|PIC1|M V Tronson, 57, said that in order to do this, he visited the office of the Body Corporate Management company that had been contracted to effect the smooth functioning of the Committee for the said body corporate.
"I needed to familarise myself with the requirements of the Committee, so that I would be aware of the responsibilities I needed to undertake on the owner's behalf, so that he did not miss out on any of the benefits," M V Tronson said.
There were three aspects to the life of a body corporate in which he found parallels in so much of life.
First, the body corporate management company does not own the Body Corporate, neither does it control the Body Corporate, rather it facilitates and advises the Committee so that the Body Corporate can both function and meets its legal and financial obligations.
Second, the Committee represents the wishes of the Body Corporate through a legal voting system and thereby is able to makes decisions. The Body Corporate is made up of the owners of the strata titles (such as the Town Houses or Units).
Third, the Committee has all authority, it can direct the body corporate management company to demand those body corporate fees in arrears from owners. Ultimately it is 'the Committee', made up of owners or their nominated representatives and elected by all the other owners, that can wield a big stick, take court action to have such fees paid and if not paid within a specific time frame, the Court can order to have the strata title (Town House / Unit) sold to meet those fees. The management company is just their employee, the Committee has all the legal power.
"As I reflected upon these basic functions of 'the Committee', I found myself musing over how people relate to each other in a host of every day circumstances," M V Tronson said.
"Relationships are the basis of life, such as within a marriage, families, the work place, the sporting and social club, where common courtesy rules are set out, otherwise there would be chaos."
The Body Corporate which is a modern legal invention for the smooth functioning of a group of like-interested strata title owners, follows this same pattern.
"Ultimately, after a period of grace and good-will, if the requirements are not met, a set procedure is put in place which will produce the necessary outcome," M V Tronson explained.
As a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, M V Tronson cannot but be astonished at the parallel with the Biblical record of the relationship God desires for Himself with every individual person.
"It is exactly as the disciple John writes in John 3 verse 18, 'but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.'", M V Tronson related.
"This is a serious verse, as it is spells out, that the outcome is the responsibility of each individual, just as it is for each owner of a strata title in a Body Corporate."