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April 10, 2015 at 8:39 am #991454Up::0
Hello
I have a question regarding owners corp fees, before we signed the lease to our current workshop the agent was asked what the outgoings would be, he stated in an email that the outgoings would be $4600 per year and the body corp part of the outgoings would be $1900 per year.Four months later the agent has billed us for a quarterly body corp fee of $475 plus quarterly payments towards body corp insurance $950pa and body corp sinking fund $520pa. When questioned about the hidden insurance and sinking fund they admitted to not providing us with all the body corp fee details that we needed to make a decision on if we should sign the lease or not but that they had not mislead us on purpose.
If we had known about the extra $1500 in body corp fees we would not have signed up to the lease as it would have gone over our budget.
We are looking for advise on were we stand do we have to pay the fees or have we been mislead and there is another outcome?
Regards
RobApril 11, 2015 at 12:56 am #1181624Up::0Welcome aboard the forums Rob!
If it’s their mistake then it seems they should be liable for the cost. If your contract and email communications both omit the extra expenses then you should have a very strong case. But there will be many forum members who have experience with this aspect of real estate (or law) so hopefully they can help you out. I have experience in neither.
If it were me, I’d put my evidence together (contract + emails), assert that it’s very clear cut, but then offer to make a compromise with them (maybe split the costs?). This will give them a more palatable option to agree with and help both of you stay out of court.
Good luck!
Dave
May 1, 2015 at 12:50 am #1181625Up::0Hi Rob,
I’ve only just joined this forum so you may have already sorted your problem… if not, it will really depend on what your lease agreement says. Generally it is the tenant’s responsibility to pay building insurance however I would definitely be pushing back on paying for the sinking fund levy. Basically this should be a Landlord expense as it is money that is put away every year so that in say 10 years the Body Corporate has enough money put aside for capital expenses such as a new roof, new plant and equipment etc. A tenant should never be responsible for capital expenses and certainly shouldn’t have to be contributing for something they are going to get no benefit from assuming your lease term is much shorter than 10 years. I have argued this case with many Landlord’s before and it really comes down to firstly what is in your lease agreement and how reasonable the Landlord is! If the lease states body corporate fees are payable but doesn’t provide a breakdown of what this includes then I would be going back to the Agent’s email and suggesting you weren’t given the correct information. It’s always worth a go. You may like to try and compromise by agreeing to the body corporate fee amount at the rate of $475 per qtr, (plus the building insurance which the lease should state you are responsible for anyway) however excluding any payment for sinking fund levies. I have just started my own business as a property consultant/tenant rep for small businesses so if you need more information or need someone to go in to bat for you please feel free to contact me through my website. http://www.redflagpropertyleasing.com.au .
Cheers,
Teree -
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