Tuesday, 20 May 2025

AMJ Strata Group

Tim READ (Brunswick) (14:22): Apartment residents in Brunswick have contacted me about excessive special levies from their strata manager, AMJ Strata Group. Special levies are typically for extraordinary expenses, but AMJ Strata seems to be using them to rob residents, applying arbitrary charges for trivial matters.

Apartment owner Rabea is facing a $795 special levy for opening an unmarked, unlocked door in his building. Each time he has been sent a reminder email, AMJ Strata has charged him for it – first $40, then $80. He recently paid his annual owners corp fees, but AMJ Strata instead took $889.50 out of that payment. Another former tenant recently moved out of his apartment and asked AMJ Strata for protective covers for the lift for moving furniture. AMJ Strata told him that this would cost $300 despite it not being stated in the owners corp rules. So instead of protective covers he took before and after photos of the lift to confirm that there was no damage. But AMJ Strata charged the owner a $1035 levy, helping themselves to $555 for reviewing CCTV and $480 for preparation of the levy notice. Without paying this, the tenant cannot have his bond refunded.

AMJ Strata have not responded to my emails, but I ask that they stop issuing my constituents unreasonable and arbitrary fees, and I call on the government to outlaw this behaviour in its upcoming review of the Owners Corporations Act 2006.