Unit owners recall nine years of hell in Holt apartments

Some original owners at Parkview Apartments since 2006 say fees have blown out from $700 a quarter to more than $2500. When they fell behind in fees, they were referred to a debt collection agency and faced bankruptcy.

"Most people bought here at Holt as it is a working-class area and they are struggling," an owner said.

Another resident says she was forced to pay $17,000, to avoid being sent bankrupt for getting behind on her levy payments. She was forced to raid her superannuation.

"They have taken everything out of the sinking fund and they will come back for more. It is a never-ending story. We are not seeing any progress," the woman said. "I am sick and tired of it. I cannot sell the unit, it is unsaleable because of the fees," she said.

The owners group and its property manager approached the ACT government to enforce building rectification orders in 2014. In the meantime, they have elected to raise a special levy to pay a building consultant to repair the place.

Rectification work for basement water proofing, balconies and external painting will cost $1.9 million. Condensation in the south-facing units needs exhaust fans built into toughened glass.

A building consultant found water coming into the basement, fire safety issues, structural faults, paving failure, lack of drainage and widespread corrosion.

"These are primarily the result of poor workmanship and no doubt inadequate supervision during the complex's building phase," the consultant's report says.

Developer Sotoria Liangis says the issues are due to lack of proper maintenance.

Mrs Liangis says that though the land had belonged to her company, the issues were for the builder – a separate entity.

"The people complaining – the place is 10 years old they do not maintain them. The body corporate is collecting a lot of money and don't do any maintaining to the building at all," Mrs Liangis said.

City Strata Management, appointed by the owners' executive committee in July 2013 to replace their previous managers, declined to comment on the record for this article. An owner and former executive committee member, Susan Edlund, says City Strata have been "brilliant" in straightening out problems.

Mrs Liangis said people moving into a building had 90 days to raise issues with a builder. Changing temperatures and a period of settling could also cause a building to crack, but this was not a warranty issue.

Body corporate minutes reveal a constant struggle for the owners and angst at annual meetings. In 2010 they began legal action against the builder to rectify issues and stopped in 2012 because, according to the minutes, there was little prospect of success.

They then decided to get a rectification order and hired more solicitors to prepare a case for the ACT Planning and Land Authority. To pay for the application, a special purpose fund of $60,000 was to be raised, according to owners' committee meetings.

The Construction Occupations Registrar's 10-year period for intervention expires on May 17, 2016.

Construction occupations registrar Mark McCabe says Liangis Investment is the developer and the builder. Mr McCabe says City Strata Management, sought rectification orders once, in July, 2014.

Mr McCabe says Access Canberra could not process the application and sought more information. He says City Strata Management was working with a building consultant, who had provided a scoping document but did not detail the defects and how they could be rectified.

City Strata Management then appointed a different project manager, and was working with the owners' corporation to fix the problems.

Mr McCabe says that in most such cases, evidence is gathered, the builder is asked to comment and then a rectification order is issued if warranted.

"Most issues that come before us are not that huge, the process gets bogged down in legal action. That is something we are trying to change. Let's get the builder and owner together and try and get some agreement, rather than fighting it out in the courts."