| From: | SP52948 owner |
|---|---|
| To: | Robert Crosbie, Heath Crosbie |
| Cc: | SUU Insurance, BCB Insurance Brokers |
| Cc: | Committee members: Stan Pogorelsky, John Gore, Genelle Godbee, Ramesh Desai, Kathryn Cutler, Carlos Fornieles Montoya, Andrew Ip, Jeffery Wang |
| Subject: | SUMMARY Insurance risks and mismanagement of strata plan SP52948 with high concerns for safety, financial health (bankruptcy risk), and non-compliance with laws on 18Aug2023 |
| Date: | 18/8/23, 10:57 |
Part 4 of submissions.
Any recipient who wishes NOT to receive these concerns, simply
reply to our email. They wish will be respected but that cannot
stop further legal actions.
33. Updated information about four out of last six Auditor's reports not being prepared before general meetings. whilst having questionable quality of services.
SP52948 owners corporation was forced to repay $30,119.60 (GS
excl) to insurance companies for alleged legal work by Solicitor
Adrian Mueller, where insurance company was paid back $15,200.15
(GST excl) in FY 2023, and including FY 2022 ($6,119.45 GST excl),
the total amounts to $21,319.60 (GST excl). In 2017, additional
$8,800.00 was repaid for alleged Solicitor's costs that occurred
in 2012 and 2013.
34. Several weeks ago, NSW Fair Trading opened a case to
investigate Waratah Strata Management, with special emphasis on
information about how Waratah Strata Management asked various
agencies not to "waste their time" on reviewng the submissions
of strata managers' misconduct and mismanagement.
Some of major issues:
Waratah Strata Management actively preventing and coercing Police, Fair Trading NSW, City of Ryde, NCAT, Office of Legal Services Commissioner, and Supreme Court from investigating their criminal activities whilst "winning" contract with SP52948 four times without any tenders, of which three previous contracts had been signed by two unfinancial owners (Mr. Moses Levitt and Mr. Stan Pogorelsky) who were allowed to vote and be on the committee in full non-compliance with strata laws and regulations
In four out of six last general meetings (2017 to 2022), Waratah Strata Management ensured that Auditor's reports were not prepared before general meetings and not provided to any owner whilst obtaining personal financial benefits through strata management contract renewals without tenders or disclosure of contract costs and full conditions
Twenty seven SP52948 executive committee meetings and seven Annual/Extraordinary General Meetings (AGM/EGM) since 1 February 2017, when Waratah Strata Management took office, failed to comply with strata laws and regulations
Information about insurance policy excesses are kept secret from owners by previous strata manager BCS Strata Management (from 2012 to to 2016) and current strata manager Waratah Strata Management (from 2017 onwards)
Negative trends in SP52948 Admin Fund since Waratah Strata Management took office on 1 February 2017, with worst day being 27 October 2022 when Admin Fund had negative balance of $203,914.85 without disclosure to owners, and fir the first time in SP52948 strata complex history Admin Fund had negative balance for almost whole three quarters in FY 2023 (with negative balance at end of third quarter on 30 July 2023 in amount of $119.468.05)
First major data loss – Police and Waratah Strata Management lost single copy of USB key with SP52948 strata files in April 2018 without disclosure to owners until March 2019
Second major data loss - highly dubious allegations of ransomware attack against Waratah Strata Management in 2019, with strong suspicion of fraud and money laundering through ransom payment to the threat actor in amount of $5,052.03
Waratah Strata Management orchestrating contract renewals for electricity supply and gas supply without compliance with SSMA 2015 SSMA 2015, Sch 1, Sec 6(e) “an item to consider any agreements for the supply of electricity, gas or any other utility relevant to the scheme”
SP52948 insurance policy for SP52948 expired on 21 September 2022, but renewal delayed for five days at huge increase of 49.33% compared to previous year – making large strata complex worth more than $146 millions not having any insurance cover (uninsured for five days) and premium not included in Income & Expenditure Report even as late as 3 October 2022
Five fraudulent SP52948 insurance claims for alleged legal costs of Solicitor Adrian Mueller (BCS involvement in 2012/2013 and Waratah Strata Management involvement in 2022, with falsified statements to courts), forcing owners corporation to repay $30,119.60 to insurance companies where insurance company was paid back $15,200.15 (GST excl) in FY 2023, and including FY 2022 ($6,119.45 GST excl), the total amounts to $21,319.60 (GST excl) - SP52948, through falsified statements and fraud, forced Lot 158 to “repay” Solicitor Adrian Mueller’s legal costs in amount of $23,744.72 (GST excl)
Waratah Strata Management refuses to issue invoices and receipts for Lot 158 payments for alleged legal costs of Solicitor Adrian Mueller in amount of $23,744.72 (GST excl)
And much more...
Reference:
Waratah-Strata-Management-NSW-Fair-Trading-Reference-Table-of-Contents-11138875.pdf
35. Second Extraordinary General Meeting of 2023 organized
held without compliance with strata laws.
Strata Plan SP52948 Extraordinary General Meeting dated 17 August
2023, 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).
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.
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.
Notice does not contain information whether motions require a
special resolution or a unanimous resolution to be passed.
There is no evidence that a copy of the minutes of the previous
general meeting was given to owners with notice of a meeting when
the owner had not previously been given a copy of the minutes or
had requested but not received a copy before the notice was given
(SSMA 2015 Schedule 1 8(2)):
Apartment 86/1-15 Fontenoy Road, sold for $901,000.00 in April
2023
Apartment 104/1-15 Fontenoy Road, sold for $880,000.00 in June
2023
Apartment 11/1-15 Fontenoy Road, sold for $873,000.00 in May
2023
PDF metadata shows notice was created on 3 August 2023 at 14:33
hours:
Day/Date Weekday Service Calculation Event
1, 03/08/2023 Thursday Notice posted? (postage date must not be counted)
2, 04/08/2023 Friday First working day
3, 05/08/2023 Saturday Weekend
4, 06/08/2023 Sunday Weekend
5, 07/08/2023 Monday Second working day
6, 08/08/2023 Tuesday Third working day
7, 09/08/2023 Wednesday Fourth working day
8, 10/08/2023 Thursday Fifth working day
9, 11/08/2023 Friday Sixth working day
10, 12/08/2023 Saturday Weekend
11, 13/08/2023 Sunday Weekend
12, 14/08/2023 Monday Seventh working day - notice effective
13, 15/08/2023 Tuesday First notice day
14, 16/07/2023 Wednesday Second notice day
15, 17/07/2023 Thursday Date of meeting (must not be counted)
(third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh
notice day are missing!)
Owners and investors did not receive any information about
balances in Admin and Capital Works Funds. Balance in Admin Fund
on 17 August 2023 amounted to $49,524.49 but did not yet include
amount of $28,877.00 for monthly expense for building management
contract (and possibly some other unpaid invoices).
Extraordinary General Meeting was exclusively related to one owner
requesting major renovations: Lot 72. There is no information if
this owner will cover all costs for this special meeting which
benefits only them.
Even as late as 16 August 2023 (a day before the meeting), six
notice boards in the complex had no information about
Extraordinary General Meeting scheduled for 17 August 2023:
Photo evidence was taken for each day between 3 and 17 August
2023, showing that none of six notice boards had any information
about the Extraordinary General Meeting at any time before the
event.
Photo evidence was taken on the day of EGM, 17 August 2023,
showing that none of six notice boards had any information about
the Extraordinary General Meeting.
Minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting were published on
Waratah Strata website the SAME day, on 17 August 2023, sometime
after 18:34 hours (four minutes after the meeting), at record
efficiency as no other meeting has ever had such success with
published minutes:
The meeting was attended by only four owners (out of 218 in the
complex), and initially failed to establish a quorum. Of those 4,
one was owner who requested approval for major renovations (Lot
72), two were from Lots 136 and 137 who in 2013 obtained approval
to connect the two lots (exclusive rights to common property)
without properly organised Extraordinary General Meeting whilst
failing to cover full costs of the general meeting and Special
By-Law registration, and one was a committee member.
Minutes of the meeting did not confirm that Lot 72 would cover
costs of general meeting and updates of the Special By-Law 13,
because these costs only benefit the owner - this is even more
crucial since Admin Fund for the whole complex has extreme
problems with cash flows:
It means that "approval" for the major repairs was completed by
only 2.29% of owners.
This fits very well with discrimination attitude by SP52948
committee and Waratah Strata Management, as two (of many) examples
can prove:
Submission by now-deceased committee member Mrs. Elizabeth Saulits
to CTTT in file SCS 11/00711 dated 14 February 2011:
nt of
"Also as Australia is a democracy it is a free decision of each
owner whether to attend the meetings or not, not a dictatorship
Lot 158 was educated under by Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia."
In secret email to Fair Trading NSW on 17 May 2019, Waratah Strata
Management stated the following, suggesting to Fair Trading not to
waste time on investigating Lot 158 complaints:
"An Owners Corporation is a democracy - everyone has a say and
everyone a vote and the majority rules.... One owner thinks all of
the other owners are idiots or thieves. Why should the OC and SC
have to continue to respond to and waste its time and resources on
one recaltricant, obsessive owner?"
Eight out of nine committee members did not attend:
Mrs. Marianna Paltikian (Lot 88)
Mrs. Genelle Godbee (Lot 142)
Mr. Andrew Ip (Lot 133)
Mr. Carlos Montoya (Lot 112)
Mr. Ramesh Desai (Lot 159)
Mrs. Kathryn Warn (Lot 170)
Mr. Stan Pogorelsky (Lot 181)
Mr. Jeffrey Wang (Lot 218)
Copy of the updated Consolidated By-Laws for previous
Extraordinary General Meeting on 27 April 2023 was not sent to any
tenant in the complex, not sent to any owner, and not published on
Waratah Strata website as of 17 August 2023:
Reference:
36. Another OH&S risk - safety bollard in front of townhouse 198 was violently destroyed recently.
This bollard was erected many years ago due to persistent dangers
and risks to owners of townhouse 198 from various car crashes into
their property and garden.
Reference:
SP52948-ongoing-maintenance-problems-mostly-ignored-by-Waratah-Strata-Management.html
37. OH&S and insurance risk: additional area of smoking without cleanup and approval.
Waratah Strata Management was urged to update By-Law on smoking,
to include better technical definition of common property -
prepare a well-drafted by-law so that owners corporation can
comprehensively deal with the issue: the use of all tobacco types,
including cigarettes, pipes and cigars, vaping, debris created by
these practices, and the issue of “smoke-drift”. No response ever
received but Waratah Strata Management organized two Extraordinary
General Meetings (benefiting only three owners), whilst ignoring
the needs and benefits to majority.
In additional to ongoing smoking issues in four buildings and basements, a new problematic area was uncovered between townhouse 199 and car wash area on 17 August 2023.
Reference:
SP52948-continuous-problems-with-smoking-and-health-hazards.html
Regards,
38. Waratah Strata Management with full listing of SP52948
Open Work Orders on their website on 16 August 2023, of which
some go back to 2017.
Most of them do not contain any evidence of alleged quotes, full details of the work required, and do not have cost details.
Reference:
SP52948-long-term-open-work-orders-without-resolution-by-Waratah-Strata-Management-Aug2023.pdf
Regards,
Good morning,
This is the third "installment" in the series.
Any recipient who wishes NOT to receive these concerns, simply reply to our email. They wish will be respected but that cannot stop further legal actions.
24. Admin Fund had negative balance in amount of $115,570.28 on 18 July 2023 without disclosure to owners.
Even further, sometime between 4 and 7 July 2023, Waratah Strata Management removed access to Documents folder on their website:
SP52948-waratahstrata-website-removed-access-to-Documents-folder-7Jul2023.webp
25. In four out of six last general meetings, auditor's reports were not compliant with laws.
Date of Auditor's Report SP52948 Annual General Meeting Date Owners received Auditor's Report? Auditor's Name/Company Auditor's Document 20 October 2017 Allegedly 24 October 2017 (published two and half years after due date without any financial details in late April 2020 but backdated on Waratah Strata Management website to 31 August 2017) No Robert Bates (he retired in 2018 and passed away on 16 May 2022) SP52948-Audit-FY-ending-31Aug2017-appeared-after-two-and-half-years 18 October 2018 (1 day after due date) 18 October 2018 No George Venardos, Economos SP52948-Audit-FY-ending-31Aug2018 20 September 2019 17 October 2019 (Admin Fund had negative balance of $131,852.25 without disclosure to owners) Yes George Venardos, Economos SP52948-Audit-FY-ending-31Aug2019 3 November 2020 (13 days after due date) 22 October 2020 No George Venardos, Economos SP52948-Audit-FY-ending-31Aug2020 29 September 2021 28 October 2021 (Admin Fund had positive balance of only $1,019.14 but three days later on 31 October 2021 it showed massive negative balance of $120,210.65 without disclosure to owners) Yes George Venardos, Economos SP52948-Audit-FY-ending-31Aug2021 7 December 2022 (43 days after due date) 27 October 2022 (Admin Fund had negative balance of $203,914.85 without disclosure to owners) No George Venardos, Economos SP52948-Audit-FY-ending-31Aug2022 Waratah-Strata-Management-non-compliance-of-SP52948-Auditor-reports.html
26. Economos Auditor has now been given final opportunity to confirm if they were innocent party in falsified financial reports (coerced by Waratah Strata Management), or were accessory in criminal activities.
SP52948-Waratah-Strata-Management-and-undeclared-expired-insurance-in-FY-2022.pdf
27. Eleven unresolved problems directly related to Lot 158, including water leaks in sun room, which is even confirmed on Waratah Strata website as open work order since 2020 (three years old).
SP52948-unresolved-common-property-maintenance-issues-in-Lot-158.html
28. Waratah Strata Management continuously hiding information about insurance excesses from owners.
SP52948-incomplete-insurance-policy-disclosures-to-owners-in-period-2012-to-2023.pdf
29. Two significant water leaks on ceilings in foyers of Block B and D in July 2023.
Firstly: videos for Block D:
... then photos (many more are on website) in attachments.
Secondly, Block B. It was poorly repaired after long delays when Lot 158 raised concerns about electrical hazards in 2020:
Ceiling in Block B was simply repainted but water leak not fixed. As a consequence, it appeared again:
Videos of the new leak:
SP52948-Block-B-foyer-leakage-from-ceiling-creating-electrical-hazard-video-1-17Jul2023.mp4
SP52948-Block-B-foyer-leakage-from-ceiling-creating-electrical-hazard-video-2-17Jul2023.mp4
... then photos (many more are on website) in attachments.
30. Burnt swimming pool wall simply repainted, without full repairs in July 2023.
SP52948-traces-of-burnt-wall-due-to-machinery-near-swimming-pool-photo-1-5Jul2023.webp
SP52948-traces-of-burnt-wall-due-to-machinery-near-swimming-pool-photo-3-5Jul2023.webp
More photos on website.
31. Concrete damage (cancers) in swimming pool.
Two videos:
In addition, notice boards claim that swimming pool is undergoing renovations, not urgent repairs. Renovations in amount of allegedly $50,000.00 require multiple quotes to be given to all owners and decision made at general meeting.
32. In spite of undisclosed cash-flow problems, contract for Uniqueco Property Services was increased by extra 2% (costing owners an extra $6,794.76 in first 12 months) at at non-compliant committee meeting on 9 February 2023. It is worth stating that contract renewal without any tender was allegedly approved for three years at general meeting in 2020 and same applied ever since 2014.
FY 1999 Building Manager: Strata Sphere $186,611.00 Official annual inflation rate: 1.48% FY 2000 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $220,168.00 Official annual inflation rate: 4.97% FY 2001 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $220,624.00 Official annual inflation rate: 4.41% FY 2002 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $218,938.00 Official annual inflation rate: 2.98% FY 2003 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $218,167.00 Official annual inflation rate: 2.73% FY 2004 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $222,376.00 Official annual inflation rate: 2.34% FY 2005 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $227,995.00 Official annual inflation rate: 2.69% FY 2006 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $228,438.00 Official annual inflation rate: 3.56% FY 2007 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $232,844.00 Official annual inflation rate: 2.33% FY 2008 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $235,560.00 Official annual inflation rate: 4.35% FY 2009 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $244,287.00 Official annual inflation rate: 1.77% FY 2010 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $264,080.00 Official annual inflation rate: 2.92% FY 2011 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $245,094.00 Official annual inflation rate: 3.30% FY 2012 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $255,673.00 Official annual inflation rate: 1.76% FY 2013 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $256,605.00 Official annual inflation rate: 2.45% FY 2014 Building Manager: Universal Strata Services $252,618.00 Official annual inflation rate: 2.49% FY 2015 Building Manager: Uniqueco Property Services $275,838.00 (difference to previous year: 8.78%) Official annual inflation rate: 1.51% FY 2016 Building Manager: Uniqueco Property Services $292,912.00 (difference to previous year: 6.00%) Official annual inflation rate: 1.28% FY 2017 Building Manager: Uniqueco Property Services $291,507.13 (difference to previous year: -0.48%) Official annual inflation rate: 1.95% FY 2018 Building Manager: Uniqueco Property Services $306,837.99 (difference to previous year: 5.12%) Official annual inflation rate: 1.91% FY 2019 Building Manager: Uniqueco Property Services $293,031.44 (difference to previous year: -4.60%) Official annual inflation rate: 1.61% FY 2020 Building Manager: Uniqueco Property Services $330,986.89 (difference to previous year: 12.16%) Official annual inflation rate: 0.85% FY 2021 Building Manager: Uniqueco Property Services $339,249.60 (difference to previous year: 2.46%) Official annual inflation rate: 2.86% FY 2022 Building Manager: Uniqueco Property Services $339,741.00 (difference to previous year: 0.14%) Official annual inflation rate: 6.59% FY 2023 Building Manager: Uniqueco Property Services Difference to previous year: 2.0% Official annual inflation rate: not yet published Regards,
On 19/6/23 08:45, SP52948 owner wrote:
Good morning,
Apart from Waratah Strata Management, the email dated 8 June 2023 was served on all nine members of the committee. They were asked if they did not NOT wish to receive concerns, they should simply reply to our email. None of them responded, positively or negatively.
Waratah Strata Management dismissed our email in its entirety.
As of 16 June 2023, negative balance in Admin Fund was $57,607.29 (GST excl). No owner has received ANY information about negative balances at any meeting since 1 September 2022.
It would be highly appropriate to address the serious issues, which affect pending law-enforcement cases (special files were recently obtained directly from the NCAT Registrar which Solicitor Adrian Mueller tried to hide from the Supreme Court and us whilst coercing Tribunal to ignore all evidence), insurance risks, and increased bankruptcy risks for the complex... NCAT Registrar personally apologized to us for lapse in Registry service and for the frustration caused.
Few more important additions to risks and mismanagement:
19. In relation to insurance repayments in FY 2022, we actually deliberately set a subtle test for the committee members and Waratah Strata Management in item 1. below. Part of our submission withheld few details, to verify their response. This is how at least $10,000.00 (GST incl) was hidden in audited accounts for FY 2022. A case has been opened to investigate if Economos Auditor was part of this fraud, or innocent party who was "lured" to sign such documents.
Economos Auditor was coerced (or was accessory) to sign SP52948 financials for FY 2022 43 days after the due date without income in amount of $4,545.45 (GST excl) in code 144000 (Miscellaneous Income – Admin).
Economos Auditor was coerced (or was accessory) to sign SP52948 financials for FY 2022 43 days after the due date without expense (repayment to insurance company) in amount of $4,545.45 (GST excl) in code 169400 (Maint Bldg -- Insurance Repairs &/or Excess).
Extracts from Income & expenditure Report for 26 September 2022 and 30 September 2022: show significant discrepancies for Miscellaneous Income -- Admin (code 144000), and Maint Bldg -- Insurance Repairs &/or Excess (code 169400). For period of almost two months (from around 4-8 August 2022, to around 30 September 2022), the income and expense (repayment to insurance company) for alleged legal costs of Solicitor Adrian Mueller were hidden in accounting data from owners and insurance company.
Figures for FY 2022 as listed in FY 2023 reports do not match for alleged legal costs of Solicitor Adrian Mueller in audited report for FY 2022: total revenue in Admin Fund, Miscellaneous Income -- Admin (code 144000), and Maint Bldg -- Insurance Repairs &/or Excess (code 169400).
Full evidence is in attachment "SP52948-discrepancies-between-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-legal-and-insurance-payments-FY-2022-and-2023.pdf".
Auditor's report for FY 2020 was signed on 3 November 2020, 12 days AFTER the general meeting:
SP52948-Economos-Audit-report-FY-ending-31Aug2020.pdf
Auditor's report for FY 2022 was signed on 7 December 2022, 43 days AFTER the general meeting:
SP52948-Economos-Audit-report-FY-2022-two-months-after-general-meeting-7Dec2022.pdf
Accounting errors, without corrections or disclosure to owners or courts, and even falsified audit in 2017 (appeared two and half years after the financial year was completed, without evidence of which accounting books were audited), are sound proofs of professional misconduct and criminal activities by Waratah Strata Management:
Waratah-Strata-Management-non-compliance-of-SP52948-Auditor-reports.html
SP52948-Audit-Report-FY-2017-appeared-after-two-and-half-years.pdf
20. SP52948 insurance policy for SP52948 expired on 21 September 2022, but renewal delayed for five days and was not published for owners and costs were not included in Income & Expenditure Report even as late as 3 October 2022. In addition, Waratah Strata Management ignored overdue payment in amount of $1,617.37 on 8 August 2022, and waited till September to pay it, in spite of warning that the insurance policy HAD EXPIRED. No owner was notified about it by committee members of Waratah Strata Management.
Insurance renewal was paid on 26 September 2022, leaving SP52948 uninsured for five days, without disclosure to owners. It also created risk of being unable to make any claims in that period, should any incident have happened.
Waratah Strata Management ignored overdue payment in amount of $1,617.37 on 8 August 2022, and waited till September to pay it, in spite of warning that the insurance policy HAD EXPIRED. No owner was notified about it by committee members of Waratah Strata Management.
In the end, insurance premium was increased to $161,569.59 (GST incl) at 49.33% jump compared to FY 2022 and $6,541.55 was paid to Waratah Strata Management for insurance commission.
SP52948-missing-insurance-policy-and-payments-27Sep2022.html
SP52948-overdue-payment-insurance-policy-Sep2022.pdf
21. Missing evidence of where $92,950.00 was allegedly spent on townhouse upgrades and maintenance in 2017/2018.
Appearance of townhouses and its surroundings show that no major work was done in many years, including pergolas (we have evidence that, for example, there was a secret pergola replacement for Lot 196 one-and-half years after major upgrades in the complex - May2019), colorbond fences, wooden fences towards neighboring property (part of wooden fence was finally replaced in 2020 at separate costs and part of it is still outstanding, window frames, doors, garage doors,
townhouse carport lattices (one year later, Lot 209 submitted Motion at AGM 2018, to remove and replace the townhouse carport lattices, which was rejected at the meeting), bollards, and roofs.SP52948-glass-from-blown-window-frame-not-cleaned-in-garden-bed-for-three-months-9Feb2021.html
SP52948-Lot-158-warning-about-1.5-million-deficit-in-Capital-Works-Fund-1Oct2021.html
22. Missing timber for half of fence behind townhouses.
Waratah Strata Management and four committee members (Mr. Jeffery Wang, Mr. John Gore, Mr. Stan Pogorelsky, Mr. Thomas Karolewski) were asked about it on 14 November 2021, and none of them ever replied:
SP52948-inquiry-about-disappeared-timber-behind-townhouses-14Nov2021.html
Appearance of neglected part of the fence was documented on 14 June 2023 where it was easy to figure out where the repairs were done in 2021 and where they were still missing:
SP52948-neglected-wooden-fence-behind-townhouses-photo-1-9Jun2023.webp
SP52948-neglected-wooden-fence-behind-townhouses-photo-4-9Jun2023.webp
SP52948-appearance-of-timber-fence-behind-townhouses-photo-8-14Jun2023.webp
SP52948-appearance-of-timber-fence-behind-townhouses-photo-12-14Jun2023.webp
SP52948-appearance-of-timber-fence-behind-townhouses-photo-18-14Jun2023.webp
SP52948-appearance-of-timber-fence-behind-townhouses-photo-22-14Jun2023.webp
23. Unattached or damaged colorbond fences, some unresolved for eight years:
SP52948-Lot-147-unattached-colorbond-fence-photo-1-22May2023.webp
SP52948-townhouse-colorbond-fence-unmaintained-for-more-than-eight-years-photo-1-9Jun2023.jpg
SP52948-townhouse-colorbond-fence-unmaintained-for-more-than-eight-years-photo-2-9Jun2023.jpg
Regards,
On 8/6/23 18:08, SP52948 owner wrote:
Good evening,
We were waiting for outcome of alleged committee meeting on 1 June 2023. It came t a perfect time.
latest efforts to hide financial status, spend money owners do not have, high-cost water-leak related repairs (pending $55,000.00 expense), attempts to install EC charging stations without proper processes and evaluation of risks (and even trying to do it in places that must be inaccessible to children).
Current Admin Fund negative balance is $52,367.24 ($23,489.26 in today's Balance Sheet and pending expenditure for monthly fees for building manager in amount of $28,877.98). Waratah Strata Management continues to mislead and misinform owners about financial status as only this was listed in the minutes:
FINANCIAL REPORT
Resolved that the financial reports for the current financial year were tabled and discussed.
Did Waratah Strata Management ever use a prudent rule of thumb, on behalf of large strata plan SP52948, to draft the notifications to insurance companies and brokers as explicitly and widely as possible on the following matters? If and when notifiable circumstances have arisen, SP52948 must seek immediate and early advice from the insurance broker, with a view to notifying the insurers.
It would be a criminal offense to use insurance claims for what is a complete lack of duty of care and compliance with the laws. Insurance company must not be used for such claims, as ordinary law-abiding people would indirectly pay the price for these fraudulent claims:
Waratah-Strata-Management-Effects-on-SP52948-Insurance-Premiums.gif
a) Repetitive long-term maintenance problems, and delays in maintaining common property (including fire safety),
b) Five fraudulent insurance claims,
c) 10-Year Capital Works Fund without proper professional assessments or approval by owners corporation at any general meeting,
d) Long-term pattern of poor financial status in Admin Fund,
e) Long-term inequitable (discriminatory) benefits to selective owners for their private gas and water usage,
g) Issues with physical safety of occupants, racism, and discrimination, with documented Police Events.
Frequent failures to maintain common property, high-risk legal cases, fraudulent insurance claims, and lack of proper enforcement of by-laws, generate serious problems. And the risks can come in any form due to failure to disclose problems in the complex. Supreme Court ruling in Western Australia in May 2022 has proven many factors can completely derail a house sale, making it something both buyers and sellers need to be aware of: Supreme Court of Western Australia - HILLAGARATNAM -v- DOAN [2022] WASC 185 (27 May 2022). The ruling, handed down at the end of May this year, saw the sale of a $390,000 apartment in Perth disintegrate. The buyer successfully sued the vendor for breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation of the property after the sellers signed a contract claiming: “The seller does not know of anything which will materially affect the buyer’s use or enjoyment of the strata lot or of the common property comprised in the strata scheme.”
How dangerous lack of proper maintenance is shown in latest news: a young owner has been hit with $60.000.00 special levy. Her entire apartment block in Alexandria has been slapped with a $7.85 million bill – due to waterproofing issues. Special levy has been issued for $2.2 million for the administration fund and $5.65 million for the capital works fund, according to strata documents seen by news.com.au.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/sydney-nsw/sydney-woman-shellshocked-by-60k-bill-for-alexandria-apartment/news-story/f4cf71585319d8e964a4b275fad3711b
In strata plan SP46733, Waratah Strata Management was involved in NCAT case recently: DRAGICA (DEE) MARTIC & XIYAN ZOELLNER v THE OWNERS - STRATA PLAN NO. 46733.
Some of selective examples of risks, as of June 2023, which, almost surely, insurance broker and insurance company, along with other relevant organizations, have not been notified by Waratah Strata Management:
1. Five fraudulent insurance claims for alleged legal costs, with falsified statements to courts and insurance companies.
On 4 July 2012, owners corporation had no funds to pay $14,056.90 which was approved by Mr. Paul Banoob for creditor code 69633, so BCS Strata Management secretly ordered injection of $50,000.00 from an MBL account (several days later, at alleged committee meeting in Lot 181 unit, who was unfinancial at the time, approved engagement of Solicitor Adrian Mueller without owners corporation knowledge - that meeting was later found out to be completely illegal and to this day agenda and minutes of the meeting do not exist in strata files)
BCS Strata Management, in full co-operation with committee members and Solicitor Adrian Mueller, made four insurance claims for non-existent "Defence of Lot 3" whilst Solicitor Adrian Mueller illegally represented SP52948 in CTTT cases SCS 12/32675 and 12/50460:
SP52948-Lot-3-Insurance-Claim-1-31Aug2012
SP52948-Lot-3-Insurance-Claim-2-7Dec2012
SP52948-Lot-3-Insurance-Claim-3-2May2013
SP52948-Lot-3-Insurance-Claim-4-4Jun2013
Four years later, CHU Insurance forced owners corporation to repay $8,800.00.
As of June 2023, insurance company was paid back $15,200.15 (GST excl), and including FY 2022 total amounts to $16,774.15 (GST excl), which is well below $19,758.14 (GST excl) AIG paid to SP52948 for alleged legal costs of Solicitor Adrian Mueller on 25 March 2022, without disclosure to owners and courts. At the same time, SP52948 collected $20,000.00 from Lot 158 (GST excl).
Evidence now exists, BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT, that Solicitor Adrian Mueller forged statements in Statutory Declaration for BCS Strata Management Peter Bone dated 19 April 2013 in CTTT case SCS 12/32675 and that these emails never existed:
Email from Solicitor Adrian Mueller to Branch Manager Paul Banoob dated 5 July 2012 at 04:41 pm (listed in Statutory Declaration to CTTT by strata manager Peter Bone dated 19 April 2013)
Email from Branch Manager Paul Banoob to Strata Manager Garry Webb dated 5 July 2012 at 04:57 pm (listed in Statutory Declaration to CTTT by strata manager Peter Bone dated 19 April 2013)
Email to EC members from BCS Strata Management Garry Webb dated 6 July 2012 at 08:32 am (listed in Statutory Declaration to CTTT by strata manager Peter Bone dated 19 April 2013)
Email to EC members and two staff members at BCS Strata Management from SP52948 Chairperson Bruce Copland dated 6 July 2012 at 12:48 pm (listed in Statutory Declaration to CTTT by strata manager Peter Bone dated 19 April 2013)
Email to EC members and two staff members at BCS Strata Management from SP52948 Chairperson Bruce Copland dated 9 July 2012 at 10:18 pm (listed in Statutory Declaration to CTTT by strata manager Peter Bone dated 19 April 2013)
Email from Solicitor Adrian Mueller to BCS Strata Management Peter Bone dated 16 July 2012 at 6:52 pm (listed in Statutory Declaration to CTTT by strata manager Peter Bone dated 19 April 2013)
Email from BCS Strata Management Peter Bone to Solicitor Adrian Mueller dated 25 July 2012 at 2:13 pm (listed in Statutory Declaration to CTTT by strata manager Peter Bone dated 19 April 2013)
Email from BCS Strata Management Debbie Downes to EC members dated 16 April 2013 at 1:52 pm (listed in Statutory Declaration to CTTT by strata manager Peter Bone dated 19 April 2013)
Evidence exists, BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT, that Solicitor Adrian Mueller knowingly presented false statements in Affidavit by BCS Strata Management Peter Bone dated 31 January 2014 in District Court case 2013/360456.
Similar applies to Solicitor Adrian Mueller's representation in two other cases: NCAT SC 20/33352 and Supreme Court CAS006791.
References:
Waratah-Strata-Management-ignored-concerns-about-SP52948-repayments-to-insurance-company-for-legal-costs-of-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-Policy-QUSS042715-BCB-Ref-94537-24May2023.html
Lot-158-submission-to-court-strong-case-for-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-being-accessory-before-and-after-insurance-fraud-five-times-CTTT-12-32675-and-NCAT-20-33352.pdf
SP52948-questionable-legal-costs-in-FY-2020.pdf
SP52948-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-failed-to-comply-with-Tribunal-orders-six-times-whilst-not-authorised-to-represent-owners-corporation-in-period-2012-to-2021.pdf
Submission-to-Supreme-Court-CAS006791_1-Questions-on-Validity-of-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-Legal-Cost-Items-NCAT-20-33352.pdf
SP52948-Lot-158-cost-submission-reply-ignored-by-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-in-Supreme-Court-27Feb2022.pdf
SP52948-notification-to-Supreme-Court-about-double-claims-for-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-alleged-work-22Jun2022.html
20190618-WITHOUT PREJUDICE_ Request to stop wasting strata funds on legal expenses that cannot succeed - 18Jun2019.pdf
Brief-evidence-of-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-involvement-in-fraudulent-activities-in-CTTT-case-SCS-12_32675.pdf
SP52948-strata-manager-Peter-Bone-Statutory-Declaration-for-CTTT-case-12-32675-fully-prepared-by-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-and-signed-on-19Apr2013.pdf
Brief-evidence-of-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-involvement-in-fraudulent-activities-in-CTTT-case-SCS-12_50460.pdf
District-Court-case-13-360456-Lot-158-Affidavit-ignored-by-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-4Feb2014.pdf
SP52948-scanned-submission-with-Statutory-Declaration-Lot-158-SCS-13-50737-18Dec2013.pdf
SP52948-statutory-declaration-for-NCAT-case-20-33352-which-Waratah-Strata-Management-refused-to-provide-to-owners-Aug2020.pdf
BCS-Strata-Management-direct-involvement-in-falsified-Statutory-Declaration-and-Affidavit-to-CTTT-and-District-Court.html
SP52948-No-response-from-Ron-Sinclair-BCS-Strata-Management-about-insurance-for-Lot-3-and-dubious-insurance-claims-and-litigation-risks-for-one-year-and-five-months-9Nov2013.html
SP52948-Examples-of-Police-Waratah-Strata-Management-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-secret-and-desperate-attempts-to-find-another-copy-of-lost-USB-key-with-strata-files-from-BCS-Strata-Management-April-to-November-2018.pdf
SP52948-undisclosed-Fair-Trading-NSW-case-9761719-costs-for-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-possibly-creeping-up-towards-90000-dollars-without-owners-knowledge-or-approval-and-high-risk-of-strata-complex-running-out-of-money-29Jun2019.html
2. False statement about last Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Strata Hub nsw.gov.au with risks of penalties for outdated and wrong information.
It claims that SP52948 had last AGM on 1 January 2022.
Last AGM was held on 27 October 2022, which failed to comply with strata laws, like all other meetings since 2017.
Penalties of up to $5,500.00 may apply if strata schemes do not complete their 2022 report by 30 June 2023.
Owners corporation must keep information up to date.
Penalties of up to $2,200.00 may apply if a strata scheme becomes aware that the reported information is outdated or incorrect and does not update it on the Strata Hub within 28 days.
Reference:
SP52948-NSW-strata-registration-15May2023-screenshot-taken-on-7Jun2023.png
3. Unauthorized major renovations and legally non-compliant Extraordinary General Meeting on 27 April 2023, with risks for work being done by unprofessional companies.
Reference:
SUMMARY-Another-discrimination-of-owners-in-SP52948-Non-compliant-Extraordinary-General-Meeting-on-27Apr2023.pdf
4. All committee meetings since 1 February 2017, when Waratah Strata Management took office, failed to comply with strata laws and regulations.
Reference:
SP52948-Waratah-Strata-Management-organised-non-compliant-ordinary-committee-meetings-in-period-2017-to-2023.html
5. Negative trends in Admin Fund, with special emphasis on period since Waratah Strata Management took office on 1 February 2017.
It is worth stating that on the day of general meeting, 27 October 2022, SP52948 had Admin Fund negative balance of $203,914.85 (it appears such information was hidden from owners and certainly not included in the Minutes of the meeting). Waratah Strata Management and committee members still refuse to inform owners corporation about it.
For first time in history of strata complex SP52948, thanks to Waratah Strata Management, Admin Fund had continuous negative balance in whole two FY quarters (1 November 2022 to 30 April 2023).
References:
SP52948-effects-of-Waratah-Strata-Management-on-Balance-Sheet-from-31Jan2017-to-30Apr2023.pdf
SP52948-negative-trends-with-Admin-Fund-under-Waratah-Strata-Management.html
SP52948-graph-of-Admin-Fund-negative-balances-from-31Jan2017-to-30Apr2023.webp
xSP52948-first-time-in-history-Admin-Fund-continuous-negative-balances-for-two-FY-quarters-Apr2023.webp.pagespeed.ic.tI5zTSRCDr.webp
6. Missing spare panel for entrance gate in basement of Block B, which already happened once in 2018 and Lot 158 forced its return to rightful owners. As of May 2023, the spare panel is missing again. The entrance gate repairs typically cost between $3,500.00 and now $5.000.00.
References:
SP52948-spare-panel-for-entrance-door-missing-in-basement-Block-B-photo-1-21May2023.webp
SP52948-evidence-of-spare-panel-for-entrance-gate-in-2020-and-2022.png
SP52948-cost-of-repair-entrance-gate-increased-from-3500-to-5000-dollars-since-October-2022-new-notice-21May2023.webp
SP52948-entrance-gate-bottom-panel-suddenly-reappeared-four-months-after-inquiry-9Jan2019.html
7. Information about insurance policy excesses are kept secret from owners by ex-strata manager BCS Strata Management and current strata manager Waratah Strata Management.
Since 2012, owners were deliberately not informed about $10,000.00 excess for every water-related damage or exploration work.
References:
SP52948-Examples-of-Repetitive-Water-Leak-Repairs-without-Permanent-Results-in-one-unit-alone-2011-Sep2018.pdf
SP52948-incomplete-insurance-policy-disclosures-to-owners-in-period-2012-to-2023.pdf
SP52948-Agenda-AGM-2022.pdf
8. Highly dubious allegations of ransomware attack against Waratah Strata Management in 2019, with strong suspicion of fraud and money laundering.
An alleged ransomware attack against Waratah Strata Management occurred on 1 February 2019, just a week after Lot 158 submission to Office of Legal Services Commissioner for Solicitor Adrian Mueller's misconduct. Sententia report, dated 26 March 2019 stated (undisclosed by Waratah Strata Management to 218 owners):
Their investigation had limited access to event logs.
Deeper understanding of the exact actions by the treat actor was not possible due to lack of evidence and an incomplete audit trail.
Based on incomplete logs, the encryption attack most likely occurred on 2 February 2019 at 12:08:56 hours.
Threat actor achieved brute-force success with the Administrator account on server WSMHS1, a malicious toolkit was then used to create www account on 1 February 2019 at 11:58:53 hours.
Incomplete audit logs from terminal services show the first login occurred at 23:59 hours on 1 February 2019 and session ended at 03:33 hours on 2 February 2019.
There was no conclusive evidence to suggest any data exfiltration occurred (simply based on available usage data logs that did not take into account possibility of using data compression for file transfers, or selective file transfers of targeted files).
In timeframe from 1 February 2019 up to around 15 and 17 February 2019, Waratah Strata Management was still at high risk, due to unpatched servers and continuous attacks with brute-force access. Lack of remediation actions to close all non-essential inbound ports continued to create risks.
Bitcoin ransom was subsequently paid by a third-party known to Waratah Strata Management to the threat actor in the equivalent amount of $5,052.03.
After this payment, there was no response from the threat actor.
The attack allegedly occurred due to misconfigured routers that allowed RDP protocol.
Sententia did not take into account possibility of data being transferred through screenshots, which is one of the valid attacks.
Waratah Strata Management recovered their data via a re-image procedure (mostly untrue, as per separate admission by Waratah Strata Management to Fair Trading and owners in emails with different explanations).
It was recommended to use more secure method of connectivity, such as MFA VPN.
Sententia report in March 2019 does not report any data losses in Office 365 or Azure cloud, therefore no record of files being destroyed by ransomware attack on Microsoft public systems that Waratah Strata Management uses for SP52948.
Lot 158 obtained official statement by Rockend that they provide the lookatmystrata.com.au domain as a service. However, Rockend does not store, hold, access, or release any information related to that domain. All such information is held, exclusively managed, and complete responsibility of Waratah Strata Management.
Lot 158 obtained official statement by Microsoft that they had never been notified about data loss and/or ransomware attack in Office 365 that keeps emails for waratahstrata.com.au.
Microsoft also stated that had anybody reported loss of emails in Office 365, Microsoft would have had ability to restore them within 90 days after the incident. That obviously did not happen as Microsoft seemingly has no record of such actions.
Microsoft found no trace of any complaint, ticket, or report for data losses for waratahstrata.com.au in Office 365 during 2019 or 2020.
The only event related to waratahstrata.com.au was ticket in June 2019 (case number 14941752) - problem with sending emails.
Microsoft has not been involved in any investigation of alleged ransomware attack or data losses that Waratah Strata Management reported for emails in Office 365.
References:
Sententia-brief-analysis-with-limited-evidence-ransomware-attack-against-Waratah-Strata-Management-undislosed-to-owners-of-strata-plan-SP52948.pdf
SP52948-extracts-from-Waratah-Strata-Management-email-to-Fair-Trading-NSW-admitting-losing-most-of-electronic-files-in-February-2019-due-to-ransomware-attack-17May2019.png
SP52948-Waratah-Strata-Management-statement-about-lost-files-due-to-alleged-ransomware-attack-warning-owner-before-strata-document-search-9May2019.html
SP52948-request-to-disclose-information-submitted-to-Waratah-Strata-Management-if-EC-members-were-notified-about-two-events-for-loss-of-strata-files-in-a-timely-manner-11Aug2019.html
SP52948-Interim-report-sent-to-Waratah-Strata-Management-with-request-to-provide-information-about-alleged-data-breach-at-strata-agency-and-loss-of-strata-files-17Feb2020.html
9. Ongoing fire and OH&S problems. In spite of Ryde Council orders, such work is being for more than two years, and these problems have plagued SP52948 since 2012.
At legally non-compliant committee meeting on 1 June 2023, the following was reported, showing further delays and lack of ownership of tasks:
FIRE SAFETY REPORT
Resolved that the draft Fire Safety Upgrade Brief prepared by Austech Consulting Pty Ltd was tabled and discussed as follows:
• The strata manager is to discuss with Austech what further work is required for them to be able to complete the Scope of Works so that the required work can be placed out to tender.
• Austech are to advise whether there are items that can be requested that Council remove from the Fire Order.
• Austech are to advise whether the sealing of the penetrations between floors is part of the scope of works or if that has been missed from the report.
• Austech are to provide an estimated timeline for the progress of the works.
• Austech are to confirm that they have been keeping Council fully informed on the progress of the works.
• That a meeting is to be arranged between Austech and the strata committee should these issues need to be discussed further.
References:
SP52948-continuous-delays-with-fire-and-OHS-problems.html
SP52948-updated-concerns-reported-to-Waratah-Strata-Management-Fire-NSW-FRN16_829-BFS20_252-and-Fair-Trading-Files-9363613-and-9761719-persistent-fire-safety-issues-and-lack-of-actions-3Apr2020.html
SP52948-Peter-Bone-BCS-Strata-Management-ignored-report-on-costly-delays-in-rectifying-fire-safety-problems-31Jul2013.html
SP52948-BCS-Strata-Management-ignored-repeated-request-to-prepare-report-on-buildings-and-fire-safety-for-AGM-2013-6Sep2013.html
SP52948-minutes-EC-meeting-1Jun2023.pdf
10. 10-Year Capital Works Fund poorly planned, never approved by owners corporation at any general meeting, with shortage of funds in amount of $1,515,541.00 as per committee meeting on 23 September 2021.
In agenda for AGM 2022 on 10 October 2022, owners received concerns about financial status and levies, without getting any picture of long-term problems with planning the levies and future costs.
References:
SP52948-discrepancies-in-BIV-report-for-10-Capital-Works-Fund-in-2017-and-2021.pdf
SP52948-Lot-158-warning-about-1.5-million-deficit-in-Capital-Works-Fund-1Oct2021.html
SP52948-Lot-158-warning-about-special-levies-looming-in-the-future-ignored-by-BCS-Strata-Management-22Mar2015.html
SP52948-failed-assessment-for-Sinking-and-Capital-Works-Funds-in-period-2001-to-2030-without-approval-at-general-meetings.pdf
SP52948-Leary-and-Partners-Sinking-Fund-Plan-May1998-undisclosed-to-owners.pdf
SP52948-BIV-report-Capital-Works-Fund-6Oct2021.pdf
SP52948-extract-from-agenda-AGM-2022-undisclosed-information-about-financial-issues-and-costs-10Oct2022.webp
11. Ongoing physical threats, racism, discrimination.
SP52948-endangering-life-and-safety-of-owner-to-prevent-their-investigations-about-mismanagement-of-strata-complex.html
12. Inequitable privileges for selective owners.
Since late 2010, when Lot 158 uncovered secret payments to selective townhouse owners for private water and gas usage (which included three past or current committee members at the time), attempts to enforce equal rights for all owners were ignored by BCS Strata Management, Waratah Strata Management, and committee members.
References:
SP52948-extract-from-Bruce-Copland-submission-to-CTTT-case-SCS-11-00711-27Feb2011.webp
SP52948-extract-from-Bruce-Copland-submission-to-CTTT-case-SCS-11-00711-part-2-27Feb2011.webp
SP52948-extract-from-Bruce-Copland-submission-to-CTTT-case-SCS-12-05845-10Mar2012.webp
SP52948-extract-from-Bruce-Copland-submission-to-CTTT-case-SCS-12-05845-part-2-10Mar2012.webp
SP52948-extract-from-Bruce-Copland-submission-to-CTTT-case-SCS-12-05845-part-3-10Mar2012.webp
SP52948-Lot-217-complaint-to-BCS-Strata-Management-about-seven-years-of-no-knowledge-of-private-water-and-gas-usage-financial-reimbursements-to-selective-townhouse-owners-28Feb2008.webp
SP52948-BCS-Strata-Management-and-committee-members-ignored-report-about-unfair-and-inequitable-water-and-gas-costs-sharing-17Sep2013.html
SP52948-repeatedly-ignored-evidence-of-discrimination-of-owners-by-providing-inequitable-water-and-gas-reimbursements-for-private-use-to-selective-townhouse-owners-25Aug2017.html
SP52948-BCS-Strata-Management-Undisclosed-and-inequitable-gas-and-water-private-usage-cost-reimbursements-for-selective-townhouses-1997-to-2016-public-version.pdf
SP52948-extract-from-Waratah-Strata-Management-agenda-AGM-2021-private-water-usage-reimbursements-for-18-townhouse-owners.pdf
SP52948-Solicitor-Adrian-Mueller-prevented-Motion-and-disallowed-owners-to-vote-on-removing-discriminatory-and-inequitable-Special-By-Law-12-at-AGM-2017.webp
SP52948-Motions-by-Lot-158-in-attempt-to-enforce-equitable-gas-and-water-reimbursements-and-levies-AGM-2020.pdf
SP52948-Waratah-Strata-Management-declined-to-notify-owners-corporation-about-continuous-discrimination-of-owners-incurring-high-costs-without-approval-and-lack-of-proper-care-of-the-complex-26Aug2018.html
13. Smoking continues to be a major issue, not only increasing risks of fire, but also causing health risks and nuisance. Waratah Strata management and committee members refuse to take decisive measures.
Waratah Strata Management was urged to update By-Law on smoking, to include better technical definition of common property - prepare a well-drafted by-law so that owners corporation can comprehensively deal with the issue: the use of all tobacco types, including cigarettes, pipes and cigars, vaping, debris created by these practices, and the issue of “smoke-drift”. No response ever received.
References:
SP52948-notice-about-repetitive-complaints-about-smoking-in-three-buildings-23Mar2023.webp
SP52948-continuous-problems-with-smoking-and-health-hazards.html
SP52948-request-to-ex-committee-member-Maureen-McDonald-to-prevent-her-visitor-from-smoking-30Dec2022.html
SP52948-notice-about-repetitive-complaints-about-smoking-in-three-buildings-5Jun2023.webp
14. Secrecy about Lot 1 legal case.
Extract from alleged committee meeting on 28 July 2022 showed that owners were poorly informed about problems with Lot 1, and mediation at Fair Trading NSW was undisclosed to owners.
Lot 1 and other owners were deliberately not informed by Waratah Strata Management that there are owners who receive special privileges. An example is Lot 157, who in 2014, had significant damage caused by illegal committee member at the time Mr. Stan Pogorelsky (Lot 181) and repairs were secretly covered by common funds instead of owner's private insurance.
SP52948-extract-from-EC-meeting-Lot-1-mediation-without-disclosure-to-owners-28Jul2022.webp
SP52948-extract-from-EC-meeting-no-mention-of-Lot-1-mediation-29Sep2022.webp
SP52948-extract-from-agenda-AGM-2022-undisclosed-information-about-Lot-158-and-Lot-1-issues-10Oct2022.webp
SP52948-Sydney-Wet-Carpet-Unit-157-carpet-flooding-10Dec2014BCS9598748.pdf
SP52948-confirmation-by-building-manager-that-carpet-drying-was-paid-from-common-funds-to-Lot-157-23Dec2014.webp
15. Serious pool and spa repairs due to long-term lack of proper maintenance.
At legally non-complaint meeting on 25 May 2023 (which was never published on notice boards too), it was allegedly decided (without general meeting) to approve expenditure in amount of $55,000.00. No owner saw details of the alleged multiple quotes from four companies:
POOL & SPA REPAIR
Resolved that quote 100223 supplied by Fibrestyle Pool Resurfacing be approved for work. Further resolved the contractor be requested of the following:
• To accommodate scheduling work in second half of July.
• Terms of payment amended and paid on dates either side of financial year end (to split costs across each reporting period).
• In consultation with Building Management, include quotation for textured/non slip surface alongside Gym, Pool and Spa area.
• Advise on applying non slip surface to top of stairs, shallow area and spa shelf.
Since 2017, Waratah Strata Management website does not have any quotes for owners to review.
Waratah Strata Management website lists number of unresolved repairs, going back to 2017.
References:
SP52948-notice-EC-meeting-22May2023.pdf
SP52948-minutes-EC-meeting-25May2023.pdf
SP52948-waratahstrata-website-Open-and-Closed-Quotes-do-not-exist-6Jun2023.webp
SP52948-waratahstrata.com.au-website-Maintenance-Open-Work-Orders-page-1-6Jun2023.png
SP52948-waratahstrata.com.au-website-Documents-folder-page-1-6Jun2023.png
16. EV charging station plans without full disclosure to owners or assessments (costs, user-charging model, insurance risks, by-law, tax implications, council approval and costs, and much more).
Waratah Strata Management and committee members completely ignored NSW requirements and recommendations for EV charging station adoption which include five step process:
Step 1 - Survey
Step 2 - Enery assessment
Step 3 - Evaluate options
Step 4 - Evaluating payment options
Step 5 - Plan approval processes and identify funding solution
A Current Affair reported that as many as 450 fires has been linked to the batteries in the past 18 months.
In February 2023, residents of an apartment building in Sydney’s southwest were forced to evacuate when an e-scooter caught alight.
Combined with EV owners taking care of their battery – that is, servicing when required, following manufacturer-recommended charging habits (typically charging up to 80 per cent only and not discharging too deep), and mainly AC slow charging (avoiding frequent DC fast charging) – there’s a reduced likelihood of things going awry, not to mention maintaining a healthier battery.
When the integrity of lithium-ion batteries is compromised, the energy they store is released as heat, known as 'thermal runaway'.
Electric scooter charging stations should be located in a clean and dry place within the strata complex, meeting the relevant Australian standards. Owners corporation should ensure there is appropriate fire protection in place including intervention and suppression resources nearby (e.g., hydrants, hose reels, extinguishers, ventilation, and sprinklers). Chargers should be located away from proximate fuel loads and other flammable liquids.
The charging stations should also be accessible to Emergency Services in the event of a fire, which means they may need to be installed on common property. The charging stations should also be inaccessible to children. For added protection, one should consider:
Fire detection and early warning intercommunication systems
Smoke management and air handling systems
Fire resistance of proximate construction
Clarify who is responsible for maintaining them
In local council areas in NSW where the apartment building is in a leviable area (e.g. there are parking meters outside the apartment building on the street), then if the Owners Corporation wants to convert an existing visitor car space inside the building to an EV charging space, then this is classified as a "change of use" of that car parking space. After the Owners Corporation goes through an approval process with the local council to get the use of the car parking space changed, then this will trigger an ongoing NSW land tax which has to be paid by the Owners Corporation from that point on.
If complex has an existing embedded network, owners may be required to seek approval of the Embedded Network Manager (ENM) or energy retailer, where this party maintains ownership of the electricity meters in your strata building under a multi-year contract.
Any EV Charging infrastructure project which costs more than $5,000 will require a signed contract. Furthermore, in states such as NSW where there is a Home Building Insurance scheme, ANY works in the building which are over $20,000 will require the EV charging installer to take out insurance under this scheme. When one Sydney based strata scheme inquired with their strata insurance company about any adjustments which had to be made, they were informed that an automated foam retardant system needed to be installed above every car space where an EV might be charging, in case the electric vehicle catches on fire while charging. Another Sydney based strata building was told that they couldn't get insurance if they did a whole-of-building EV charging infrastructure. Another Sydney building was able to get insurance as long as the number of EV's per floor of car park did not exceed 4 EV's. Some other requirements dictated by some insurers are that any EV charging should be in an area which is well-lit, does not have children in it, must have the car space painted and an EV charging sign erected, shouldn't have more than 4 electric vehicles charging adjacent to each other and is preferably in a separate room/area and on top of a plinth. It would be recommended to shop around for a different strata insurer to find one which has more reasonable requirements if you encounter this with your existing strata insurer.
DNSP or grid provider will need to provide approval for any increase of capacity from the local sub-station servicing the building.
At legally non-compliant committee meeting on 1 June 2023, the following was reported:
EV CHARGING
Resolved that proposals received from electric vehicle charging installers were tabled and discussed as follows:
• It is proposed that 2 EV charging stations be installed, one in a visitor parking space and one next to the bike storage area.
• It is likely that a 3rd charging station can be installed next to the current visitor parking space at a later date if demand requires.
• The quote provided by EVSE has been accepted in principle.
• The strata manager is to obtain fee proposals from 2 solicitors to prepare a suitable By-Law. A further voting-paper-only committee meeting will be held to accept one of the solicitors fee proposals.
• Once the By-Law is received a general meeting will be required to allow the Owners Corporation to consider/approve the By-Law and then to confirm the acceptance of an installation quote.
References:
SP52948-minutes-EC-meeting-1Jun2023.pdf
https://www.energy.nsw.gov.au/business-and-industry/programs-grants-and-schemes/electric-vehicles/electric-vehicle-ready/strata
https://www.news.com.au/technology/sydney-family-trapped-on-balcony-rescued-after-fire/news-story/a3f7f47cbbce98061509c7f81e07e591
17. Roof membranes on four buildings need overdue maintenance, where Kintyre decreased warranties for half of roof in Block B and whole roof in Block D to five years instead on standard 15 years due to long-term lack of maintenance.
Planning for maintenance of roofs is allegedly delayed until year 2023 in 10-Year Capital Works Fund Plan in March 2017 without consultation with owners corporation. Waratah Strata Management and EC members, without consultation with owners corporation allegedly approved the 10-Year Capital Works Fund plan in March 2017, which, among the other concerns, delayed maintenance of roofs until year 2023 (directly discriminating against owners in Block A and C, because half of Block B and whole Block D were completed in 2015/2016).
The most revealing figures are related to when to rectify roof problems (major issue in the complex):
In BIV’s plan in March 2017, it was recommended to complete the work in August 2023 at estimated cost of $571,275.00.
In BIV’s plan in October 2021, it was recommended to delay the work to September 2031 at estimated cost of $900,722.00.
Kintyre completed patchy roof membrane repairs without tender, warranties, and without approval by owners corporation at any meeting at cost of $28,892.00 in March 2012, and Napier & Blakely report in July 2012 clearly dismissed it as improperly done job.
Since July 2012, full repairs of roof membrane on Block A, as listed in Napier & Blakeley's professional report at cost of $12,144.00, were listed as important maintenance task that has not been completed yet.
That makes Block A roof not properly maintained for almost 22 years now, which is against professional recommendations to do it around every 10 years.
Half of Block B and whole Block D received full root membrane replacement in 2015/2016 without tender that was "won" by Kintyre:
$7,785.00 Block D: roof membrane - fourth part
$25,000.00 Block D: roof membrane - third part
$32,786.00 Block D: roof membrane - second part
$43,714.00 Block D: roof membrane - first part
$35,613.60 Block B: roof membrane - second part
$23,742.40 Block B: roof membrane - first part
Waterproofing one whole roof in Block D cost SP52948 around $107,000.00 (GST inclusive). One a half roofs were done at cost of around $170.000,00.
Waratah Strata Management and maintenance staff were contacted to submit this information to owners multiple times since 2018, which they declined.
Due to long-term neglect of roofs, Kintyre decreased warranties for roof membranes on half of Block B and whole Block D to only five years (down from originally expected 15 years).
In period from AGM in October 2016 to February 2017 the complex was dysfunctional because it did not have Secretary, Treasurer, and Chairperson elected from the Executive Committee members. Waratah Strata Management, by alleged contractual obligations, took all those roles.
At least 24 repairs for water-related issues in Lot 191 were completed in period September 2011 to January 2019, of which six were reported in lift of Block A since Waratah Strata Management took office on 1 February 2017. The cost estimate (strata managers hide information for few of the events) is above $20,000.00 from owners corporation funds.
Number of water leaks on the roof of Block A and other lots on top floor of Block A( 189 and 190 as examples). The costs for repetitive repairs without proper warranties also goes in thousands.
It increased our insurance risk, which was evident from 2012.
One of the claims for water damage was for Lot 188 in amount of $1,294.55 on 25 July 2011.
Warning by NCS Plumbing about major work required in Lots 189, 190, 191, and 192 on 24 February 2016 which maintenance staff, BCS Strata Management, and Waratah Strata Management deliberately withheld from owners.
Reference:
18. Many more risks and proofs of mismanagement of the complex.
References:
SP52948-extract-from-secret-Napier-Blakeley-professional-building-report-Jul2012.gif
SP52948-basement-under-four-buildings-concrete-cancer-due-to-water-leaks-unresolved-since-2013.webp
SP52948-Block-B-basement-concrete-cancer-due-to-water-leaks-unresolved-since-2013.webp
SP52948-roof-status-1Mar2017.gif
SP52948-basement-louvres-neglected-since-2016.gif
SP52948-garden-bed-walls-with-risks-to-children-playing-every-day-neglected-since-2013.gif
SP52948-Block-A-basement-rusted-fire-door-since-2013.gif
SP52948-Block-D-basement-rusted-fire-door-since-2013-part-2.gif
SP52948-experiences-with-Waratah-Strata-Management-from-customer-perspective.html
Regards,
