When Hubert Jones suspected the owners’ corporation that runs his Carlton apartment building had directed $240,000 of his and other apartment owners’ money to a company three of its committee members have an interest in, he reported it to the consumer watchdog.
asserted
he → suspect → watchdog
Jones had receipts too, to back his claim.
uncertain
Jones → have → claim
He gave Consumer Affairs Victoria piles of documentation backing his allegation of unlawful behaviour and detailing what he felt was deceptive conduct and financial mismanagement in the 10-storey Swanston Street building he lives in.
asserted
he → give → building
He also provided technical reports of the building’s condition, including a water-damaged underground car park identified as in need of urgent repairs in 2019, but which he said was left to deteriorate for seven more years.
asserted
he → provide → years
Consumer Affairs told him it would not at this stage investigate, despite “the seriousness of the issues you have raised and the considerable amount of material you have provided in support of your concerns”.
asserted
you → tell → concerns
It suggested to a shocked Jones, a retiree with a disability, that the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal could be the correct forum for testing the allegations, a course of action Jones is pursuing and where, naturally, the outcome cannot yet be known.
uncertain
outcome → suggest → action
The numbers suggest VCAT may indeed be Jones’ best option even if he is right in his suspicions about the owners’ corporation’s conduct.
uncertain
he → suggest → conduct
Data released this month under freedom-of-information laws reveals Consumer Affairs Victoria has not pursued a single civil or criminal prosecution against an owners’ corporation in 10 years.
asserted
Victoria → release → years
In that period, between July 2016 and June 2026, it issued just four infringement notices, most recently in 2019-20, and 12 official warnings.
asserted
it → issue → 2019
It received more than 3500 complaints against owners’ corporations over that time.
asserted
It → receive → time
In the past three years, the regulator referred 26 of those complaints concerning owners’ corporations or their registered managers to its internal intelligence team for assessment.
asserted
regulator → refer → assessment
Not one of those referrals led to further action.
asserted
one → lead → action
The regulatory inaction has spurred the Victorian Greens to refer the issue to the state’s auditor-general, arguing the figures indicate organisational failure.
asserted
figures → spur → failure
Acting Auditor-General Dave Barry last week informed Greens leader Ellen Sandell the office would consider an audit on the topic.
asserted
office → inform → topic
Jones, who lives alone in his one-bedroom unit at 528 Swanston Street, was told by Consumer Affairs’ director of compliance and enforcement, David Joyner, that the regulator solely pursues complaints in the wider public interest, not in the interests of an individual.
“While achieving remediation for affected consumers is an important consideration, CAV does not act on behalf of individuals solely to obtain redress on their behalf,” Joyner wrote in a September 1 letter to Jones.
asserted
Joyner → live → Jones
In a statement of claim to VCAT, Jones has alleged owners’ corporation members Malcolm Dingle, Paul Harberts and Amanda Pelligrino imposed a $240,000 fee via a “deed of surrender of lease” that was never put to a vote of lot owners, potentially in breach of owners’ corporation laws.
uncertain
that → allege → laws
It is also alleged the step was taken without informing owners.
asserted
step → allege → owners
The deed was signed in exchange for “buying back” a ground-floor office previously used by a building concierge, which had been converted into an unstaffed reception area used by Dingle Partners, which has a real estate office on the building’s ground floor.
asserted
which → sign → floor
According to the statement of claim, the $240,000 fee was directed to Champion Pty Ltd, a company for which Dingle, Harberts and Pelligrino all had a financial interest, to be paid in annual instalments of $24,000 over 10 years between 2022 and 2032.
uncertain
Dingle → accord → 2022
The arrangement was signed off by building managers Highrise Strata Management, the claim states, and reported in an auditors’ report for the building as “staff caretaker” expenses.
uncertain
claim → sign → expenses
The owners’ corporation’s auditor, LSA Partners, was not informed of the deed and told Jones that, “due to the significance of the amount involved, there probably should have been a special resolution whereby 75 per cent of all members agree to the execution of the deed”.
asserted
cent → inform → deed
According to the statement of claim, Dingle, Harberts and Pelligrino never declared their pecuniary interest in Champion.
uncertain
Dingle → accord → Champion
Jones seeks to have the deed of surrender voided and all its associated fees reimbursed.
asserted
fees → seek → surrender
He declined to comment to The Age while the matter is before VCAT.
asserted
matter → decline → VCAT
The Age emailed detailed questions to Dingle and to Highrise Strata Management.
asserted
Age → email → Management
Neither responded.
asserted
Neither → respond → ?
Dingle has not responded to multiple attempts to contact him by phone.
asserted
Dingle → respond → phone
Harberts and Pelligrino have also not responded to requests for comment.
asserted
Harberts → respond → comment
Other residents were willing to speak out about never having been informed about the fees imposed by the owners’ corporation, and about the building’s poor condition.
asserted
residents → speak → condition
Apartment owner Jimmy, who for privacy reasons declined to have his surname published, chaired the owners’ corporation committee for a year.
asserted
surname → decline → year
He quit the committee in November 2024, immediately after learning of the $240,000 deed of surrender, of which he says was never told.
asserted
he → quit → which
“I resigned for moral reasons.
asserted
I → resign → reasons
I was like, no, I don’t want anything to do with this committee.
asserted
I → want → committee
I can’t be a part of this,” Jimmy said.
asserted
Jimmy → say → this
“A lot of things were hidden from me …
asserted
lot → hide → me
I had no clue about any of this in the 2½ years I was a committee member, and one year as chairperson.
asserted
I → have → chairperson
It was hidden from me completely, that deed of surrender, as well as Champion the brand.
asserted
It → hide → surrender
I didn’t know Mr Dingle had anything to do with Champion at all.”
asserted
Dingle → know → Champion
Residents say the fee was imposed even though building services were reduced.
asserted
services → say → ?
Retired train driver Keith Headland owns a unit in the building and says he was not told of the deed when buying his unit.
asserted
he → own → unit
…and 26 more, not listed.
The Aporia
