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Could one mistakenly shared email put an owners corporation’s legal case at risk? Under section 182 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), a lot owner (or a person authorised by them) can request to inspect the records of the owners corporation by written request, accompanied by the prescribed fee. The owners corporation must then make the items listed in the Act available, including any other record or document in its custody or under its control.
But that right has limits. In The Owners – Strata Plan No 74602 v Eastmark Holdings Pty Ltd [2013] NSWCA 221, decided under the former Act, the Court of Appeal found that a lot owner may be entitled to see some documents in that capacity, but not documents relating to disputes in which the lot owner is the owners corporation’s adversary.
That makes the handling of legal advice critical, particularly when a dispute is brewing. Giving a lot owner access to privileged material without care can put privilege at risk, and with it the owners corporation’s position in the dispute.
In this episode of the Strata Law Podcast, Sachs Gerace Lawyers’ Special Counsel Clement Lo unpacks the limits of strata record inspections. He covers which records lot owners are entitled to inspect, when an owners corporation can withhold legally privileged documents, how a legal dispute can affect a lot owner’s access to information, the risks of accidentally disclosing confidential legal communications, and the practical safeguards strata managers and committees can put in place.
