Recent amendments to the Sectional Titles Regulations, published in the Government Gazette #38923 dated 30 June 2015, include inter alia the insertion of the management rule 4Aa, which reads as follows:
"(4Aa) After the expiry of a financial year and until they become liable for contributions in respect of the ensuing financial year, owners are liable for contributions in the same amounts and payable in the same installments as were due and payable by them during the expired financial year: Provided that the trustees may, if they consider it necessary and by written notice to the owners, increase the contributions due by the owners by a maximum of 10 per cent excluding capital expenditure to take account of the anticipated increased liabilities of the body corporate. Such increase shall be ratified or changed after the Annual General Meeting by the trustees once the body corporate has approved or amended the schedule of income and expenditure."
This sees the welcome return of the power of the trustees to increase levies by up to 10% on the previous year’s levies, prior to AGM, so as to mitigate the cash flow implications of increases that are effected at the beginning of the financial year (mostly March) but hitherto only accounted for in the levies after the AGM, some four months later.
Other amendments in the above regulations include that the title deed of any real right registered over land is to now be included within the sectional titles register. All documents and correspondence, placed in a sectional title file, must now be endorsed with a deeds registry date endorsement upon filing.
Another amendment in the above regulations sees management rule 7 (Annexure 8 of the Sectional Titles Act) which deals with the nomination of trustees, being amended to restrict any person from being nominated to act as a trustee if he/she is in current breach of rule 64 (i.e. is in arrears with levy contributions and or is in persistent breach of the rules) and, moreover, even restricts any member from nominating a trustee if he/she himself/herself is in breach of rule 64.