The Trustees had work done in the scheme that turned out to be an owner’s responsibility. They requested that the owner’s levy account be debited with the amount. Is this acceptable?
If the charge is raised in terms of the STSM Act or the Rules of the Body Corporate you do not need the owner’s permission as well.
In this case, the STSM Act prescribes that the owner is responsible for maintenance of his section so debiting his levy account for work done in his section is permitted but to be transparent I would suggest that the Trustees notify the owner that they are going to have work done and should it turn out that the owner is actually responsible for the account that his/her account will be debited. Another example could be where it is found that it was work done on an exclusive use area (EUA) and the rules of the scheme stipulate that the owner is responsible for maintenance of the EUA.
Should the Trustees however want to debit the owner’s levy account with a charge for a remote and it is not stipulated in the rules of the scheme that owners will be liable for this charge then you would need permission from the owner before you can debit his/her levy account.
Quote from the STSM Act:
PMR 25
(5) The body corporate must not debit a member’s account with any amount that is not a contribution or a charge levied in terms of the Act or these rules without the member’s consent or the authority of a judgment or order by a judge, adjudicator or arbitrator.