Stratas slow to register
Published:Sunday | July 4, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Avia Collinder, Business Writer
With one month left to go before the deadline for registration with the new commission for strata corporations, about eight per cent of the residential bodies have signed up and paid over the requisite fees.
Sonia Graham, strata manager at the commission, says there are now 160 corporations registered.
The process began in May and closes July 30.
Graham said that the best estimate of the number of strata corporations in Jamaica was about 2,000, leaving at least 92 per cent so far unregistered.
Fees for the smallest complexes of one-five units start at J$1,000 and range up to J$100,000 for 201-250 units.
The penalty for late or non-registration is J$250,000.
Graham said the Strata Commission is currently engaged in a public-education campaign and is getting the word out that registration is necessary.
The commission was recently established by statute in amendments to the Registration (Strata Titles) Act of 2009, to bring order to that side of the real-estate market, which has been blamed increasingly over time for bringing down property values as apartment complexes fall into disrepair.
The revised law will now see delinquent owners of strata lots who refuse to pay maintenance contributions and are reluctant to settle insurance costs facing tough penalties, including giving power of sale to the strata corporation over apartments/units for which owners are non-compliant on their strata fees.
J$38 million offices
The Strata Commission operates out of the offices of the Real Estate Board, but has its own budget, which amounts to J$38 million for this fiscal year.
Commission members have been attending strata meetings to absorb some of the challenges faced by the management executives.
Graham says the most prevalent complaints remain that of the non-payment of maintenance fees in a timely manner as needed for the payment of common bills, including electricity and water utilities.
The commission is recruiting staff, including two inspectors, who will serve strata corporations across Jamaica, and one marketing officer, who will serve both the commission and the Real Estate Board. "We have attended many strata meetings and made many presentations to heighten awareness," the board's general manager, Sandra Watson, told Sunday Business.
"I think that change is occurring, it's just that change is very difficult for Jamaicans," she said.
Graham pointed out that not all 160 registered corporations were currently insured, adding that some had declared to the commission their intention to self-insure because of the high price attached.
"I don't think it's advisable. But if the decision is unanimous, this is permissible," Graham said.