GARY JACKSON: It had a real tropical feel with the palm trees, the colour scheme. It felt like you were on holidays.JACOB LIPTON: It felt nice to have my own place, felt independent. I felt like I'd achieved something.
LINTON BESSER: Jacob Lipton soon became unwell. COVID lockdowns left him out of work, and he fell behind on his strata levies. His building was managed by Netstrata But what he and his mother didn’t know was at the time the debt collector also had a deal to channel fees back to Netstrata as a kickback.
STEPHEN GODDARD: The minute an owner falls into arrears, they enter into the cash cow merry go round, where the strata manager is paid for issuing notices, and if they have a connection to an agency, well there are further kickbacks to the cash cow machine. LINTON BESSER: I mean, it's a bit of handy extra profit, isn't it? Because you already charge management fees, and then you get a referral fee back from your contractors?
STEPHEN GODDARD: There is no regulation preventing that kickback from occurring. There is nothing but blind trust in a world where trust is in short supply. MARGARET JACKSON: When I looked at that and I saw base premium $6,800, all the statutory levies charges and this broker fee, I nearly fell over.She doesn’t work at Netstrata anymore. Two years ago, she sued the company for unfair dismissal. They agreed a confidential settlement.
LINTON BESSER: Netstrata does disclose its ownership of Strata Insurance Services and says brokerage fees ‘are retained by the subsidiary, not the agent.’ STEPHEN BRELL: Again, I'm not, I can't comment, because I'm not certain about what their particular case was.MIKE RACZKOWSKI: Winfire is wholly owned by Netstrata. So once again, there's no arm's length transaction between the two companies, and they can charge whatever they want, and they do charge whatever they want. I think it's disgusting.
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