Scarborough & the Redcliffe Peninsula
Body corporate and unit owner advice, on the peninsula
The esplanade from Scarborough through Redcliffe and Margate is unit country, and most schemes here are run by volunteer committees without a lawyer on call. We advise committees and individual owners from our office at 15 Fortune Street, Scarborough QLD 4020 — fixed fees agreed before the work starts, and a straight answer about whether a fight is worth having.
What we advise on
Committees
Advice on decisions and voting, committee spending limits, meeting and notice procedure, engaging contractors, and whether a resolution needs a general meeting. Practical answers in writing so the minutes record why the committee did what it did.
By-laws
Drafting and reviewing by-laws for pets, short-stay letting, parking, renovations and smoking, and testing whether an existing by-law is enforceable before you try to enforce it.
Levies and recovery
Striking contributions correctly, penalty interest, recovery notices and proceedings for unpaid levies, and defending owners who say the levy was not validly struck.
Disputes and adjudication
Conciliation and adjudication applications through the Commissioner's office, appeals to QCAT, and an honest assessment of whether the dispute is worth running.
Building defects and water ingress
Who is responsible for what between lot and common property, statutory warranty and QBCC timeframes, and preserving the scheme's position before the time limits pass.
Management rights
Reviewing, assigning, topping up and terminating caretaking and letting agreements — for committees, and for buyers and sellers of the rights themselves.
Buying into a Scarborough scheme
A unit purchase is not a house purchase with fewer searches. Before the contract goes unconditional the body corporate records should be inspected and read properly: the sinking fund forecast against the age and condition of the building, any special levy already resolved on or foreshadowed, past water ingress and remediation, the caretaking and letting agreement, insurance, and the by-laws you will actually have to live under. Older esplanade buildings on the peninsula frequently carry deferred maintenance that shows up as a special levy within a year or two of settlement.
Our pre-signing contract review is free, and residential purchases settle on our fixed fee of $1,499 inclusive of GST. If the contract ends under cooling off, finance or building and pest, no professional fee is charged.
Free information session for your building
We run a short, no-obligation session for committees and residents — half an hour on by-laws, levies and the decisions a committee can and cannot make on its own, then questions. No charge and no sales pitch. Ask for it on 0419 000 884.
Questions people ask
Can a body corporate committee get legal advice without a general meeting?
For most operational advice, yes. A committee can generally engage a solicitor within its spending limit and its authority to carry out the body corporate's functions; larger engagements, and litigation in particular, usually need a general meeting resolution. We tell you which category your issue falls into before any costs are incurred, because getting that wrong is itself a ground for challenging the decision.
What can we do about an owner who will not pay levies?
The body corporate must recover outstanding contributions, and under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act the recovery process is prescriptive: correctly struck levies, proper notice, penalty interest only if it has been resolved on, and proceedings started within the limitation period. Most failed recoveries we see fail on the paperwork, not the debt.
A by-law is being ignored — pets, short-stay letting, parking, smoking. What now?
First check the by-law is actually enforceable: by-laws that are oppressive, unreasonable, or that purport to prohibit something the Act protects cannot be enforced. If it stands, enforcement runs through a contravention notice and then adjudication in the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management. Getting the notice wrong resets the process.
Should I read the body corporate records before I buy a unit?
Always, and before the contract becomes unconditional. The records show the sinking fund balance, past and proposed special levies, defect and building works history, litigation, management rights agreements and any by-law that would affect how you intend to live there. Our pre-signing contract review is free and we tell you plainly if the numbers do not support the price.
What are management rights and why do they matter to an owner?
A caretaking and letting agreement gives a manager a long-term, often 10 or 25 year, contract paid from body corporate funds. The term, the remuneration review mechanism and the performance obligations set what the scheme pays for decades. Buyers of units in a scheme rarely read them, and committees inherit them.
Do you act for owners against a body corporate as well?
Yes, though not in the same scheme at the same time. Individual owners come to us over levy recovery, contravention notices, refused improvement applications, water ingress and lot boundary repair disputes.
Talk to a local lawyer today
Call us, or send an enquiry and we'll come back to you with a fixed fee and clear next steps.