The additional flexibilities available to strata and community schemes in relation to meetings (including first annual general meeting), voting, signing of documents and funds reconciliation requirements under the new covid-19 laws have now been extended.
Back on 5 June 2020, the NSW Government has enacted emergency provisions applicable to the strata and community schemes in this State to allow additional flexibilities as to how they meet (including for the first time for new schemes), vote, sign documents and reconcile administration and capital works accounts. These emergency provisions were due to expire on 13 November 2020.
The same emergency provisions have now been extended to 13 May 2021 and would therefore remain operative before then.
As a recap:
- Strata and community schemes can now meet, vote and resolve matters electronically at general meetings and/or strata committee meetings (even if the schemes have not previously resolved to allow these). They extend to cover pre-meeting voting, informal voting and balloting counting;
- Notices and documents relating to the meeting may be given to a person by email to an email address specified by the person for the service of documents;
- The scheme’s secretary (or the authorised strata managing agent) must take reasonable steps to ensure all owners can participate in and vote at meetings, where electronic meetings and/or voting have not been previously resolved by the owners corporation before;
- The new provisions do not allow pre-meeting electronic voting to be used for an election of member/s;
- The usual quorum requirements remain to apply;
- In lieu of strata and community schemes physically affixing their common seals on documents by way of execution, the same signatories can now execute documents by way of signatures in the presence of an authorised witness (who can now witness the signature via audio and visual link). The document must indicate:
- (a) the date of signature, the signature itself and the fact that the signature is witnessed;
- (b) the name of signatory and the witness;
- (c) relationship of each signatory and witness to the owners corporation (eg. secretary of the owner corporation);
- (d) where the signatory is the strata managing agent (or an officer of the strata strata managing agent corporation) – the strata managing agent’s statutory licence number. No witness to the signature is required. If they are a witness to the document, they also need to provide the licence number.
- For new strata or community schemes – They now have 6 months to convene their first AGM (instead of the usual 2 months).
- Administration and capital works funds reconciliation – Schemes sometimes transfer funds between the two accounts or make payment from one that ought to be met by the other. They normally have 3 months to determine the amount to be levied as a contribution to the drawn-down fund in order to reimburse it. The schemes now have 6 months to make the determination. For community schemes, this is a little different in that the requirement applies if the funds are depleted, and in that case, they must make an estimate within the 6 months to have it replenish it (and have the estimate paid or levied in the ordinary course).
Bear in mind that the new provisions will remain operative until 13 May 2021. We trust the above assist the strata and community schemes and stakeholders (owners, strata managing agents or otherwise).
More Information
Please contact our property/strata law team at Matthews Folbigg Lawyers on 9635 7966 if you would like advice or assistance. We generally provide free initial consultations with respect to strata/community related matters.
