Tweet
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Home owners at risk</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Many strata corporations not insured</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>by Vaughn Davis Business Observer staff reporter davisv@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>Owners of homes in the majority of Jamaica's approximately 3,000 registered strata corporations stand to lose millions of dollars if their property is damaged by natural disasters because the stratas are not paying insurance, the Business Observer has learnt.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The problem, according to the Rev Fr Gerard McLaughlin, secretary of the Jamaica Association of Strata Corporations (JASC), results from the stratas not being able to collect maintenance fees from residents.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=360 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Oaklands housing scheme on Constant Spring Road. Some residents pay as much as $8,000 for maintenance. </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>"Right now, there are probably 90 per cent of the Strata Corporations, big ones too, that have not paid their insurance. and most of them are not paying their insurance because the people refuse to pay [maintenance fees]. So as a result, if there is a hurricane or earthquake or something like that, thousands of stratas are going to fall down and have no money," said McLaughlin.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The maintenance fee normally includes the payment for the insurance, McLaughlin told the Business Observer.
Attorney Robert Ramsay, who does legal work for the JASC and specialises in strata corporation matters, corroborated McLaughlin's claim. He said that the issue of delinquent maintenance money payment affects nearly every strata corporation in the island.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Under the Strata Titles Act (1969), owners, after purchasing their strata unit, are obliged to pay management/maintenance fees to a board of officials elected from among the owners themselves. The fees are to be used to pay for property tax, insurance of the building(s), as well as the maintenance of the common spaces within the strata, such as gardens, stairwells, roofs and corridors.<P class=StoryText align=justify>However, according to McLaughlin, widespread delinquency in maintenance money payment has obtained since the inception of the Strata Act. This, he said, was due to weaknesses in strata boards and the need for amendments to the Strata Act.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The strata boards, McLaughlin told the Business Observer, have the power to take delinquent owners to a Resident Magistrate's Court. However, they consistently fail to do so in order to avoid the potential embarrassment or friction it may cause between owners and/or tenants.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=200 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Rev Fr Gerard McLaughlin, secretary of the Jamaica Association of Strata Corporations, illustrates a point he is making at a Strata Corporation workshop late last year. (Photo: Bryan Cummings) </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>"If you had a friend next door to you in your apartment and he owed $10,000 in management fees, and you were on the board of directors and the board of directors decides to take him to court, would you be able to face that neighbour?" McLaughlin asked. "It's a question of human respect, you know."
He said the owners must pay their mortgage, because the law gives the company the power t
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Many strata corporations not insured</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>by Vaughn Davis Business Observer staff reporter davisv@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>Owners of homes in the majority of Jamaica's approximately 3,000 registered strata corporations stand to lose millions of dollars if their property is damaged by natural disasters because the stratas are not paying insurance, the Business Observer has learnt.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The problem, according to the Rev Fr Gerard McLaughlin, secretary of the Jamaica Association of Strata Corporations (JASC), results from the stratas not being able to collect maintenance fees from residents.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=360 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Oaklands housing scheme on Constant Spring Road. Some residents pay as much as $8,000 for maintenance. </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>"Right now, there are probably 90 per cent of the Strata Corporations, big ones too, that have not paid their insurance. and most of them are not paying their insurance because the people refuse to pay [maintenance fees]. So as a result, if there is a hurricane or earthquake or something like that, thousands of stratas are going to fall down and have no money," said McLaughlin.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The maintenance fee normally includes the payment for the insurance, McLaughlin told the Business Observer.Attorney Robert Ramsay, who does legal work for the JASC and specialises in strata corporation matters, corroborated McLaughlin's claim. He said that the issue of delinquent maintenance money payment affects nearly every strata corporation in the island.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Under the Strata Titles Act (1969), owners, after purchasing their strata unit, are obliged to pay management/maintenance fees to a board of officials elected from among the owners themselves. The fees are to be used to pay for property tax, insurance of the building(s), as well as the maintenance of the common spaces within the strata, such as gardens, stairwells, roofs and corridors.<P class=StoryText align=justify>However, according to McLaughlin, widespread delinquency in maintenance money payment has obtained since the inception of the Strata Act. This, he said, was due to weaknesses in strata boards and the need for amendments to the Strata Act.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The strata boards, McLaughlin told the Business Observer, have the power to take delinquent owners to a Resident Magistrate's Court. However, they consistently fail to do so in order to avoid the potential embarrassment or friction it may cause between owners and/or tenants.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=200 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Rev Fr Gerard McLaughlin, secretary of the Jamaica Association of Strata Corporations, illustrates a point he is making at a Strata Corporation workshop late last year. (Photo: Bryan Cummings) </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>"If you had a friend next door to you in your apartment and he owed $10,000 in management fees, and you were on the board of directors and the board of directors decides to take him to court, would you be able to face that neighbour?" McLaughlin asked. "It's a question of human respect, you know."He said the owners must pay their mortgage, because the law gives the company the power t