Can we say that someone who is in arrears with their levies cannot be elected as a Trustee? Surely Trustees should set an example for other owners?
This is a variation of another QTW we had.
The STSM Act states the following –
PMR 6
- A trustee ceases to hold office if that trustee—
- fails or refuses to pay the body corporate any amount due by that trustee after a court or adjudicator has given a judgment or order for payment of that amount.
So currently the Trustee can only be disqualified from being a Trustee if you have a court or adjudicator order against them for not paying levies.
It is however possible to amend the Management Rules – by unanimous resolution – to state that Trustees in arrears are disqualified and that you don’t need a court or adjudication order first.
The wording of the Management Rules is just very important and the suggestion would be to look at the previous PMR as a suggestion – “if he is in arrears for more than 60 days with any levies and contributions payable by him in respect of his unit or exclusive use area (if any) and he fails to bring such arrears up to date within 7 days of being notified in writing to do so.”