At the mercy of errant management committee

I WOULD like to highlight the nightmarish situation faced by many condominium unit owners. Many management committees (MCs) today are spending money from the sinking fund as if there is no tomorrow and without the approval of majority of unit owners. These MCs decide at their meetings to spend according to the whims and fancy of the chairman, influential council members and powerful managing agents.

MCs and their managing agents are using the sinking funds without the approval of the unit owners to carry out work like refitting the lobbies. The MC of my condo, for example, is planning to employ designers to renovate the lobby and upgrade the walkways, gyms and tennis courts on the excuse that we need to keep up with other new condominium complexes.

Some MCs go further by making cash calls for non-essential refurbishment work on the pretext of upgrading, much to the horror of many practical and financially-prudent unit owners.

Sinking funds in many old condos are currently depleted to nothing or the bare minimum. As buildings age over time, there would be a need for repairs and maintenance work or repainting. The MCs would then say there is not much money left in sinking fund to use.

Another nightmare begins when the MC would subsequently use the excuse of lack of money in the sinking fund to make unlawful calls for more cash injections from the condo dwellers.

Members of the MC are so blatant in their push to get money from the owners that they would put up details of defaulters or those who pay up late in the lobby for all to see.

What’s worse is the Commissioner of Buildings (COB) normally takes a long time to enforce an order to stop the MC from demanding money from the property owners despite numerous complaints from them.

As such, we are appealing to the relevant authorities and even the Housing and Local Government Minister to step in and help us address this unfair and unjust demand by the MC for more money.