The expansion boom in the construction of apartment complexes that ushered in a new era in housing development in Jamaica would not have been possible without the Registration (Strata Titles) Act that became law in 1969.

The act made it possible for titles to be issued for properties that do not have the ground as their foundation but which are built one on the other.

An investment in an apartment complex can be somewhat enhanced or reduced by the maintenace and upkeep of the whole complex.

The act, therefore, vests in the strata corporation the important functions of managing and maintaining the common areas and facilities funded by maintenance fees payable by each owner or occupant.

Maintenance fees are a proportionate contribution to the overall cost of maintaining the market value of the complex and the services provided to and available in the complex.

However, over time certain deficiencies of the existing act became painfully apparent.

One of the main problems is that some corporations are not functioning properly or at all.

The strata corporations often find it difficult to enforce the collection of maintenance from delinquent members.

Further, there are no effective mechanisms to force compliance as filing of actions in the court against owners is costly, time consuming and rarely effective. In this scenario, the strata owners who are compliant suffer at the expense of those who don't. Unfortunately, the 'good guys' have no effective redress and suffer loss in the market value of their properties.

Notable challenge

The other notable challenge for strata corporations is that under the act the corporations are required to insure and keep insured the complex against fire, earthquake, hurricane and other risks to its full replacement value unless all the owners agree that it should not be so covered.

Given the difficulty of getting all strata owners to agree on that or indeed on any issue, unanimous agreement is almost impossible because some owners will simply not attend meetings.

A bill to amend the act is in Parliament, which proposes creation of a body known as the Commission of Strata Corporation to monitor, regulate and supervise all strata corporations; and that the commission keep a register of all strata corporations.

The commission will be able to resolve disputes between the corporation and owner or occupant as well as claims for maintenance payments thus avoiding the necessity to litigate through the court.

A decision of the commission is binding and enforceable subject to a right of appeal within 30 days of the decision to a tribunal which is also to be established under the new law.

The commission will have the power to make an order for the demolition at the expense of the owner of any extension to an external wall erected in breach of regulations or for the removal of items such as abandoned vehicles, also at the expense of the owner, where their presence breaches the by-laws.

The bill also proposes that the commission will have power to vary contributions where they appear to be excessive or inadequate or to vary the manner of payments where they appear to be unreasonable.

The commission will be able to annul a resolution of a strata corporation if it finds that a voting right of a owner has been compromised and it will also have the power to direct a strata corporation to hold an annual general meeting where none has been held and bind the owners by the decisions passed at such a meeting. This has the potential to address the present intractable problem where some strata corporations meet infrequently or not at all.

Non-compliance

It is also proposed to make the registration of a strata corporation with the commission compulsory, and to make non-compliance an offence punishable by a fine of up to $250,000.

The commission will be required to keep a record of all the strata corporations including the names of the members of the executive committees.

This is important because strata owners sometimes are hampered by the fact that they do not know the names of the members of the executive or where to find them.

If the bill becomes law, the new provisions above could eliminate some of the major problems faced by owners and occupants of strata units.

John G. Leiba is an attorney with the law firm Dunncox in Kingston.

john.leiba@dunncox.com