My mum lives in a body corporate in a block of town houses, now was wondering, her fees are usually due in June every year now this year they are due 1 month earlier, can they change the date it’s due? – Michael, VIC

Q: My mum lives in a body corporate in a block of town houses, now was wondering, her fees are usually due in June every year now this year they are due 1 month earlier, can they change the date it’s due?

Also several months ago she got an invoice for $600 which they did they needed to get concrete done, are they aloud to charge you for this and can we ask for a bill to see what the concrete was charged at, because there wasn’t much concrete done around the place which i think$600 from everyone would have been to excessive.

A:As annual fees are determined during an AGM (Annual General Meeting, held once a year), if you are noticing that fees are due one month earlier, it may be a result of your owners holding the AGM earlier within the year, causing subsequent notices and fees to shift along with it.

As for the $600 invoice, this should have been covered during the AGM under the maintenance works and plans, or it may be an additional fee raised outside of the AGM. We recommend getting in touch with your owners corporation secretary, who should have minutes from the previous AGM or other general meeting where discussions around maintenance and works involving concreting were discussed. This may give you a better understanding of the costs involved.