The manager of a retirement village and owners corporation was found to have improperly charged fees to lot owners. As the manager wore two hats, it was required to distinguish between owners corporation fees set by statute and retirement village fees set contractually. However, invoices did not differentiate between the two. VCAT determined the manager must comply with statutory procedures for setting and collecting owners corporation fees, such as issuing formal notices, or risk delays in fee recovery. Proper separation of duties is important for managers with multiple roles.

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A Sneak Peek at the Latest VCAT Strata Decisions
Owners Corporation Managers who wear other ‘hats’ at a property must be careful to
ensure costs and fees are raised in accordance with the correct procedure…
Lot owners take their owners corporation manager and retirement village management
company to VCAT over their method of charging ‘retirement village management fees’ and
owners corporation fees.
A retirement village scheme, being run out of a strata title property affected by an owners
corporation. The manager in this case was not only the owners corporation manager, but
also the retirement village manager. The manager therefore wore two hats. Whilst it was
wearing the owners corporation manager hat, it was required to ensure any fees raised from
lot owners was done according to the statutory method in the Owners Corporations Act 2006.
When the manager was wearing its retirement village manager hat, it was required to charge
costs to lot owners in accordance with a separate contractual agreement it had with
individual lot owners.
VCAT found that when issuing invoices to lot owners, there was a period where the manager
did not distinguish between ‘owners corporation fees’ and ‘retirement village fees’.
Managers who wear multiple ‘hats’ should be very careful to make sure that in the context of
owners corporation fees, there is a specific statutory procedure for the method on which
those fees may be calculated. In addition, there is a requirement to issue formal notices and
final notices for such fees. The compliance with the statutory procedures allows owners
corporations to successfully recover unpaid fees through VCAT. Non-compliance with those
procedures can result in significant delays in recovering unpaid fees.
Case Reference: Dallimore v Cotham Road Pty Ltd (Owners Corporations) [2013] VCAT
1740 (3 October 2013)
6 November 2013
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Nicole Wilde, Senior Solicitor, TEYS Lawyers Melbourne (03) 9600 1128
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