Mathews Hunt Legal

Body Corporate Lawyers Gold Coast

News

News September 2019

1. MHL successfully defended the Body Corporate in an application to have:

  • the AGM declared invalid for non-compliance with the required 21 days’ notice; and
  • a chairperson’s decision to rule a motion out of order reversed.

2. MHL drafted submissions in an application for a Body Corporate Manager. The Adjudicator stated that the submissions were ‘certainly focussed, lucid and of assistance.’

3. MHL attended Griffith University’s National Strata Conference.

4. An adjudicator in the Commissioner’s office validated a complex motion drafted by MHL designed to settle an longstanding dispute with the caretaker which involved: termination of the current caretaking and letting agreement; a settlement amount being paid to the caretaker; entering into a new caretaking and letting agreement; and the raising of a special levy.

News July 2019

July 2019

  1. MHL’s Body Corporate client won a Commissioner’s office application where an owner alleged that a general meeting was not validly called.
  2. MHL prepared a Body Corporate’s QBCC complaint against a developer in relation to defective building work, and represented the Body Corporate through that process. A direction was obtained for the developer to rectify certain defects.
  3. MHL congratulates Jessica Stanley on her appointment as a lawyer. Jessica had previously spent a year with us as a para-legal.

June 2019

MHL’s Body Corporate client won a Commissioner’s office application to have a budget deemed to have been approved after owners continually failed to pass a budget. The lack of a budget meant that vital repairs and maintenance were not being undertaken.

News March 2019

1. MHL’s Body Corporate client won a Commissioner’s office application involving a claim for an exclusive use allocation.

2. MHL’s Body Corporate client secured important concessions from a major developer in the negotiation of a ground anchor licence. An adjoining owner not represented by MHL is now facing an expensive legal battle.

3. MHL’s Body Corporate client won a Commissioner’s office application where an owner had tried to obtain an interim order to prevent the continuation of refurbishment works.

4. MHL congratulates Jeremy Brown on his promotion to Senior Associate. Before joining MHL in February 2018, Jeremy practised for 5 years as an insurance lawyer. Jeremy has been a key member of our legal team working on complex contracts and insurance issues.

5. Peter Hunt, Hayley Gath and Jeremy Brown attended the annual conference of Strata Communities Australia (Qld) on the Gold Coast.

6. Peter Hunt presented a paper on caretaking disputes to the annual conference of the Australian College of Strata Lawyers (‘ACSL’) in Auckland. Peter is a Fellow of the ACSL.

7. Dr Kate Mathews attended the annual conference of the Australian Consumer Congress in Melbourne.

News Feb 2019

Jan 2019 – Congratulations to Hayley Gath on her promotion to Senior Associate. Hayley started with MHL as a graduate in January 2015 and has greatly impressed us, and our clients, ever since.

Jan 2019 – MHL’s Body Corporate client wins a Commissioner’s office application involving a challenge to spending on security measures.

Feb 2019 – MHL’s Body Corporate client wins a Commissioner’s office application involving a challenge to a general meeting decision to replace fire doors.

Feb 2019 – Peter Hunt joins a working group of the Australian College of Strata Lawyers (‘ACSL’) to review QCAT’s decisions on caretaking disputes. Peter is a Fellow of the ACSL.

2018 Highlights

Adjudication Applications

Obtained Orders preventing a Principal Body Corporate issuing unlawful levies.

Obtained Orders preventing the unlawful appointment of a caretaker.

Obtained Orders preventing the unlawful grant of exclusive use.

Successfully defended the Body Corporate’s decision to refuse permission for an occupier to keep a dog at the scheme, where the caretaker’s health could be adversely affected due to his heart condition and asthma.

Successfully defended the Body Corporate’s decision to refuse permission for an occupier to keep a dog at the scheme, where:

an occupier’s health could be impacted; and
the caretaker has a clinically diagnosed phobia of dogs.
Obtained orders requiring an owner to remove improvements to common property that did not have Body Corporate approval, including security cameras, a shade sail and an awning.

Courts

Won an Appeal in the Qld Court of Appeal concerning a summary judgment application

Major Negotiations

Secured a $750,000 plus payment from a builder for faulty workmanship

Concluded complex negotiations with the GCCC in respect of an Easement.

Major Projects

Drafted and negotiated the contracts for a major $2.5m painting project at one of the Gold Coast’s premier schemes which involved the preparation of the contract with the head contractor, negotiation of the contract with the project manager and the preparation of a complex licence agreement to permit the Body Corporate’s contractors to access and use parts of the Commercial lot.

Completed the new Community Management Statement and Building Management Statement for the establishment of 30 lots above a major supermarket which involved complex issues including the rectification of previously incorrect Building Management Statements, the inclusion of access and use rights to various parts of the complex and the apportionment of costs for various shared areas and services.

Negotiated the licence agreements necessary to permit ground anchors for a major development in Surfers Paradise while preserving the Body Corporate’s position and obtained agreement for the developer to pay the Body Corporate’s reasonable costs and appropriate compensation.

Seminars

Dr Kate Mathews, Special Counsel, & Assistant Professor, Bond University, was invited by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to provide presentations on consumer law and information technology to:

ACCC and Australian Energy Regulator (AER), National Digital Disruption Group (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne & Hobart) Seminar: November 2018
ACCC National Board, Executive & Management Annual Conference, Sydney (February 2018)
Keynote speaker, Australian Consumer Congress, Sydney (March 2018)
She also spoke with ABC Radio, Melbourne discussing technology issues, consumer rights and the law (June 2018).

Great results to end 2018

Secured a $750,000 plus payment from a builder for faulty workmanship.

Concluded complex negotiations with the GCCC in respect of an Easement.

Won an Appeal in the Qld Court of Appeal concerning a summary judgment application.

We congratulate Kate

MHL congratulates our Special Counsel, Dr Kate Mathews, on successfully completing her Scientiae Juridicae Doctor (‘SJD’) also known as a Doctor of Legal Science, at Bond University. The SJD is described as “the “most advanced law degree” according to Harvard and Yale Law Schools and Kate achieved a double top 5% result from 2 of the three markers. Her extensive work concerns consumer rights and contractual issues across IT technology.

As an experienced contract lawyer and (now) doctoral scholar, Kate will be bringing her sharp expertise to body corporate contracts – both big and small – to better protect bodies corporate and manage their risks.

Presentation by Kate Mathews, our Special Counsel

On 23 June 2017 Kate Mathews, our Special Counsel, delivered a presentation to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Consumer Consultative Committee at the ACCC’s head office in Melbourne. The 90 minute interactive session discussed consumer law implications of the Internet of Things. Kate was invited to present by the Deputy Chair of the ACCC, Delia Rickard.