I know that generally costs can be awarded to the successful party but what happens when a single party undertakes a legal action (and therefore financial risk) to recoup money owed to a third party?
To clarify I own an apartment in a NSW strata building where it turns out that one set of owners had private renovations done to their apartments but paid for by the owners corporation. Now a by-law was created (essentially a contract) whereby those owners were to refund the cost to the owners corporation. Stupidly this by-law was never actioned and it seems completely forgotten and the renovations were completed a few years ago. Even more stupidly most owners don't even know there is such a by-law. I don't have final figures but the value is approximately $400,000 or about $20,000 per affected owner (through the levies they paid). Now that's a lot of money to claw back but most if not all the affected owners are to scared or uncertain to do anything but then complain it's terrible, outrageous, illegal, etc and that someone (meaning me) should do something about it.
Now I could go this alone but the cost for me to run the matter is estimated at a minimum of $15,000. This is when I original sought legal advice to confirm the validity of the situation. Note the initial cost seems high but the owners who got the renovations are a belligerent group and have ruled the building for many years.
If my case is not succesful then worst case scenario would be my original $20k of levies + minimum $15k for my legal costs + the costs of the other side + another $20k in levies to cover the hole in the owners corporation funds from the misspent money being lost. For me that's scary as I'm not a high income earner. If I'm successful then best case scenario would be my $15k in legal costs refunded + the owners coporation would be be refunded my $20k of levies. I assume the remaing $380k would be returned to the owners corporation also.
The risk doesn't seem worthwhile hence my query. Is there some sort of established rule for a court to award some (if not all the money) being claimed to the party who took the risk? I write established rule as I don't want to rely on some remote possibility as a reason to start legal action.
Many thanks!
To clarify I own an apartment in a NSW strata building where it turns out that one set of owners had private renovations done to their apartments but paid for by the owners corporation. Now a by-law was created (essentially a contract) whereby those owners were to refund the cost to the owners corporation. Stupidly this by-law was never actioned and it seems completely forgotten and the renovations were completed a few years ago. Even more stupidly most owners don't even know there is such a by-law. I don't have final figures but the value is approximately $400,000 or about $20,000 per affected owner (through the levies they paid). Now that's a lot of money to claw back but most if not all the affected owners are to scared or uncertain to do anything but then complain it's terrible, outrageous, illegal, etc and that someone (meaning me) should do something about it.
Now I could go this alone but the cost for me to run the matter is estimated at a minimum of $15,000. This is when I original sought legal advice to confirm the validity of the situation. Note the initial cost seems high but the owners who got the renovations are a belligerent group and have ruled the building for many years.
If my case is not succesful then worst case scenario would be my original $20k of levies + minimum $15k for my legal costs + the costs of the other side + another $20k in levies to cover the hole in the owners corporation funds from the misspent money being lost. For me that's scary as I'm not a high income earner. If I'm successful then best case scenario would be my $15k in legal costs refunded + the owners coporation would be be refunded my $20k of levies. I assume the remaing $380k would be returned to the owners corporation also.
The risk doesn't seem worthwhile hence my query. Is there some sort of established rule for a court to award some (if not all the money) being claimed to the party who took the risk? I write established rule as I don't want to rely on some remote possibility as a reason to start legal action.
Many thanks!
