Responsibility of strata managers – Xabregas v The Owners – Strata Plan No 79205; Moallem v Consumer Trader & Tenancy Tribunal (No 2) [2014] NSWSC 1027

Decision: 31 July 2014

In Xabregas v The Owners – Strata Plan No 79205; Moallem v Consumer Trader & Tenancy Tribunal (No 2), White J made a personal costs order against the strata manager for instructing a lawyer to institute proceedings without reasonable prospects. No costs order was made against the Strata lawyers. In his judgment, White J emphasised the high responsibility of a strata manager appointed under section 162 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 (NSW). The case highlights that a section 162 strata manager must act carefully when acting in the name of the owners corporation especially if the strata manager makes a decision that the owners corporation should sue a lot owner.