Welcome to the blog of NSW strata investigative journalism
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).
SP52948 has long history of issues with performance of strata and building managers.
Due to poor performance of CFS Strata Maintenance Services, they were forced to resign on 7 August 1998:
Due to poor performance of MDA Strata Services, which many owners complained about at the time, they were forced to resign on 22 April 1999:
Other contracts for strata and building managers have numerous issues:
Waratah Strata Management declined to inform all owners and investors about it: any owner who did not pay all levy arrears, including 10% simple interest per each year of outstanding debt, before any meeting (including Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings) is not allowed to vote or be elected on the executive committee:
Waratah Strata Management own contract was signed by two unfinancial owners (Mr. Stan Pogorelsky and Mr. Moses Levitt) three times without competitive tender or disclosure of contract details at any general meeting:
Contract on 14 December 2016:
Contract on 24 October 2017:
Contract on 17 October 2019:
Uniqueco Property Services contract was signed by unfinancial owner Mr. Moses Levitt without competitive tender or disclosure of contract details at general meeting on 7 December 2014:
Uniqueco Property Services contract was signed by two unfinancial owners (Mr. Stan Pogorelsky and Mr. Moses Levitt) without competitive tender or disclosure of contract details at general meeting on 27 November 2017:
Uniqueco Property Services contract was signed without competitive tender in 2020 and Lot 158 could not find it during document search on 8 June 2022 - this request is now outstanding and will be enforced from Waratah Strata Management:
The following tenders were disallowed for competing for building management contracts at AGM 2020 without valid reasons:
Three very competitive quotes for building management contract and one for gardening. Curtis Strata Cleaning Forte Asset Services Clean and Secure Building Management All three of them offered two options for security services with licensed staff: Patrols two times a night in around 30 minute duration each time, Full 10-hour a night onsite security. The reason for option with patrols: All fire doors in the basement in the complex now have alarms, New CCTV system. Jim's Mowing franchise for gardening.
At AGM in October 2022, Waratah Strata Management submitted their own contract renewal without any competition. The contract details are, as always, unknown, and owners are not informed about highly questionable quality of services they provide.
SP52948 had Admin Fund negative balance of $203,914.85 on 27 October 2022 - day of Annual General Meeting, and Lot 158 provided these instructions to its proxy, Lot 151 (Ms. Maureen McDonald) how to vote on 27 October 2022 (it is important to highlight that Waratah Strata Management did not provide Auditor's Report in agenda for the general meeting and it was published as late as 9 December 2022, 43 days after the Annual General Meeting, such report was not made available on Waratah website earlier - Admin Fund on 25 December 2022 had negative balance of $130,200.95).
At the same time Waratah Strata Management was asking for its contract renewal without any tender or disclosure that three previous contracts had been signed by unfinancial owners who were allowed to vote and be on the committee in full non-compliance with strata laws and regulations):
SP52948-Lot-158-proxy-form-with-voting-instructions-for-AGM-2022
Four days after collection of new levies in amount of $187,502.16 on 1 November 2022, Admin Fund already had negative balance of $22,211.27, and the next collection of levies was almost three months away on 1 February 2023. No significant income occured in that period, only significant expenses.
On 16 November 2022, 16 days after new financial quarter started on 1 November 2022, Admin Fund had negative balance of $60,224.67, which means that for the first time in history of strata complex SP52948 whole three-month financial period had negative balance.
On 25 December 2022, after new financial quarter started on 1 November 2022, Admin Fund had negative balance of $130,200.95.
Instead, Waratah Strata Management published first version of the Motions, which was incomplete due to lack of data for insurance premiums and Admin Fund balances:
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 and other issues:
Non-compliant committee meeting on 9 February 2023
...allegedly approved contract increase for Uniqueco Property Services, whilst not disclosing full financial and fire safety problems to owners (negative balance in Adnin Fund of $203,914.85 on 27 October 2022 - on day of Annual General Meeting, and negative balance in Admin Fund of $166,111.44 on 31 January 2023):