Body corporate

Buza_junior said:
I can separate the two and our current managing agent is failing us, come AGM it will be fired, it doesn't have the owners best interest
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You can request with the trustees that you call an SGM to get rid of them.
 
Lupus said:
You can request with the trustees that you call an SGM to get rid of them.
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Last that was an SMG held but it wasn't to discuss their capabilities, many things have been damaged in our BC, the looting of monies of the BC and the law suites against it because of incompetent trustees, what we need the current agent to do before leaving or firing them is that we have audited financial records to know the extent of the damage and then owners will be given a choice to fire them or not but at that stage am sure i would have sold my unit because i can't keep up with people who are not serious about making the BC is run well and not put to the ground
 
Lupus said:
If you're an owner you're the body corporate. It depends on how the managing agents will sort out the water. Most have a water meter on the property, unless they divide water by how many units
Also Johannesburg hasn't offered free water for years unless you're classified as indigent which living in a complex you're not.
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Incorrect.

The owners elect a representative to the body corporate. They are NOT the body corporate.

The body corporate also employs a managing agent, that deals with items like this.
 
Corelli said:
Incorrect.

The owners elect a representative to the body corporate. They are NOT the body corporate.

The body corporate also employs a managing agent, that deals with items like this.
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No, the body corporate is the body of owners who are part of the scheme. They elect trustees to represent their interests and manage the estate with the assistance sometimes of a managing agent.
 
Just a note ... most estates are 2 months behind in billing in COJ (as it takes time for the estate managing firm to do readings)
 
Every owner in a scheme (section title) are part of the Body Corp. Trustees are elected to do the work (as in elect the managing agent to run the estate) as in front and backend functions
 
Buza_junior said:
Only 19 people attend meetings out of 72 owners
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Then you don't have a problem?? 19/72 = 26%!
Job done.

On the water... You are being ripped off.but only a little.

How much do they charge for prepaid electricity, I'm willing to bet someone is making some money there!
 
Corelli said:
Incorrect.

The owners elect a representative to the body corporate. They are NOT the body corporate.

The body corporate also employs a managing agent, that deals with items like this.
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Uhmm no

What is a body corporate? | MyProperty

The body corporate is the collective name given to the owners of the units and common property within a [sectional title](https://www.myproperty.co.za/faq/property-types/sectional-title) scheme. The body corporate comes into being when the developer
www.myproperty.co.za www.myproperty.co.za
Perhaps brush up on what things are and how they affect you.
Managing agents are employed by the trustees who are in turn elected by the body corporate. Which is everyone who is an owner in a sectional title.
 
Buza_junior said:
Water meters are installed, since introducting the fixed charges to the BC everyone is selling, in the past owners where paying R1200 per month for levies and we see that the BC is suffering because other owners are not paying their levies and the BC was paying the fixed municipal cost on their behalf and now the trustees decided that everyone must share the cost as per the municipal cost and i have sinces seen owners listing their units for sale
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The cost of what? If it is the rates & taxes levied on individual units, then the trustees decision was ultra vires, a decision of that magnitude requires changing the management rules of the ST complex, which reqyuires a unanimous resolution as per the STSMA. Get the minutes of the trustee meeting and approach the CSOS for an adjudication order. Be sure to request an inclusion of an order to declare these "trustees" as delinquent and not eligible to stand for at least the next 10 years.
 
Lupus said:
You can request with the trustees that you call an SGM to get rid of them.
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It sometimes depends on what their contract states, but I largely agree with you. MAs often use the contract terms to discourage being fired. The OP can approach CSOS for an adjudication order to fire them though.
 
Buza_junior said:
Last that was an SMG held but it wasn't to discuss their capabilities, many things have been damaged in our BC, the looting of monies of the BC and the law suites against it because of incompetent trustees, what we need the current agent to do before leaving or firing them is that we have audited financial records to know the extent of the damage and then owners will be given a choice to fire them or not but at that stage am sure i would have sold my unit because i can't keep up with people who are not serious about making the BC is run well and not put to the ground
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True, I was once a trustee of a dysfunctional BC, with a toxic radioactive group of trustees. They were mostly young know-it-all PoC who voted along racial lines, so the majority of my reasonable motions were vetoed. This backfired on them a few months later, and I got countless opportunities to say "I told you so", but in the interests of keeping the peace, I did not. One EFF-type trustee was finally booted when I caught him red-handed intimidating the guards for his own personal gain, his mates then also resigned, and things were looking up. Due to personal reasons I could no longer put the required hours into the job, so I also resigned two years later, after 7 years of service.

Being a trustee is not easy, you need to have a skin thickness of tortoise shell, the sensitivity of a cat, a few reliable informants, a questioning nature, the morality of a Calvinistic priest, time for research, a network of professional friends to reach out to, an altruistic streak, an attitude of abundant servitude towards members and whole lot of life experience. Many fall short of these requirements, that's why our shared residential living spaces are in such a mess.
 
chrisc said:
A block where I have some units never charges water to owners. It is of course included in the levy.

When I bought the first 2 flats in 1990, the levy was R190. Today it is R2480. Plus they had a special levy where each owner had to pay R13000 since the outdoor renovation cost R1.8m

I also pay Cape Town City R425,00 approx for municipal fees

The managing agents are properly run and they issue a balance sheet before each AGM. The trustees are as usual pretty useless and concern themselves with items like painting parking lines, flowers for the verges, nitpicking about noise

In the Dec 2021 financial statement, only 2 of the 64 owners were in arrear, and not by much

I was chairman in 2011 and 2012 and rapidly found myself doing 99% of the work. One of the tenants frequently brought in some dodgy ladies in the early hours and tried to tell us it was bible study. None of the trustees would do anything, so I got an ADT fellow to interview them upon arrival and shoo them off. He had a substantial night-stick. It worked 100%
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I'd love to get a coffee with you -- I am a trustee and my god, I wish there was a handbook, manual and support group to meet other trustees to learn from each others' mistakes.
 
My experience as a trustee is that it is always the people renting who are the most vocal complainers. The one rule our trustee lives buy is what does the rules say. And we will gladly discuss owners problems with the rules once they have the required support to convene a general meeting.
 
Our biggest challenge is getting qourums we are 120 units, never have qourums
 
Thor said:
Our biggest challenge is getting qourums we are 120 units, never have qourums
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Most complexes are like this with many units, it's BS as it seems people just don't realise how much they actually hold in their hands
 
My biggest advice for Trustees:

1) For debtors, get the money in ASAP with results. I was a trustee at an estate where the managing agent had the best "lawyers" and their own "debt collection" system. They all coined it nicely ! (and the BC is sitting with the rotten fruit).

2) Do actual in depth audits (The managing agent we had, they had their hands in the cookie Jar).

3) Make time (and I know its a free service, but dont trust anyone with the funds). Your funds become their funds, and all that they are saying : We did the work, we need to get paid (even with no results).

4) Get a all inclusive amount charged (as MA see's estates as gold mines). Dont be fooled, you would be surprised.

5) And start looking at solar projects (for common area's). Because estates charge ladder is higher than non sectional titles, it all adds up at the end of the day

6) And lastly, get trustees who aint buddies ! Its a disaster in the making if friends run the show
 
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