1 Jan, 2018 → by ClaimboUser825934
Rip of owners to help managers

1

VCAT owners corporation manager refuses to respect the law. There manager Sandor Csapo is allowed to do as he wishes, such s charging GST tax when not registered, apply illegal fines, charging for non existing work. When caught out he refuses to refund. VCAT refuse to take action against their manager. Read below for detail as taken from The Age newspaper. BODY corporate managers accused of ripping off Victorian home owners are retaining their government registration, even after facing court sanctions or criminal charges. In one case, an owners' corporation manager who has run properties and developments for 38, 000 Victorians has been the subject of multiple complaints but still retained his registration. The alleged misconduct of Sandor Csapo highlights gaping holes in the regulation of the industry that expose Victorian owners and investors to significant losses. This year, he was charged with fraud offences in connection to his management of a 45-unit Latrobe Valley nursing home. In November, Csapo was sacked from a large Melbourne CBD development by owners who are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in contested fees. They include large water bills charged to owners of car parks with no water supply. Owners from other developments have repeatedly taken Csapo to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, including a case last year in which he was ordered to pay $16, 800 to the body corporate of the Seabrook residential development in Point Cook. Another body corporate in Melbourne is facing bills of up to $120, 000, after construction organised by Csapo's company was condemned by the council. Csapo is still registered by the Business Licensing Authority via his company Shanga Pty Ltd and told Fairfax Media that, despite his recent problems, he has recently been hired by several more Victorian owners' corporations. Csapo said he had ''made the wrong call'' by re-creating several lost receipts linked to his management of a Moe nursing home complex - conduct for which he is facing criminal charges. But he said he had rectified this ''mistake'' and most complaints about his conduct arose because owners' corporations often misunderstood the industry regulations under which he operates. Csapo said he did not know how many times he had been taken to VCAT, but said that he had only lost his case against Seabrook because he was too ill to attend the hearing. He agreed with a view held by several body corporate members who contacted Fairfax Media to complain about his conduct. ''I believe the whole industry needs a shake-up, '' Csapo said. ''The laws are appalling and they don't protect anybody.'' There is almost no regulation and oversight of the state's 500 or so owners' corporation managers, with body corporate members often left with no choice but to take unresolved disputes to VCAT. Similar problems exist in other states.Even in a successful case, the money VCAT orders an owners' corporation manager to repay is rarely seen. Csapo has not paid the $16, 800 he owes Seabrook owners. While many of the state's owners corporation managers have good reputations, some in the industry have privately conceded that substandard managers are never held to account due to lax regulation. Up to 300 investors were stung in 2009 after Mark Baranov, a former director of the Dodo internet company turned owners corporation manager, failed to pay rent owing on CBD storage units he managed. It took until November last year for corporate watchdog ASIC to give Mr Baranov a two-year director's ban in connection to his activities as an owner's corporation manager between 2003 and 2009. The owners of more than 300 car parks at 55 Franklin Street in Melbourne's CBD, who sacked Csapo in December, are facing the prospect of a freeze on rent payments to cover almost $250, 000 in debts. In 2001, the car park development promised investors a 7 per cent return. The car park owners face an additional hurdle that has nothing to do with Csapo. A caveat held by commercial interests linked to dead underworld boss Mario Condello has prevented the sale of several car parks that have failed to pay body corporate fees for years. Csapo stalled the handing over of financial records from the Franklin Street development, arguing that he was entitled to do this because some of the members had not paid their bills. Since his sacking from the site, owners have begun auditing these records and discovered several discrepancies. Csapo denied that he was responsible for these anomalies, claiming that a subcontractor he hired to manage the car park was to blame. The state government has committed to registering all owners' corporations managers in a new national system that will be in place by the end of this year. But this will not lead to any more oversight or enforcement.
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