What does being financial or unfinancial mean?
Info about voting at meetings for owners who are financial and unfinancial
Summary
Owners who have paid their levies (and other money recoverable under the Act - such as interest) prior to the due date (stated on the levy notice), are financial. Owners who have monies owning past the due date are unfinancial.
Can I pay on the day of the meeting?
No. Funds must be in the bank account on the date of the meeting. As part of the preparation for the meeting, the Strata Manager will print out a financial position statement for all lots. Any lots which show monies owing will be deemed to be unfinancial for the meeting. This financial position statement will form part of the records of the Strata Company. If a case brought before SAT at some point in the future, contesting the validity of a vote held at a meeting, this record will be critical to show that only people entitled to vote, were included in the count.
What about a levy notice which is not due until after the meeting date?
Any levy notices which have been issued but have a due date after the meeting are not required to be paid before the meeting.
If there is no other money owed to the Strata Company from previous levy periods (including interest), an owner will be financial for the meeting. See the example below.
On the day of the meeting, you are declared unfinancial, what happens?
You are welcome to attend the AGM and join in with discussions relating to ''other business''. However, you cannot vote on any Ordinary or Special Resolutions and you may not nominate yourself for a Council position. You may still vote on any Resolutions without Dissent or Unanimous Resolutions.
Examples
Unfinanical example
You have an AGM notice which states that the meeting date is 01 July 2021. Any levies which are issued with a due before 01 July 2021 must be paid in full so that the funds are in Strata Company bank account prior to this date. If there is a balance owing, no matter the amount, the owner will be declared unfinancial. They will not be allowed to vote on Ordinary or Special Resolutions at the 01 July 2021 meeting.
Financial example
You have an AGM notice which states that the meeting date is 01 July 2021. A levy notice was issued on 27 June 2021 with a due date of 01 August 2021. If the outstanding balance from the previous quarter is $0, you do not need to make payment on the 27 June levy notice prior to 01 July, in order to be financial for the AGM. You may vote on all resolutions tabled at the meeting.
Any other items to be aware of?
Where you have a Property Manager who receives your levy notices and makes payment from your rental income, it is a good idea to check in and ensure levy payments are up to date a week or so before the meeting, particularly if you want to vote on a certain matter. We have had instances where an owner arrived at a meeting to be told they are unfinancial but they were not aware until the meeting.