Restarting a dormant owners corporation: what a block with no meetings, records or insurance has to do

It is a familiar situation in older Melbourne suburbs: a small block, owners who have been there for decades, and an owners corporation that quietly stopped doing anything — no meetings, no insurance, no records. The good news, as Ben Quirk explains in his article for LookUpStrata, is that the owners corporation has not disappeared. “The short answer is yes, it likely never ‘lapsed’. It became dormant,” he writes.

An owners corporation is created automatically — and does not quietly cease to exist

Under the Owners Corporations Act 2006, an owners corporation comes into existence when the plan of subdivision is registered. It does not stop existing because nobody has held a meeting or paid a premium. That means the duties in the Act were still there the whole time:

• Insurance for the buildings — a requirement for multi-unit developments.
• An annual general meeting each year.
• Records — minutes, financial statements, insurance policies and a register of lot owners.
• Maintaining the common property, which is mandatory rather than optional, even for a small informal block.

Rebuilding the paperwork you do not have

Records are rarely stored centrally, but most of what you need can be reconstructed:

• Search the plan of subdivision through Land Use Victoria — it shows the owners corporation number, the common property, and each lot’s entitlement and liability.
• Order a title search for one unit, which usually lists the owners corporation number.
• Ask the local council, which sometimes holds subdivision records for a small fee.

The steps back to compliance

1. Identify every lot owner — title searches will find the ones you cannot reach.
2. Convene a general meeting. Any lot owner can convene one when there is no committee, and proper written notice has to go to all owners.
3. Hold the meeting: elect office holders (chairperson, secretary, treasurer), decide whether to appoint a manager, and deal with the urgent compliance items — insurance and maintenance first.
4. Re-establish the records from that point forward, so the next AGM has something to report against.

Appointing a manager is not compulsory for a small owners corporation, but it is the usual recommendation where owners are elderly or compliance has been neglected for years — someone has to run the process, and the process is what has been failing.

Where to go next

Our owners corporation glossary defines common property, lot entitlement and liability, and the AGM; resources answers the shorter questions. If your block is in this position and wants it put right, talk to us.

Source: VIC: How do we restart a dormant owners corporation? by Ben Quirk, Senior Owners Corporation Manager at TOCS, first published by LookUpStrata. This is a summary of the guidance in that article, with the regulator’s material at Consumer Affairs Victoria.