022.pdf
Special attachment "Strong-case-for-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-being-assessory-before-and-after-insurance-fraud-five-times-CTTT-12-32675-and-NCAT-20-33352.pdf" documents (in another folder under URL sent to Cost Assessor and Costs Applicant on 5 April 2022) contains irrefutable evidence that Solicitor Adrian Mueller failed to assist District Court in case 2013/360456 on 31 January 2014 where strata manager Peter Bone provided false statements in his Affidavit and Solicitor had such knowledge. Solicitor Adrian Mueller presented Affidavit by BCS Strata Management Peter Bone, knowing that it contained false information about Applicant never being denied access to strata files, which is easily confirmed by following evidence:
12 November 2012
15 November 2012 (complaint to BCS Strata Management that Respondent failed to honour
Agreement signed by Solicitor Adrian Mueller during CTTT hearing on 17 October 2012)
8 March 2013
5 June 2013
17 October 2013
Solicitor Adrian Mueller failed to acknowledge that committee meeting held on 3 April 2022 did not satisfy requirements of Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (SSMA), Schedule 2, Section 4 (1) and (2), and section 7 and Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW) (pages 15-16 of Costs Respondent's document dated 5 April 2022). Solicitor Adrian Mueller failed to acknowledge that in his invoices he claimed he had received authorisation from strata manager to lodge Supreme Court case on 1 March 2022 - two days before committee meeting. There is no evidence of such email and no evidence that Costs Applicant made such decision at any legally-compliant meeting. Solicitor Adrian Mueller failed to respond to Costs Respondent's Paragraphs 17.1), 23), 23.1), and 23.2) in document dated 5 April 2022.
Costs Respondent collected all forensic evidence that Costs Applicant (and Solicitor Adrian Mueller) did not make any attempt to log into secure web site to verify Respondent's evidence in period from 5 April 2022 until this afternoon. Costs Respondent collected all forensic evidence that Costs Applicant (and Solicitor Adrian Mueller) did not make attempts to send any email or letter to Respondent in period from 5 April 2022 until this afternoon. For the sake of evidence, Cost Assessor logged 938 times into secure website and took significant interest in Respondents' evidence.
Solicitor Adrian Mueller failed to provide any evidence of his alleged work and avoided direct questions about six versions of his legal costs which conflicted with owners corporation documents provided to owners before Annual General Meeting 2021.
Solicitor Adrian Mueller did not provide any evidence of his alleged correspondence with NCAT and he was directly challenged to do it, especially since document search at NCAT on 8 March 2022 found no such evidence. Solicitor Adrian Mueller failed to respond to Costs Respondent's paragraphs 41.2) in document dated 5 April 2022.
Solicitor Adrian Mueller failed to provide information about sudden insurance claim in amount of $19,758.14 (on 25 March 2022 Waratah Strata Management listed revenue from insurance claims in amount of $19,758.14 in Income & Expenditure Report):
Income & Expenditure Report listed all legal costs in period from 1 September 2021 to 21 March 2022 as $380.00 and no insurance claims for legal costs,
Income & Expenditure Report listed all legal costs in period from 1 September 2021 to 24 March 2022 as $4,128.71 and no insurance claims for legal costs,
Income & Expenditure Report suddenly listed all legal costs in period from 1 September 2021 to 25 March 2022 as $4,128.71 and insurance claims for legal costs as 19,758.14.Owners were prevented from having any information about Solicitor Adrian Mueller and his work in agenda for the meeting, which failed to disclose actions related to NCAT case SC 20/33352.
Minutes did not provide any information to owners about Solicitor Adrian Mueller’s actions and confirmed that offers by Lot 158 (including request to maintain common property) were ignored.
Waratah Strata Management allowed one non-financial owner to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 10 May 2022 and scheduled for 12 May 2022. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, NO DAYS were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Waratah Strata Management website did not contain schedule for the meeting on 10 May 2022:
Notice boards in Block A, B,C, and D on 10 May 2022 dod not publish information about this meeting (photos taket at 20:15 hours in the evening):
Waratah Strata Management allowed one non-financial owner to be on the committee and vote, in spite of knowledge of unpaid levies for gas heating (including 10% simple interest per each year):
SP52948 extract from alleged committee meeting confirming unpaid levies but not disclosing full scale of outstanding debt for gas heating usage on 30 June 2017:
Motion 14 at Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2019:
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Agenda was created on 26 July 2022 and scheduled for 28 July 2022. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, NO DAYS were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Owners did not receive any information about double charging for alleged Solicitor Adrian Mueller's costs: from Lot 158 and insurance company. Accounting statement showed that insurance company was still not reimbursed for legal costs.
Admin Fund had negative balance of $61,290.57 on 28 July 2022, 3 days before next collection of levies on 1 August 2022 (owners did not receive any information about financial status).
Waratah Strata Management website did not contain schedule for the meeting on 28 July 2022:
Waratah Strata Management website lists only one committee meeting for whole 2022, screenshot taken on 28 July 2022:
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Agenda was created on 26 September 2022 and scheduled for 29 September 2022. Excluding date of creation and meeting date, only two days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158.
Agenda was put on notice boards at around 13:00 hours on 26 September 2022.
Owners did not receive any information about double charging for alleged Solicitor Adrian Mueller's costs: from Lot 158 and insurance company. Accounting statement appears to show that insurance company was still not reimbursed for legal costs.
Insurance expired on 21 September 2022 and Admin Fund contained no information of the renewal.
Waratah Strata Management website did not contain schedule for the meeting on 26 September 2022:
Balance sheet presented in the agenda displayed status on 31 August 2022 for Admin Fund as $68,149.95 and Capital Works Fund as $1,364,899.11, whilst the real status on the day notice was sent on 26 September 2022, Admin Fund had $61,907.28 and Capital Works Fund had $1,093,954.86.
Strata Plan SP52948 Annual General Meeting 2022, as organised by Waratah Strata Management, did not satisfy requirements of Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (SSMA), Schedule 1, Section 4 (1) and (3), and section 7, and Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW):
The “postal” rule which used to provide that a document served by post was deemed served on the fourth (4th) working day, has been amended to now provide that a document is deemed served on the seventh (7th) working day after the day of postage.
This amendment was effected by Schedule 1.18 of the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill (No 3) 2018 (NSW) which amends section 76(1)(b) of the Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW) (“IA”) and was assented to on 28 November 2018.
Annual General Meeting on 27 October 2022 failed to meet required timeframes, as shown by postage date on the envelope sent to owners on 11 October 2022 at 23:53 hours (the envelope is now kept as evidence for court)
SP52948-postage-date-11Oct2022-for-agenda-of-Annual-General-meeting
Under the Strata Schemes Management Act, 2015 (NSW), the notice period for a general meeting (other than the first) is seven (7) days. In addition to this seven (7) day period, allowance must also be made for the postal rule, which is a further seven (7) day period. The day of postage cannot be included nor can the day of the meeting itself (Section 36 of the IA) – in other words, those days must be left clear and not be counted in either the postal or strata period. The seven (7) day postal rule is for seven (7) working days – working days are not public holidays, bank holidays in the state to which the agenda applies, Saturdays or Sundays.
The following applies:
Day/Date Weekday Service Calculation Event 1, 11/10/2022 Tuesday Notice posted (postage date must not be counted) 2, 12/10/2022 Wednesday First working day 3, 13/10/2022 Thursday Second working day 4, 14/10/2022 Friday Third working day 5, 15/10/2022 Saturday Weekend 6, 16/16/2022 Sunday Weekend 7, 17/10/2022 Monday Fourth working day 8, 18/10/2022 Tuesday Fifth working day 9, 19/10/2022 Wednesday Sixth working day 10, 20/10/2022 Thursday Seventh working day - notice effective 11, 21/10/2022 Friday First notice day 12, 22/10/2022 Saturday Second notice day 13, 23/10/2022 Sunday Third notice day 14, 24/10/2022 Monday Fourth notice day 15, 25/10/2022 Tuesday Fifth notice day 16, 26/10/2022 Wednesday Sixth notice day Seventh notice day is missing! 17, 27/10/2022 Thursday Date of meeting (must not be counted)Waratah Strata Management was hiding true status of owners' funds - best shown by Income & Expenditure report dated 3 October 2022, which claimed to have $20,849.04 in Admin Fund whilst insurance premium payment in amount of $161,569.59 (GST inclusive) due on 21 September 2022 was not listed:
SP52948-Admin-Fund-balance-3Oct2022
SP52948-insurance-policy-renewal-21Sep2022
Status of insurance premium changes in period 1997 to 11 October 2022 (Waratah Strata Management took office on 1 February 2017 without competitive tender at AGM 2016):
On 21 September 2022, insurance premiums increased by significant amount of 49.33% (from $108,193.26 in 2021 to $161,569.59 in 2022 - all GST inclusive), without disclosure to owners, while as of 3 October 2022 Income & expenditure Report still did not list any payments for insurance policy:
Waratah Strata Management did not disclose to owners that they delayed additional payments for insurance policy dated 8 August 2022, as shown in reminder sent on 19 September 2022. This payment should have been included in FY 2022 accounting data (financial year ending on 31 August 2022):
One of good initiatives by ex-Chairperson Bruce Copland was to disallow strata agencies to claim rebates and commissions for insurance renewals, as listed in his submission to CTTT on 10 March 2012. After Waratah Strata Management took office on 1 February 2017, they started receiving significant rebates and commissions for insurance renewals:
At Annual General Meeting on 27 October 2022, based on flawed advice by Solicitor Adrian Mueller, Waratah Strata Management denied owners to vote on irrefutable evidence of terrible financial status:
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Agenda was created on 6 February 2023 and scheduled for 9 February 2023. Excluding date of creation and meeting date, only two days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158:
Strata Plan SP52948 notice published on 6 February 2023.
Owners did not receive any information about double charging for alleged Solicitor Adrian Mueller's costs: from Lot 158 and insurance company.
Waratah Strata Management website did not contain schedule for the meeting on 6 February 2023:
Waratah Strata Management notice claims it was created on 2 February 2023 but PDF metadata showed different status - it was created on 6 February 2023 at 11:48 hours:
Owners and investors did not receive any information about balances in Admin and Capital Works Funds.
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Agenda was created on 29 May 2023 and scheduled for 1 June 2023. Excluding date of creation and meeting date, only two days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was not sent to Lot 158 (in fact, for the first time in six years notice of the meeting was sent to Lot 158, but it arrived one day after the meeting):
SP52948-Lot-158-late-notice-of-meeting-via-post-photo-4-2Jun2023
Screenshot of Waratah Strata Management website shows that minutes of committee meeting dated 25 May 2023 and notice for committee meeting dated 1 June 2023 were created on 29 May 2023 within four minutes of each other (14:54 hours and 14:58 hours respectively):
Two different pages on Waratah Strata website claimed there were no scheduled meetings as evidence shows for 30 May 2023 (two days before the alleged meeting):
Owners did not receive any information about double charging for alleged Solicitor Adrian Mueller's costs: from Lot 158 and insurance company.
Owners and investors did not receive any information about balances in Admin and Capital Works Funds.
None of six notice boards published minutes of this alleged meeting as of 14 June 2023 (photo evidence was collected).
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Agenda was created on 1 September 2023 and scheduled for 7 June 2023. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, and the weekend, only three days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Agenda was not detailed, as required by SSMA 2015 and was sent to Lot 158 and arrived late for the meeting.
No owner received full information about financial status.
In March 2023, Uniqueco Property Services monthly salary increased from $28,311.75 to $28,877.98 (first increase in 2023, without approval by owners corporation at general meeting):
At non-compliant committee meeting on 7 September 2023, without giving owners any details of poor financial and property management, the following brief statement about finances:
... and still recommended salary increases:
What Waratah Strata Management failed to disclose to owners was the fact that monthly salary to Uniqueco Property Services already increased from $28,877.98 to $31,764.07 (an increase of 10%), as shown in Income & Expenditure Report dated 13 September 2023 (second increase in 2023, without approval by owners corporation at general meeting):
... on the same day (13 September 2023), negative balance in Admin Fund was $37,050.64:
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Agenda was created on 26 April 2024 and scheduled for 2 April 2024. Excluding date of creation, meeting date, public holidays, and the weekend, only two days were allowed for delivery of notice to all owners. As per Strata Roll dated 31 January 2017, more than 32% of owners had requested postal delivery of notices – that figure is hidden from owners by Waratah Strata Management in subsequent years.
Access to current Strata Roll was disabled by deliberate actions of strata manager.
Agenda was not detailed, especially the details of Solicitor Adrian Mueller's costs in Standard Costs Agreement.
Agenda did not contain details of time and place of the meeting, denying owners their right to attend in person, if they wishes so, and with 25% of voting rights to make decision any way they wanted without committee members.
None of six notice boards published agenda of the alleged meeting at any time before the meeting (photo evidence was collected).
On 13 February 2024, Waratah Strata Management and committee members were warned about strata managers lies in agenda for AGM 2023, and they did not respond:
- Waratah Strata Management failed to offer any evidence that nominations for committee members were done in accordance with SSMA 2015 Schedule 1 Section 5 at previous general meetings:
- Waratah Strata Management abused this requirement in the past and allowed "standard" committee members to self-nominate whilst preventing Lot 158 from the same (Mr. Robert Crosbie's reference to Sec 31 (1) (c) of the SSMA).
- Lot 87, email from Mr. Heath Crosbie telling owner he was able to self-nominate on 12 October 2023
- Lot 200, email to Mr. Heath Crosbie and all committee members with his self-nomination on 18 October 2023
- Lot 218, email to Mr. Heath Crosbie and all committee members with his self-nomination on 18 October 2023
- Lot 133, email to Mr. Heath Crosbie and all committee members with his self-nomination on 18 October 2023
- Lot 181, email to Mr. Heath Crosbie and all committee members with his self-nomination on 17 October 2023
- Lot 133, email to Mr. Heath Crosbie and all committee members with his self-nomination on 17 October 2023 (and then allegedly removed her candidacy at AGM on 26 October 2023, where there were 10 candidates on two polling pages and Lot 158 name was missing initially in spite of advance notice)
- Lot 122, mail to Mr. Heath Crosbie and all committee members with his self-nomination on 17 October 2023
- Lot 142, mail to Mr. Heath Crosbie and all committee members with her self-nomination on 17 October 2023
- Lot 170, mail to Mr. Heath Crosbie and all committee members with her self-nomination on 17 October 2023
None of six notice boards published agenda of the alleged meeting at any time after the meeting (photo evidence was collected).
Waratah Strata Management website on two main pages did not list any meeting for this date (photo and video evidence was collected).
Waratah Strata Management attempted to use services of Solicitor Adrian Mueller in spite of knowledge that he was being investigated for serious professional misconduct and crime (lying to NCAT and Supreme Court, wihholding evidence, involvement in insurance fraud, overcharging for non-existent services, and much more) by Office of Legal Services Commissioner and New South Wales Bar Association.
