Copies of Community Management Statements in Sale Contracts – No longer required

By recent amendments to the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 information required to be given by a Seller to a Buyer pursuant to Section 206 has been amended such that the requirement to disclose a copy of the Community Management Statement (commonly referred to as a CMS) on the sale of an existing lot has now been removed. It is no longer a requirement that a copy of the current CMS be attached to the Contract.

The writer is somewhat curious as to why this amendment has been made. The purpose of the original provision for the inclusion of a CMS in the Contract was for disclosure purposes to the Buyer (i.e. taking a consumer protection type approach)

Despite this change, it is strongly recommended that apart from the usual enquires from the Body Corporate, a copy of the CMS will need to be obtained and considered by any Buyers of community titled property. This responsibility for obtaining this CMS has now reverted back to the Buyer or the Buyer’s legal representative rather than that obligation being on the real estate agent (or other person complying the contract) to attach at the time the Contract is prepared.