The Age of Entitlements - Part 1

As I have mentioned previously, it appears to me, that there are some owners (and in particular, some members of the body corporate) within Squatters Run that think they are entitled to more than other owners and treat the place accordingly.

The list of "entitlements" that members of the Squatters Run body corporate think they are entitled to, over and above other owners, stretches far and wide, including keeping secrets from owners even when issues involve their property.

Apart from unauthorised use of other owners' property (examples of which I have recently written about), some members of the body corporate have taken it upon themselves to avail themselves of spaces belonging to the body corporate - spaces that may be locked from other owners or only accessible from within their own units.

There are common area spaces within Squatters Run that the average owner is locked out of and these spaces are/have been used for storing household items, business items, sporting items, paints and chemicals, firewood and God only knows what else. Everyone in Thredbo knows how valuable storage space is but why should members of the body corporate have exclusive use to this valuable resource?

Anyone who has been involved in strata title will know that strata levies are based upon "strata entitlements". Generally "strata entitlements" are based upon how large a unit is and the larger the unit, the more you pay in strata levies. Although Squatters Run is not "Strata Title" as such, it's levy system is generally based upon the strata title system - the larger the unit the more you pay in levies.

So it may come as some surprise that, apart from exclusive use of locked common areas, some owners within Squatters Run have extended the size of their units by going through walls (some external, some internal and including some fire rated walls) and into common areas. These owners are not paying any more in levies, even though they have effectively increased their "entitlements".

More soon on "entitlements".